Books by Donald P. Spence

Until recently, psychoanalysis has been a most reluctant recipient of the new inheritance. For most of its century-long life it has clung to the positivist epistemology of Freud, its founding genius, belying his hope that his followers would be as skeptical about received wisdom in their time as he was in his. Psychoanalysis has protected itself from change by preserving its store of founding metaphors in their original form.

Discusses the idea that psychoanalysis is no closer to being a science now than when Freud first invented the discipline. By challenging the traditions and diminishing the power of rhetoric, this text aims to show how psychoanalysis can remain a creative enterprise with a scientific base.