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Reflections on knowledge and experience
Author(s) -
Colman Warren
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of analytical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.285
H-Index - 23
eISSN - 1468-5922
pISSN - 0021-8774
DOI - 10.1111/1468-5922.12004
Subject(s) - phronesis , compassion , relation (database) , epistemology , psychology , id, ego and super ego , context (archaeology) , social psychology , sociology , philosophy , computer science , paleontology , database , biology , theology
As analysts become more experienced, theoretical knowledge becomes more integrated and implicit and is gradually transformed into the practical wisdom ( phronesis ) described by Aristotle. While this leads to greater freedom in ways of working, it remains conditional on the consistent disciplined practice represented by the analytic attitude. In the context of my own development as an analyst, I suggest that increasingly the analyst works from the self rather than the ego and link this with Fordham's account of ‘not knowing beforehand’. Some implications for boundaries, enactment and the use of personal disclosure are discussed in relation to clinical material. I compare analysis with the wisdom traditions of religious practice and suggest that analysis is concerned with a way of living rooted in humane values of compassion and benevolence.