Psychoanalysis has had a profound impact on popular morals, for Freud's discoveries have made us aware that unconscious motivations may subvert moral conduct and that moral judgments may be rationalizations of self-interest or expressions of hostility. Freud has, in fact, been called a founder of the hermeneutics of suspicion that pervades modern attitudes toward morality. In this book, however, a psychoanalyst who is also a professor of ethics asserts that we do not accurately understand Freud on the various psychological issues relevant to morality and the ethical implications that can be drawn from his views. Ernest Wallwork offers a reinterpretation of Freudian theory, showing the ways in which it points toward the possibility of genuine moral behaviour.

Psychoanalysis and Ethics: The Necessity of Perspective is an attempt to look deeply into the relationship between psychoanalysis and ethics, and in particular into the failure of traditional psychoanalytic thinking to recognise the foundational character of ethical values. In recent years, partly because of the climate crisis, the need for an "ethical turn" in our thinking has been recognised with increasing urgency. Using different historical lenses, and with special reference to the thought of the philosopher Emmanuel Levinas and pioneering American psychoanalysts such as Hans Loewald and Stephen Mitchell, the author discusses the perspectives needed in addition to those of science if the facts of "psychic reality" are to be more adequately recognised. In particular, this book emphasises the importance of a coherent account of the role of ethics in shaping the development both of the individual and of society. Psychoanalysis and Ethics is essential reading for those concerned for the importance of ethics in psychoanalytic practice and theory, and more widely for those seeking to understand the place of ethics and religion in psychological development.

What role does ethics play in the practice of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy? For most of its history, psychoanalysis has viewed ethics as a "side issue" in clinical work—occasionally relevant, but not central to therapeutic action. In Psychoanalysis as an Ethical Process, Robert Drozek highlights the foundational importance of ethical experience in the therapeutic relationship, as well as the role that ethical commitments have played in inspiring what has been called the "relational turn" in psychoanalysis. Using vivid clinical examples from the treatment of patients with severe personality disorders, Drozek sketches out an ethically grounded vision of analytic process, wherein analyst and patient are engaged in the co-construction of an intersubjective space that is progressively more consistent with their intrinsic worth as human beings. Psychoanalysis can thus be seen as a unique vehicle for therapeutic and ethical change, leading to a dramatic expansion of agency, altruism, and self-esteem for both participants. By bringing our analytic theories into closer contact with our ethical experiences as human beings, we can connect more fully with the fundamental humanity that unites us with our patients, and that serves as the basis for deep and lasting therapeutic change. This book will be of interest to psychotherapists and psychoanalysts, as well as scholars in ethical theory and philosophy.

In this volume, renowned experts in psychoanalysis reflect on the relationship between psychoanalysis and religion, in particular presenting various controversial interpretations of the question if and to what extent monotheism semantically and structurally fits psychoanalytic insights. Some essays augment traditional religious critiques of Freudianism with later religio-philosophical theories on, for example, femininity. Others explore the relation between psychopathology and morality from the Freudian premise that psychopathology shows in an excessive way aspects or mechanisms of the human psyche that constitute our subjectivity, moral capacities, and behavior.Contributors: Andreas De Block, KU Leuven-University of Leuven; Fethi Benslama, University of Paris Diderot; Sergio Benvenuto, ISTC, Rome; Gohar Homayounpour, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran; Felix de Mendelssohn, Sigmund Freud University, Vienna; Julia Kristeva, University of Paris Diderot; Lode Lauwaert, KU Leuven-University of Leuven; Siamak Movahedi, University of Massachusetts; Wolfgang Muller-Funk, University of Vienna; Gilles Ribault, University of Paris Diderot; Céline Surprenant, University of Sussex; Inge Scholz-Strasser, Sigmund Freud Foundation; Herman Westerink, University of Vienna; Joel Whitebook, Columbia University; Moshe Zuckermann, Tel Aviv University

In this fascinating and ground-breaking book, Itzhak Benyamini uses discourse analysis to lay out the way Lacan constructed his own intellectual discourse informed by Judeo-Christianity. Offering an understanding of Lacan’s emergence and intellectual struggles with significant contemporary intellectuals, the author builds a panoramic view of the entire psychoanalytic discourse at the time of the foundational post-Freudian generation. By engaging in close reading of texts and seminars given by Lacan between the 1930s and 50s, Benyamini uncovers the coming-into-being of Lacan's key concepts: The Mirror Stage, the Imaginary, the Real, the Symbolic, the Name-of-the-Father, the Other, jouissance, and das Ding. The author argues that Lacan wished to regulate this process of conceptualization by connecting the concepts of the "Father" and the "Other" with themes from the Judeo-Christian tradition, especially the Biblical one, to create a clinical ethic, that does not reflect a worldview or ideology and is guided solely by the analyzand’s unconscious desire.

In Psychoanalysis as a Subversive Phenomenon: Social Change, Virtue Ethics, and Analytic Theory, Amber M. Trotter examines the radical sociopolitical roots of psychoanalysis and contends that psychoanalytic practices can and should be used to promote social change today. Trotter illustrates how analytic theory and practice could function subversively in contemporary American culture. This book is recommended for students and scholars of psychology, sociology, political science, cultural studies, and philosophy.

The Ethics of Lacanian Psychoanalysis observes different aspects of life – childhood, romantic love, sex, death, and human suffering – through a Lacanian lens, with a glance toward a Buddhist point of view. Combining Lacanian psychoanalysis with insight from Freud, Bion, and the Zen masters, this book suggests finding ways to suffer less and cultivate a passion for life. Yehuda Israely and Esther Pelled consider the ethics in the light of which people live, and the questions pertinent to this choice. What kind of person do you want to be? What desire will you choose your life to be led by? How will you deal with separations, relationships, and cravings that you cannot control? This book raises these questions and proposes possible answers through an accessible, conversational format. The Ethics of Lacanian Psychoanalysis will be of interest to psychoanalysts in practice and in training as well as readers looking to learn more about applying Lacanian ideas to everyday life.

Addressing the common ground between ethics and psychoanalysis, W. W. Meissner asks "Does psychoanalysis have anything to contribute to ethical understanding and reflection?" and conversely, "Does ethics have anything to offer analytic understanding of the complexities of human behavior and decision-making?" Both disciplines focus their interest and concern not only on the inner well-being of the individual, but also on questions of his or her adaptation to the outside world, including both intimate personal relations as well as broader societal and communal relations. This book explores and explicates areas of interaction and common interest between these two disciplines in the hope of opening the way to further exploration and dialogue in the understanding of the human phenomenon.