title: The interplay of deductive and inductive reasoning in psychoanalytic theorizing.
abstract: Deductive and inductive reasoning both played an essential part in Freud's construction of psychoanalysis. In this paper, the author explores the happy marriage of empiricism and rationalism in Freud's use of deductive reasoning in the construction of psychoanalytic theory. To do this, the author considers three major amendments Freud made to his theory: (i) infant and childhood sexuality, (ii) the structural theory, and (iii) the theory of signal anxiety. Ultimately, the author argues for, and presents Freud as a proponent of, the epistemological position that he calls critical realism.
authors.affiliation: Training Analyst of the Canadian Psychoanalytic Society and Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, University of Toronto.
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hanly
mesh_terms: D005619:Freudian Theory; D006801:Humans; D010684:Philosophy; D013850:Thinking
keywords: Deductive reasoning; Freud; analytic theory; anxiety; critical realism; empiricism; epistemology; inductive reasoning; logic; phenomenology; psychic functioning; scientific observation; subjectivity