Contemporary Psychoanalysis and Critical Theory
A New Synthesis
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12643184 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jon Mills (0000-0003-3673-0884, Adler, corresponding author), Jon C Mills (0000-0001-9661-1911, School of Psychology, Adler Graduate Professional School, Toronto, Canada) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 20 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 233-245 |
| Publication date | 2019-06-20 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Critical Horizons (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1440-9917 • E-ISSN: 1568-5160 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/14409917.2019.1616484 |
| OpenAlex | W2950659560 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 15 |
Critical Theory and contemporary psychoanalytic perspectives share many compatibilities in offering a constructive critique of society. Psychoanalysis teaches us that whatever values and ideals societies adopt, they are always mediated through unconscious psychic processes that condition the collective in both positive and negative ways, and in terms of relations of recognition and patterns of social justice. Contemporary critical theory may benefit from engaging post-classical and current trends in psychoanalytic thought that have direct bearing on the ways we conceive of and observe how individuals operate within social collectives. In particular, Axel Honneth relies on psychoanalytic sources that are dated. Critical theory would profit from engaging post-object relations schools such as self psychology, analytical psychology, psychoanalytic intersubjectivity theory, relationality, and contemporary attachment theory that are more nuanced yet can supplement Winnicottian perspectives. Implications for contemporary theory need to reflect upon how the psychosocial matrix of self and society both facilitate and hinder optimal social arrangements and fabrics of justice as it takes up the question of normativity. It is within this context that I hope to introduce contemporary psychoanalytic paradigms that move beyond classical models yet complement redirecting shifts in emphasis both psychoanalysis and Critical Theory attempt to accomplish. I suggest that an applied psychoanalytic explication on social phenomenology can expand the interpretive depth and breadth of human relations and open up a permissible space for interdisciplinary discourse. Here new vistas emerge for a proposed synthesis between the two schools of thought
Critical theory · Epistemology · Explication · Intersubjectivity · Object relations theory · Phenomenology (philosophy · Psychoanalysis · Psychoanalytic theory · Social theory · Sociology · Unconscious mind · Philosophy · Psychoanalysis and Social Critique · Psychoanalysis, Philosophy, and Politics · Psychology · Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |