The troubling problems of authority in psychoanalytic institutes
We are in conflict over the importance of the transmission of knowledge. It has been idealized in the abstract and marginalized in the concrete. It is the author‘s impression this has led to problems in the self-definition of analysts, which has been an important factor in the authoritarianism in education, and the reaction against it as seen in the influence of post modernism, with its skepticism of “knowledge”, and its’ trumpeting of subjectivity. Trends in education, where students are now viewed as consumers have also affected how knowledge is viewed. Can we maintain a flexible view of “truths” while not debunking knowledge? While the majority of studies and reflections on this topic have focused on training in the United States, there are indications this is a problem in Societies throughout the international psychoanalyrtic community.