Imagination: a Philosophical Examination of The

1 The ‘Reality Oriented’ Imagination: a Philosophical Examination of the Imagination in ‘Mentalization’ and ‘Neuropsychoanalysis’. Annie Hardy Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University College London 2017 2 I, Annie Hardy, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. 3 Abstract This thesis is concerned with the conceptualization of the imagination in contemporary psychoanalytic theory, focusing in particular on its connection with knowledge. I will propose that imaginative processes form the core of psychic ‘health’ by instantiating a state of mind in which the subject is genuinely open to ‘learning from experience’. At the centre of the investigation is a psychic process that I term the ‘reality oriented’ imagination: a form of conscious mental activity that facilitates an epistemological connection with both the internal and external worlds and renders the unobservable psychological experiences of others accessible. The concept of the ’reality oriented’ imagination significantly disrupts Freud’s portrayal of the imaginative processes as a form of wish-fulfilment in which the individual’s attention is drawn away from external reality and placed under the sway of the pleasure principle. Such differing presentations of the imagination across psychoanalytic models can arguably be understood by considering several major shifts in psychoanalytic theorizing since Freud’s time. I will propose that these changes can be characterised as an ‘epistemic turn’: a general movement in psychoanalysis towards framing the internal world as strategic rather than compensatory, and a corresponding understanding of psychopathological processes as a response to failures in understanding and prediction rather than instinctual conflict. Sound psychological functioning, according to such a picture, is characterised by a lack of rigid internal interpretive schemas: it is, paradoxically, the individual who does not need to ‘know’ who is most open to experience as it presents itself. This leads to a characterization of healthy conscious experience that resonates more with Winnicott’s ‘creativity’ than Freud’s ‘secondary process’: a form of engagement with internal and external reality that combines veridical perception with an affective sense of self and agency. 4 Acknowledgments First and foremost I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my primary supervisor Liz Allison, who has been a tremendous source of support and inspiration throughout this journey. Above and beyond her careful reading and intelligent suggestions, which often changed the course of this project substantially and for the better, working with her has helped me develop my intellectual voice, for which I will always be grateful. Martin Debbane, Juliet Mitchell and Sebastian Gardner, from each of their unique perspectives, all gave invaluable insights at critical times in the development of this work, the ripple-effects of which can be felt throughout. I am grateful for the time they spent carefully considering my ideas and I know I have benefitted hugely from it. My parents, for who no job is too big or small, have made this project possible, not only in ensuring the process was as painless as it could be in the late stages but in the years of encouragement and support leading up to it, without which I never would have written the first word. My many stimulating discussions with Arthur Eaton, Lewis Kerfane-Brown and Charis Kontou since we first walked into UCL together in 2011 have hugely shaped how I think about psychoanalysis. Arthur has been my academic partner-in-crime since day one; his keen insight and novel perspectives have certainly impacted this work for the better across many years and many conversations. The Bracey Street gang – Camille, Cory and Kelvin - were the best of friends as I took on this sometimes daunting challenge; I could not have found a better place to call home. Chloe, Laura, Clare and Johnny were all my cheerleaders when I needed it the most. At last, but never least, I am thankful to Tom, who not only has been incredibly generous with his time and support, but who makes every day that bit brighter. 5 Contents 1. Introduction (Parts One and Two) ..................................................................................... 7 2. Chapter One: Insulated from the World: Daydreaming and Mental Imagery in Freudian Metapsychology................................................................................................ 41 3. Chapter Two: The Temptations of Dualism: Contextualising Freud’s Theory of the Imagination ............................................................................................................. 83 4. Chapter Three: The Imagination, the Object and the Outside World ......................... 113 5. Chapter Four: The ‘Epistemic Turn’: Naturalizing the Imagination, Naturalizing the Mind ..................................................................................................... 147 6. Chapter Five: Dreaming, Fantasying and Learning ..................................................... 187 7. Chapter Six: Towards a Developmental Account of the ‘Reality Oriented’ Imagination ...................................................................................................................... 211 8. Chapter Seven: Re-Conceptualising the Imagination: Phenomenology, Negative Capability and the ‘Agentive Self’ .................................................................. 239 9. Chapter Eight: Truth, Trust and Interpretation: Re-assessing the Relationship between Language and Imagination in Psychoanalytic Theory ................................. 269 10. Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 289 11. Bibliography .................................................................................................................... 291 6 Because I know that time is always time And place is always and only place And what is actual is actual only for one time And only for one place I rejoice that things are as they are and I renounce the blessed face T.S. Eliot “Ash Wednesday” 7 Introduction: Part One “Reason is to imagination as the body to the spirit, as the shadow to the substance” - (Shelley 1821 quoted in Cocking 1991: vii) Sophocles’ play Oedipus Rex can be seen to narrate the founding myth of psychoanalytic theory: the ill-fated Oedipus, after hearing from the Oracle that he will murder his father and have sexual relations with his mother sets off determined to avoid his fate, only to bring about the very thing he feared. From a Freudian perspective, this can be seen to echo his theory that the Oedipus Complex is the universal structuring force of the unconscious mind; a psychic fate that none of us can escape in spite of all our repressive efforts (Freud 1924b). Freud read Oedipus Rex as an instinct theorist, a position from which he placed a great deal of importance on infantile sexuality in understanding both adult health and psychopathology (Freud 1905b, 1915b, 1924). Clinical psychoanalysis, on this view, is the search for cure through insight into repressed sexual conflicts, with the analyst acting as a skilled archaeologist who is able to till the patient’s associations for traces of thoughts, feelings and desires that have been banished to the unconscious mind (Freud 1937). Paul Ricoeur (1970) has stressed that this ‘archaeological’ view leads to a ‘backwards’ reading of the Oedipus drama, which Henri Enckell has described as follows: The drama opens with the ongoing plague; it is clear that the epidemic is a punishment, and in the archaeological reading, the play is the story of the search for the crime. As the crime has already been committed, all eyes are turned backwards. In the archaeological reading, the slaughter of Laius is not the only misdeed, but the fundamental "crime" is childhood sexuality (with its own 8 consequences). The tragedy of man is posited desire, a starting point we cannot avoid. In this reading, we thus look for past deeds and childhood desire, facts that define us. The central figure of this reading is the Sphinx, representing the enigma of childhood sexuality (Enckell 2007: 66) Freud’s strict focus on infantile sexuality as the ultimate driving force behind psychopathology has largely fallen out of favour since his death, leading to broad changes in both psychoanalytic theory and practice (Fonagy & Target 2003; Greenberg & Mitchell 1983; Rayner 1991). In line with this, Ricoeur has proposed an alternative ‘teleological’1 reading of Oedipus Rex: In this reading, Oedipus Rex is not a story of past deeds and desire, but a drama of evolving truth. The tragedy is not of posited desire, but of an unrelenting search. Despite Iocaste's warnings, Oedipus cannot help but try to cast light on the facts…Oedipus reaches forward; he moves towards self-consciousness, towards a position from which he can see himself. (Enckell 2007:66) The ‘teleological’ reading, Enckell argues, captures the fact that bodily ‘instincts’ have become displaced by ‘affects’ as the central driving force in psychic life: In Ricoeur's dialectical reading of Oedipus Rex, the archaeological reflection looked for the human subject in a regressive move to a temporal, functional and structural past. In the opposite reading, the drama was seen as a tragedy of evolving self-consciousness.

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