This course will survey a selection of these theoretical and clinical polemics via a reading of primary and secondary sources from classical Freudian theory, ego psychology, Kleinian, Lacanian, object relations, and contemporary relational approaches.
Far from a canon of consistent ideas, the history of psychoanalytic theory is marked by conflict, splits and vicious debates that have important clinical and historical implications. Readings will include Freud, Anna Freud, Melanie Klein, Jacques Lacan, Donald Winnicott, and others. We will focus on key conceptual differences between these different psychoanalytic schools, with close attention to clinical technique as well as theories of mental life.