Abstract
The paper explores the concept of truth in Bion’s theory and in the post-Bionian context of the analytic field. Truth is addressed on three levels: epistemological, metapsychological, and clinical. Bion criticizes positivism in psychoanalysis, and the same vertex when it appears in psychoanalysis itself, stating that the search for truth at all costs is similar to the arrogance and stupidity of the psychotic part of the personality. He revolutionizes the analytic concept of truth by orienting it to the function of the emotional linking between analyst and patient rather than to content. Post-Bionian analytic theory further develops these concepts. In a field or radically intersubjective perspective, the author emphasizes the shift from an “I/you” perspective to a “we” perspective. The treatment is less about the abstract search for supposed truths and more about the truth being expressed in the process of emotional and affective attunement.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bion, W. R. (1958). On arrogance. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 39, 144–146.
Bion, W. R. (1961). The conception of man. In The complete works of W. R. Bion. Vol. XVI. C. Mawson (Ed.). (pp. 9–27). London: Karnac. 2014.
Bion, W. R. (1962). Learning from experience. London: Tavistock.
Bion, W. R. (1967). Second thoughts. London: Heinemann.
Bion, W. R. (1970). Attention and interpretation. London: Karnac. 1984.
Bion, W. R. (1977). The grid. In Two papers. The grid and ceasura. (pp. 1–34). London: Karnac. 1989. (Originally published by Rio de Janeiro: Imago Editors. 1977).
Bion, W. R. (1980). Bion in New York and São Paulo and three Tavistock seminars. London: The Harris Meltzer Trust. 2018.
Civitarese, G. (2008). ‘Caesura’ as Bion’s discourse on the method. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 89, 1123–1143.
Civitarese, G. (2013). The grid and the truth drive. The Italian Psychoanalytic Annual, 7, 91–114.
Civitarese, G. (2016). Truth as immediacy and unison: A new common ground in psychoanalysis? Commentary on essays addressing “is truth relevant?” Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 85, 449–501.
Civitarese, G. (2020). The names of O: Is Bion a mystic? The Italian Psychoanalytic Annual, 14, 9–28.
Civitarese, G. (2021a). Intersubjectivity and the analytic field. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 69(5), 853–893.
Civitarese, G. (2021b). Symmetry and asymmetry in the analytic process: Reply to commentaries. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 69(5), 921–935.
Civitarese, G. (2021c). Bion’s graph of ‘‘in search of existence.’’ American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 81, 326–350.
Civitarese, G. (2022). Psychoanalytic field theory: A contemporary introduction. London: Routledge.
Civitarese, G. (2023a). Sul concetto di intersoggettività in psicoanalisi [On the concept of intersubjectivity in psychoanalysis]. Psicoterapia e Scienze Umane, 57(3), 375–398.
Civitarese, G. (2023b). Does it resemble reality? On the ethics of psychoanalytic writing. Psychoanalytic Quarterly, in press.
Civitarese, G. (2023c). Intuition and we-ness in Bion and Post-Bionian field theory. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, in press.
Esposito, R. (2014). Persons and things: From the body’s point of view. Cambridge: Polity Press. 2015.
Ferenczi, S. (1927). The problem of the termination of the analysis. In Final contributions to the problems and methods of psycho–analysis. (pp. 77–86). London: Karnac Books. 1994.
Ferro, A. (2021). Negative capabilities, play and the negative. American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 81, 351–360.
Ferro, A. & Civitarese, G. (2015). The analytic field and its transformations. London: Routledge.
Freud, S. (1911). Formulations on the two principles of mental functioning. Standard Edition, 12, (pp. 213–226). London: Hogarth.
Freud, S. (1920). Beyond the pleasure principle. Standard Edition, Vol. 18, (pp. 1–64). London: Hogarth.
Grotstein, J. (1997a). Why Oedipus and not Christ? A psychoanalytic inquiry into innocence, human sacrifice, and the sacred—Part I: Innocence, spirituality, and human sacrifice. American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 57, 193–220. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024611729991
Grotstein, J. (1997b). Why Oedipus and Not Christ?: A psychoanalytic inquiry into innocence, human sacrifice, and the sacred—Part II: The numinous and spiritual dimension as a metapsychological perspective. American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 57, 317–335. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022467406962
Grotstein, J. S. (2004). The seventh servant: The implications of a truth drive in Bion’s theory of ‘O.’ International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 85, 1081–1101.
Grotstein, J. S. (2007). A beam of intense darkness: Wilfred Bion’s legacy to psychoanalysis. London: Karnac.
Hegel, G. W. H. (1807). The phenomenology of spirit. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2018.
Heidegger, M. (1927). Being and time. J. Stambaugh (Trans.). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. 1996.
Jullien, F. (2020). De la vraie vie. Paris: Éditions de l’Observatoire.
Kant, I. (1781). Critique of pure reason. F. M. Müller (Trans.). London: Penguin.
Klein, M. (1946). Notes on some schizoid mechanisms. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 27, 99–110.
Kojève, A. (1947). Introduction to the reading of Hegel: Lectures on the phenomenology of spirit. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. 1980.
Lacan, J. (1966). Écrits. New York: W. W. Norton. 2002.
Mawson, C. (Ed.). (2014). The complete works of W. R. Bion. Vol. 6. London: Karnac.
Merleau-Ponty, M. (1945). Phenomenology of perception. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. 2002.
Morin, M.-E. (2022). Merleau-Ponty and Nancy on sense and being at the limits of phenomenology. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Nietzsche, F. (1873). On truth and lies in a nonmoral sense. JSTOR, 49, 58–72. 1992. https://www.jstor.org/stable/42577334
Nissim-Momigliano, L. N. (1992). Shared experience: The psychoanalytic dialogue. London: Routledge.
Poincaré, H. (1952). Science and method. New York: Dover Publications.
Ricoeur, P. (1965). Freud and philosophy: An essay on interpretation. D. Savage (Trans.). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. 1977.
Rimbaud, A. (1966). Rimbaud: Complete works, selected letters. W. Fowlie (Trans.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Segal, H. (1998). Introduction to Bion. In Yesterday, today and tomorrow. (pp. 211–218). London: Routledge. 2007.
Trotter, W. (1916). Instincts of the herd in peace and war. London: T. Fisher Unwin.
Winnicott, D. W. (1971). Playing and reality. London: Routledge. 2005.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Civitarese, G. On Bion’s Concept of Truth in an Extra-Moral Sense. Am J Psychoanal 83, 495–519 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1057/s11231-023-09430-w
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s11231-023-09430-w