Mind, Psychoanalysis and Science

This work addresses the problematic relationship between psychoanalysis and other modes of understanding the mind and the brain. It examines the status of psychoanalysis in the light of contemporary developments in the philosophy of the mind, in cognitive psychology, and in the scientific understanding of the neurophysiology of dreams. Each of the contributors to the volume brings a different perspective and area of expertise to this relationship. The book raises questions which are implicit in a range of disciplines: is there satisfactory evidence to support psychoanalytic theory and practice? What precisely is the legacy of Freud's work? How have disciplines as diverse as literary criticism and neuroscience assimilated psychoanalytic theory? How far can the concepts of unconscious intentional states be defended against the criticisms so often levelled against Freudian theory?