The Scientific Status of Psychoanalysis: Evidence and Confirmation

In his Foundations of Psychoanalysis: A Philosophical Critique, Adolf Gru¨nbaum claimed that the arguments supporting psychoanalytic hypotheses are both logically invalid and unsound. They are invalid because they violate the cannons of inductive elimination, and unsound because the clinical data is contaminated by the suggestive influence of the analyst.

In a spirited defence of psychoanalysis, Pushpa Misra asserts that Gru¨nbaum’s argument over suggestibility is not supported by textual evidence and gives her own formulation of Freud’s argument to show how the problem of suggestibility can be dealt with. To counter the charge of the invalidity of the repression argument, the author addresses the two specific objections of Gru¨nbaum: first, that repression can be a maintaining rather than an originating cause of neurotic symptoms, and, second, that by eliminating rival candidates it is possible to formulate a valid argument for repression aetiology.

This book is a must-read for all those interested in the stature and reputation of psychoanalysis in the scientific world.