An interpretation of transference

This paper offers an interpretation of the concept of transference. It begins with a re-examination of Socrates's therapeutic intent and Plato's revisions of psychological theory in the light of Socrates's failure. In particular, Plato devised an account of a structured psyche, a theory of fantasy, and a complex 'object-relations' theory, to explain dynamic interactions between psyche and social world. It is argued that these revisions embody a recognition of the phenomenon of transference, i.e. the psyche's characteristic activity of creating a meaningful world in which to live. Freud's early conception of transference--as a transfer of psychological content across space and time--is criticised on the ground that it assumes that the world is already given, independent of any psychic activity. Freud's later conception of transference as a repetition is then explored in the light of the psyche's ability to create artefacts. It is argued that neurotic transference is the unconscious attempt to create an idosyncratic polis, an idiopolis, in which to live. The resolution of the transference occurs because the analyst is made a citizen of the idiopolis, has learned the idiolect, and can speak in that idiolect of the fundamental conflicts within the idiopolis and their dynamic basis. A neurotic world cannot survive this internal recognition.