From Seeking to Witnessing: Freud’s Unique Perspective on Human Subjectivity

Abstract

“This struggle between doctor and the patient, between intellect and instinctual life, between understanding and seeking to act, is played out almost exclusively in the phenomenon of transference” (Freud, 1912. p.322). This paper is a theoretical review, and will attempt to articulate Freud’s unique perspective on human subjectivity through what occurs in the psychoanalytic clinic: the unfolding of a patient’s inner world within the complex intersubjective tides of the analyst, the patient and the setting. The clinic here also becomes a metaphor for and a representation of what occurs outside or without it. Towards the end, Freud’s contribution will also be seen in the light of his changing technique and the impact of this change on the psychoanalytic way of seeing.