A theory of thinking

By W. Bion. The Complete Works of W. R. Bion, 2021

524 citations recorded by the source corpus.

(i) In this paper I am primarily concerned to present a theoretical system. Its resemblance to a philosophical theory depends on the fact that philosophers have concerned themselves with the same subjectmatter; it differs from philosophical theory in that it is in intended, like all psychoanalytical theories, for use. It is devised with the intention that practising psychoanalysts should restate the hypotheses of which it is composed in terms of empirically verifiable data. In this respect it bears the same relationship to similar statements of philosophy as the statements of applied mathematics bear to pure mathematics. The derived hypotheses that are intended to admit of empirical test, and to a lesser extent the theoretical system itself, bear the same relationship to the observed facts in a psychoanalysis as statements of applied mathematics, say about a mathematical circle, bear to a statement about a circle drawn upon paper. (ii) This theoretical .system is intended to be applicable in a significant number of cases; psychoanalysts should therefore experience realizations that approximate to the theory. I attach no diagnostic importance to the theory, though I think it may be applicable whenever a disorder of thought is believed to exist. Its diagnostic significance will depend upon the pattern formed by the constant conjunction of a number of theories of which this theory would be one. It may help to explain the theory if I discuss the background of

Subfields: Literature and Literary Theory

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/c520400ce6ff6ba2ee66b111673eb0a31ab6065c

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In Literature and Literary Theory

  1. N. Giffney

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