Attention and Interpretation

by Wilfred R. Bion

Bion's central thesis in this volume is that for the study of people, whether individually or in groups, a cardinal requisite is accurate observation, accompanied by accurate appreciation and formulation of the observations so made. The study represents a further development of a theme introduced in the author's earlier works, particularly in Elements of Psychoanalysis (1963) and Transformations (1965). Bion's concern with the subject stems directly from his psycho-analytic experience and reflects his endeavor to overcome, in a scientific frame of reference, the immense difficulty of observing, assessing, and communicating non-sensuous experience.Here, he lays emphasis on he overriding importance of attending to the realities of mental phenomena as they manifest themselves in the individual or group under study. In influences that interpose themselves between the observer and the subject of his scrutiny giving rise to opacity, are examined, together with ways of controlling them. Problems of language are considered: In order to express and communicate, the analyst is obliged to use words and formulations deriving from a background of sensuous experience and designed for a different task. Furthermore, the author says "It is too often forgotten that the gift of speech, so centrally employed, has been elaborated s much for the purpose of concealing thought by dissimulation and lying as for the purpose of elucidating or communicating thought."The practical value of this volume for those engaged in psycho-analytic work is self-evident; furthermore, its implications extend to many other areas of study. The discussion is wide-ranging: based on Kleinian theory, it encompasses theological dogma and mathematics, and the relationships between these fields. In particular, an attempt is made to show the analogy of certain psychological concepts with mathematical formulations such as set theory.Readers already familiar with Bion's work will welcome this further statement of his views. Those encountering his writing for the first time will at once perceive the originality of his approach and the precision of his theoretical exposition.

Genres: Psychoanalysis, Psychology, Nonfiction

145 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 1984

Reviews

[Lucas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tema relevante e absolutamente atual a quem tem interesse em prática psicanalítica. Ótimas discussões sobre a voracidade de pacientes com experiências não metabolizadas, assim como o papel do analista. A linguagem críptica, no entanto, não ajuda a fluência do livro. Podia ter sido escrito de forma mais simples.

[Filippo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Particularly interesting is the discussion between container and contained (with the respective exploration of the relationship between establishment and mystic), as well as the suppression of memory and desire as a condition for attunement with what Bion terms the 'O' of the analytic process. On this latter point, Bion seems to be making a point about the relationship of a language's syntax to its semantics, in particularly drawing the conclusion that excessive attention being paid to the syntax (i.e. what exactly was said and when exactly it was said, formally arranged into a syntax of the patient's personal idiom) can cause the analyst to lose sight of what whatever was said was supposed to communicate by being expressed precisely the way it was and at the time it was (this point is loosely reminiscent of Nietzsche's remarks in Twilight of the Idols about moral judgements being 'but stupidities' when taken at face value: these only having significance when interpreted 'laterally' as markers of specific sentiments being felt at particular times and in response to definite circumstances). Focusing on a memory-based narrative of the analysis, complete with a teleological terminus that the analyst desires to bring about (the 'healing' of the patient, for instance), is in other words detrimental to insight into the 'thing-in-itself' which is constantly articulating itself ('transforming') in the background of what is overtly expressed or patently at hand. Bion's illustration of this runs as follows: if a patient were to, at one point, make a remark to the effect that he was married and had been for some time, and should this remark take the analyst by surprise, this would be fertile grounds for insight on the analyst's part into why exactly should it be that said patient had come across as a single man hitherto, and the question would naturally arise as to why it should be just now that the information came to the forefront of the analyst's attention in so jarringly a manner. A meticulous account of what was said and when, amounting to an accurate yet rather sterile compilation of facts, would have likely prevented a less forgetful and more desiring analyst from being taken aback by the patient's remarks, thus precluding fertile insight into the fact that this patient, for whatever reason, had, up until now, acted in a way which suggested him being unmarried.

Going back to Bion's analysis of the relationship between establishment and mystic, it is interesting to combine his conclusions in this book with some remarks I remember him making in one I read previously ('Second Thoughts'). There, Bion explored the possibility of the adult schizoid disposition being a developmental result of sadistic attacks towards the breast carried out by the infant the dread of whom the mother refused to contain. In this sense, the breast is seen to function as the repository of the infant's 'beta-elements', a sort of a surrogate 'digestive apparatus' which task it is to metabolize impressions that the infant cannot yet 'digest' on his own. The mother who withdraws the breast accordingly forbids its use as a container, similarly to how a group or society (establishment) which is hostile to the mystic essentially denies containment to the mystical insight (the 'messianic idea'). When looked at it in this way, the modern Western world, having long turned its back on its task to 'produce a genius' (in Nietzsche's words) and to contain said genius' insights, is essentially creating an army of schizoid sadists who see it as their task to destroy it. More interestingly, the un-metabolized impressions left behind by the alpha-function (the 'beta-elements' mentioned above) are precisely the sort of thing which would serve as the basis for a mystical insight. In other words, the mystic whose messianic idea is denied containment by society stands in relation to the infant whose beta-elements are refused containment by the mother. This would then frame the pathologization of schizophrenia as a defensive tactic employed by society qua establishment in order to justify its dismissal of the messianic idea, one which would be detrimental to said society's homeostasis were it to be 'allowed in', accordingly insuring itself against the prospect of being internally disrupted and ultimately superseded. Though I am not pronouncing myself on whether or not these speculations are 'right' in a conventional sense, they constitute undoubtedly a very interesting interpretive device, and for this reason alone I believe the book is worth reading.

[Jamey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Feet of clay. Just wait.