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INSPIRATION: A PSYCHOANALYTIC AND AESTHETIC CONCEPT
Author(s) -
Williams Meg Harris
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
british journal of psychotherapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.442
H-Index - 17
eISSN - 1752-0118
pISSN - 0265-9883
DOI - 10.1111/j.1752-0118.1997.tb00349.x
Subject(s) - psychoanalytic theory , psychology , context (archaeology) , focus (optics) , personality , function (biology) , value (mathematics) , psychoanalysis , aesthetic value , quality (philosophy) , epistemology , aesthetics , philosophy , computer science , paleontology , physics , evolutionary biology , machine learning , biology , optics
The intention of this paper is to focus attention on the nature and value of inspiration as a function of particular importance in all aesthetic work, including psychoanalysis; and to indicate its analogous importance in personality development. Following the poets ‐ the most expressive analysts of inspiration ‐ inspiration is described as a mental process rather than a quality. This paper does not rely solely on mere statements about inspiration. Rather, features of the concept of inspiration are drawn from the aesthetic language of several poets: in particular, Dante, Keats, Milton, Emily Bronte, Plato. Finally, some more explicit links are made to the context of current psychoanalytic theory.