Clinical Spinoza : Integrating His Philosophy with Contemporary Therapeutic Practice

Discovering Spinoza's early modern psychology some 35 years into his own clinical practice, Ian Miller now gives shape to this connection through a close reading of Spinoza's key philosophical ideas. With a rigorous and expansive analysis of Spinoza's Ethics in particular, Miller explores how Spinozan thought simultaneously empowered the original conceptual direction of psychoanalytic thinking, and anticipated the field's contemporary theoretical dimensions. Miller offers a detailed overview of the philosopher's psychoanalytic reception from the early work of German-langauge psychoanalytic thinkers, such as Freud and Lou Andreas-Salomé, forward into its Anglophone reception, influencing both mid-century humanistic American psychoanalysis as well as anticipating thinkers such as Bion and Winnicott. Covering key concepts in psychoanalytic theory and clinical practice, this book demonstrates how knowledge of Spinoza's philosophical work can help to both illulminate and improve modern psychoanalytic therapies. Cover Endorsements Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Contents Acknowledgments The author also expresses his gratitude for permission to republish the following material in entirety or in part: Introduction Part I Chapter 1: The Philosopher of Psychoanalysis (I) Themes in Psychoanalytic Reception of Spinoza The German Spinoza, Philosopher of Psychoanalysis The Anglophone Reception of Spinoza in Psychology & Psychoanalysis: Tanner (1907a, 1907b) and Smith (1925, 1926) Challenges for and Amy Tanner's Spinoza and Modern Psychology (1907a) M. Hamblin Notes Chapter 2: The Philosopher of Psychoanalysis (II) Spinoza's Foreshadowing of Psychoanalysis: M. Hamblin , Constance , and Walter Valuing Humanism: Postwar Spinoza as the Psychoanalytic Remnant of Bildung Notes Part II Chapter 3: Freud's Negative Particle Freud, Heine, and the Tragedy of Hirsch-Hyacinth I. (No) Joke II. Arabic Curse and Jewish Malady Notes Chapter 4: Contextualizing Spinoza Situating Spinoza Social Doubling Pragmatic Immanence Inquisitional and Synagogue External Forces The Social Audacity of Individual Emergence Conclusion Notes Chapter 5: A First Reading Introduction Observing the World Oedipal Complexity Spinoza's Model of Mind The Primacy of Love Analyzing Perception & Method Conclusion Notes Part III Chapter 6: Ethics, Part I Introduction Beginning Part I: Some Contextual Background Addressing the Text Tools of Inquiry Notes Chapter 7: Ethics, Part II Definitions and Axioms Propositions Introducing the Mind Error and Clarity Common Notions of Error Spinoza's Shift in Voice Notes Chapter 8: A General Understanding of Clinical Method A Confluence of Perspectives A Pleasing Conflict of Lines and Angles Spinozan Dynamics: Conceiving an Unconscious Matrix Clinical Observations Conjoining Willing, Pleasure, and Pain Notes Chapter 9: Conclusion, Part III Spinoza's Clinical Field Demonstrating a Clinical Matrix of Mind Doubling, Folding, and Spinoza's Filigree Apple Notes Part IV Chapter 10: Clinical Spinoza Glimpsing Spinoza Clearly Discerning a Clinical Spinoza Spinoza's Demonstrated Method of Inquiry Earlier Applications Notes Chapter 11: Tools of Clinical Inquiry Notes Part V Chapter 12: The Multiple Polarities of Freud's Negative Particle Freud's Privation of Knowledge Addressing Oblivion, Step by Step Coda Notes References Index "Discovering Spinoza's early modern psychology some 35 years into his own clinical practice, Ian Miller now gives shape to this connection through a close reading of Spinoza's key philosophical ideas. With a rigorous and expansive analysis of Spinoza's Ethics in particular, Miller explores how Spinozan thought simultaneously empowered the original conceptual direction of psychoanalytic thinking, and anticipated the field's contemporary theoretical dimensions. Miller offers a detailed overview of the philosopher's psychoanalytic reception from the early work of German-language psychoanalytic thinkers, such as Freud and Andreas Lou-Salome, forward into its Anglophone reception, influencing both mid-century humanistic American psychoanalysis as well as anticipating thinkers such as Bion and Winnicott. Covering key concepts in psychoanalytic theory and clinical practice, this book demonstrates how knowledge of Spinoza's philosophical work can help to both illuminate and improve modern psychoanalytic therapies"-- Provided by publisher Discovering Spinoza’s early modern psychology some 35 years into his own clinical practice, Ian Miller now gives shape to this connection through a close reading of Spinoza’s key philosophical ideas. With a rigorous and expansive analysis of Spinoza’s Ethics in parti- cular, Miller explores how Spinozan thought simultaneously empowered the original conceptual direction of psychoanalytic thinking, and anti- cipated the field’s contemporary theoretical dimensions. Miller offers a detailed overview of the philosopher’s psychoanalytic reception from the early work of German-language psychoanalytic thinkers, such as Freud and Lou Andreas-Salomé, forward into its Anglophone reception, influencing both mid-century humanistic American psychoanalysis as well as anticipating thinkers such as Bion and Winnicott. Covering key concepts in psychoanalytic theory and clinical practice, this book demonstrates how knowledge of Spinoza’s philosophical work can help to