Why Psychoanalysis? (European Perspectives: A Series in Social Thought and Cultural Criticism)

Rating:
Summary: pensive and pendulous
Review: Psychoanalysis as a necessary and reasonable practice is defended and reviewed.. Roudinesco's book neatly narrates the contentious 20th century history of psychoanalysis in France and the United States. The author describes psychoanalyis as a deeply human(e) practice, a practice allied with democratic freedoms and care of the self. This small but thoroughly provocative book, raises questions about the chemical and genetic reducibility of the individual that medication as remediation readily assumes. Also assumed is the existence of a soul or psyche as an entity ready for care. The existence of this "given" does not meet discussion. The author evenly and smartly makes a thoughtful contribution to the discussion on caring for depression and addressing the person not just the chemical.