Interpreting the relative and absolute unconscious

Reply to Reviews by Slavin, Stein, and Stern

“…In that sense, any construction inevitably does violence to ambiguous experience in a way that might bear some relation to the way the imposition of the Symbolic always does violence to the Real. I believe also that it is important to consider both the sense in which ambiguity lends itself to verbal interpretation and the sense in which it defies linguistic organization altogether (see Ritual and Spontaneity, p. 23n;Fourcher, 1992)-a distinction that corresponds with two meanings of the Real in Lacan's thinking, as Stern (2000) recently emphasized and elucidated.…”

Changing Conceptions of Unconscious

“…Further, many hold a view of unconscious as a reified repository of "hidden truths" (Spence, 1982) that almost has a physical corroí lary. These trudis are discovered primarily by die analyst, as opposed to being constructed by both the patient and die analyst (Fourcher, 1992). The analyst excavates and inter prets, while the patient alone enaas and regresses.…”

From philosophy to poetry changes in psychoanalytic discourse

“…Analytic constructivists focus on the mutually organized dyadic interaction, often neglecting the realm of the symbolic, unconscious, and defensive responses. Fourcher (1992) commented on the troubling aspects of the concept of the unconscious from a constructivist viewpoint. He remarked, "Constructivists tend to be less clear about how to characterize the levels of interaction that do not involve reflective discourse" (p. 325).…”

“…The critical constructivist grants an external reality but recognizes that we cannot know it directly (Mahoney, 1991). These different positions, presumably, shape a theorist's conceptions and therapeutic interactions, although the subtleties of these positions as advocated, for example, by Stern (1992) versus Fourcher (1992), Bollas (1987), and probably Hoffman (1983Hoffman ( , 1992a are not clearly indicated from their clinical examples. 2 There is a lack of clarity and consistency in the use of terminology.…”