Class name: “Philosophy of Psychoanalysis”
Taught by: Visiting Associate Professor of Philosophy Delia Popa
Says Popa about her class:
This course is designed for students who are curious to explore the philosophical dimensions of the psychoanalytic practice. The course is meant to help us gain insights into psychoanalysis understood as a critical tool and as a unique introspective experience. How was psychoanalytic practice initiated, and how did it evolve? What are its goals and its achievements, its driving problems and its grounding concepts? How can we relate to its discoveries today?
These questions guide our explorations as we read carefully and discuss the main conceptual findings of psychoanalysis concerning the interpretation of dreams, jokes, everyday clumsy gestures, as well as experiences of attachment, love, idealization, destructivity, abjection, mourning, and melancholia.
Popa on why she wanted to teach this class:
I created this class to explore the rich philosophical reflection on psychoanalysis, a multifaceted discipline whose discoveries can help us think critically and creatively about our time. I wanted to find a way to approach philosophically the field of psychoanalytic practice, inviting students to question the numerous prejudices and assumptions that have long affected the reception of this field in our academic culture.
The guiding idea of the course is that access to this philosophical reflection on psychoanalytic experience is open to us inasmuch as we are willing to question the history of our own desires, as well as the ideals, fantasies, and ideologies guiding our culture(s). When these ideals, fantasies, and ideologies resist critical examination, psychoanalytic reflection teaches us that we can patiently work through such resistances and understand why they are imposed on us.
Huang on what makes this class unique:
The course offers a deep dive into the history of psychoanalysis, with a highlight on the theoretical work of Sigmund Freud. We investigate the main concepts of his work in dialogue with other psychoanalytic perspectives shaped by his collaborators and successors (Lou Andreas Salomé, Sandor Ferenczi, Melanie Klein, Sabine Spilerein, Jacques Lacan) and by more recent contributors to the field of psychoanalytic studies (Maria Török, Nicolas Abraham, Anne Dufourmantelle, Anne Anlin Cheng, Gabriel Tupinambà).
Through these conceptual explorations, we discover the rich multicultural history of psychoanalysis, its outstanding clinical and theoretical creativity, and its philosophical strength. We also reflect on the way in which psychoanalytic investigation can help us approach works of art, such as Salvador Dali’s paintings or Walter Salles’ 2024 film, I’m Still Here.