The situation of theoretical and technical
pluralism currently present in
psychoanalysis compels us to
ask ourselves why we would rather
one way of working above another.
In order to answer such interrogation,
it becomes necessary to pay
attention to the type of argumentation
that we
regard as valid: be it in public
controversies, such as ‘open forum’ debates
which go with the clinic deliberation
process, be it the critical
exam of
different alternative hypothesis.
If we give up the justification
of the choice
of one theoretical or technical
position above another one
as much possible
we are giving way to certain
relativism that could result
in the “everything
goes” status as well as in a resignation to the categories
of truth, rationality
and reality. However, the systematic
confrontation of the diverse
argumentative
resources, bearing in mind
both the theoretical presumptions
as well
as the clinical consequences,
unfolds a more fertile path
as to the acceptance
towards the otherness, as to
the foreign reasons and the
development
of one’s own positions. The work offers criteria for the
examination of
argumentative process on the
basis of a descriptive and
at the same time
normative viewpoint.
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