Psychoanalysis as Liberation from Moments
Psychoanalysis, in my opinion, can be best understood as a set of tactics, within rhetoric. Persuasion is a beautiful thing. When people disagree, they can fight, and one of them can defeat the other physically. Or, they can try to persuade each other of their own worldview. If this is successful, they will learn to understand each other, the two worldviews will come into harmony, and they will, at least in some sense, agree. Sometimes the best way to persuade another person is through a straightforward logical argument, with a thesis statement, supporting evidence and reason, and so on. But sometimes this is not the most effective tactic. In the late 19th century, people were diagnosed with something called hysteria- something that is now no longer generally recognized as a legitimate medical diagnosis. It was mostly women who were diagnosed with hysteria, and in fact the term has the same etymological root as "uterus." Ancient Egyptians and Greeks had believed that h