[Neutrality, bisexuality and androgyny of the psychoanalyst]

Proceeding from the fact that Western thought is based on Greek philosophy, the author pinpoints a feature specific to psychoanalysis. Unlike other sciences, which are grounded in the central (and latently homosexual) relation of rhetoric and dialogue between teacher and pupil, psychoanalytic dialogue centers around a heterosexual (male/female) relationship. Prototypic for this is the confrontation of the psychoanalyst with the "complex burden of female love". The fascination of philosophy lies in similarity, that of psychoanalysis in difference. The gender question, and more specifically the sex of the analyst, has been given little attention in connection with the transference/countertransference paradigm. With a discussion of the concepts of neutrality (Freud), bisexuality (Freud, Jung) and with reference to literary sources on androgyny (V. Woolf, Balzac, Le Guin) Molfino undertakes the attempt to take the gender discussion in psychoanalytic theory and practice a stage further.