Paul Johnston

Author of Wittgenstein: Re-thinking the Inner. Interested in exploring a Wittgensteinian approach to psychoanalysis.

[Paul Johnston @WittFreud]

Wittgenstein and Freud were two very different Viennese gurus. Both wanted to revolutionise the fields they worked in. Which one do you think has best stood the test of time or do you think both deserve to be forgotten? https://t.co/yVMGKIkUWr

[Paul Johnston @WittFreud]

How often does the word "Instinkt" appear in the German version of The Instincts & their Vissitudes? Not at all! Whereas Trieb (drive) occurs over 200 times. Ditto for Beyond the Pleasure Principle. Oh Strachey what have you done?! (Apols to those who have known this forever) :-)

[Paul Johnston @WittFreud]

Is the Unconscious a reflection of the uncontainable nature of desire? Or is it an archaic form of mental functioning with poetic capabilities that can help us become better integrated people? Jonathan Lear explored both options, but did he get it right? https://t.co/vXuYD4eVqW

[Paul Johnston @WittFreud]

@DrGipps Yes. There is no getting away from the problem of mortality - except perhaps as you suggest accepting mortality and not seeing it as a problem. But easier said than done :-)

[Paul Johnston @WittFreud]

The late psychoanalyst and philosopher Jonathan Lear was an engaging thinker always coming up with new perspectives on Freud and on human nature. His was a distinctive voice & it is worth exploring what he had to say. https://t.co/xkI3sWX85Q

[Paul Johnston @WittFreud]

Is love a basic force of nature? That is what the late philosopher & psychoanalyst Jonathan Lear claimed in one of his early books. It is a fascinating argument for psychoanalysis as a science of subjectivity, but does it really work? https://t.co/xkI3sWX85Q

[Paul Johnston @WittFreud]

@philosophybites Talking about or reliving his analysis with Bion!

[Paul Johnston @WittFreud]

@reeesh24 Sounds great but only if you are very well defended. Otherwise the ride might be quite hairy!

[Paul Johnston @WittFreud]

If you can only know what it is like to be a human, if you are a human, presumably you can only know what it is like to be an actor, if you are actor and only know what it is like to be me if you are me. Are there countless ineffable "what-it-is-like-to-be-ness"es for each of us?

[Paul Johnston @WittFreud]

@synekura_audio Do you mean your glasses for shots?

[Paul Johnston @WittFreud]

Nagel et al ask: what is it like to be an X?; reject all meaningful answers ("it feels hard/easy") and take this as proof that there is an indescribable what-it-is-like-to-be ness that you can only know by being the type of thing in question - a human being, a bat, a doctor etc.

[Paul Johnston @WittFreud]

David Chalmers asks: how can we explain why there is something it is like to entertain a mental image? But the question: what is like to entertain a mental image is meaningless. Describing what I am imagining/seeing is not describing what it is like to entertain a mental image.

[Paul Johnston @WittFreud]

There is also nothing it is like to be a bat or a human being. People can tell us what they feel about being alive (it is great/awful) & can compare what it is like to be a doctor vs an accountant (different kinds of stress etc) but there is no "what it is like to be an X"-ness.

[Paul Johnston @WittFreud]

@GabrielPer35811 @Philip_Goff Idk what it means to be partially or wholly constituted by consciousness. I also do not think I am my consciousness. What on earth would that mean? I am a human being that can do various things including sharing my experiences, but that does not make me a stream of consciousness.

[Paul Johnston @WittFreud]

Xmas brain-teaser: All predatory animals know calculus. Proof: predators need to be able to calculate acceleration. You need calculus to do this. Therefore all predators know calculus. Surely nothing wrong with this argument? (Inspired by reading: Mark Solm's The Hidden Spring).

[Paul Johnston @WittFreud]

@JonathanShedler People who say "We cannot know anyone else's experiences" often go on to say that they know their own experiences. But this is misleading. We can know other people's experience (esp. if they share them with us) & other people can help us better understand our own experiences.

[Paul Johnston @WittFreud]

A question for therapist colleagues: what do you think of Freud's dream interpretations which are often incredibly elaborate & use word similarities/puns? How similar is his approach to yours? If the modern approach is different, how would you characterise the difference?

[Paul Johnston @WittFreud]

@PAHoyeck Focus on the fact that you do not really know how this is playing out in the noumenal realm. Maybe the situation would look very different if we had access to things in themselves?

[Paul Johnston @WittFreud]

Little Hans thought that there was only one human sex organ - a widdler - but that men had it in its proper form and women had a smaller, inferior version. Not a surprising view for a boy to have. But, ironically, not that different from his analyst's view :-)

[Paul Johnston @WittFreud]

@Philip_Goff What is it to believe in God? Surely believing in a very powerful entity is not enough? You seem to believe that some entity played a role in creation but does that mean you believe in God?

[Paul Johnston @WittFreud]

@DrGipps Quintessence of dust