The landscape of psychoanalysis has changed, at times dramatically, in the hundred or so years since Freud first began to think and write about it. Freudian theory and concepts have risen, fallen, evolved, mutated, and otherwise reworked themselves in the hands and minds of analysts the world over, leaving us with a theoretically pluralistic (yet threateningly multifarious) diffusion of psychoanalytic viewpoints. To help make sense of it all, Morris Eagle sets out to critically reevaluate fundamental psychoanalytic concepts of theory and practice in a topical manner. Beginning at the beginning, he reintroduces Freud's ideas in chapters on the mind, object relations, psychopathology, and treatment; he then approaches the same topics in terms of more contemporary psychoanalytic schools. In each chapter, however, there is an underlying emphasis on identification and integration of converging themes, which is reemphasized in the final chapter. Relevant empirical research findings are used throughout, thus basic concepts - such as repression - are reexamined in the light of more contemporary developments. Review "As this superb text moves the reader from classical to contemporary psychoanalysis, Eagle's scholarly voice displays his mastery of the history of psychoanalysis. It is a real tour d'horizon for the education of students and teachers alike. This book fulfills the task of true enlightenment about the psychoanalytic intellectual and emotional adventure." - Professor Dr. Horst Kächele, International Psychoanalytic University, Berlin "Eagle's book is a masterpiece of conceptual integration. It is simply the best guide to the development of modern psychoanalytic thinking available to students and practitioners. Its measured criticism of classical and novel approaches provides a description of the evolution of Freud's science that is in places challenging, in all respects balanced, and ultimately highly entertaining. He presents a majestic, grand perspective with a remarkable feat of revelatory scholarship." - Peter Fonagy, Freud Memorial Professor, University College London, UK "This is a long-needed book. It does not present a new approach or 'school' - we have too many books like that already. This is much more ambitious: It presents an overview of Freudian theory vis-à-vis the major schools of contemporary psychoanalysis. For example, four chapters are on contemporary conceptions of mind, object relations, psychopathology, and treatment. Divergences and convergences are discussed in depth, with the clarity of thinking that always characterizes Morris Eagle's writings. His previous book, Recent Developments in Psychoanalysis (1984), became a classic, was translated in several languages, and was used as a textbook in many university courses and training programs. I have no doubt that this new book will also be a point of reference for the entire psychoanalytic community." - Paolo Migone, Editor, Psicoterapia e Scienze Umane "Freudian theory, metaphorically, comprises an exceptionally complex, libido-filled hydraulic system which was detailed in his 23-volume oeuvre. Morris, the master "plumber" extraordinaire, demonstrates a unique talent for presenting a remarkably lucid, largely jargon-free, comprehensive, sympathetic delineation of this system in approximately 100 pages - a stunning tour-de-force! The bulk of this book presents a penetrating, objective examination of how contemporary psychoanalytic theories diverge and converge with classical psychoanalytic theory in conceptions of mind, object relations, psychopathology, and treatment. He then focuses on and explicates the convergence on the importance of the capacity for reflection on the other's mental state, which he integrates with the classical emphasis on self-reflection. All interested in psychoanalysis, on the spectrum of undergraduates to senior analysts, will gain insight and understanding from the scope and perspicacity of this remark
