THE CONCEPT OF PSYCHIC DETERMINISM

RONALD W. ANGELAuthors Info & Affiliations

Publication: American Journal of Psychiatry

Volume 116, Number 5

https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.116.5.405

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Abstract

Psychic determinism is a basic tenet of psychoanalysis. It is commonly defined as an application of the causality principle to psychic occurrences. Causality, however, is no longer accepted as a basic postulate in the advanced physical sciences. This dilemma is recognized by the psychoanalysts, who nevertheless would prefer to retain a deterministic point of view.

Psychic determinism may be defined without reference to causality, by using the mathematical concept of a function. Whether or not the psyche is a deterministic system, in the mathematical sense, cannot be decided in the present state of our knowledge.

Regardless of the definition chosen, psychic determinism is best regarded as a working hypothesis, which cannot be established on a priori grounds.

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Information & Authors

Information

Published In

American Journal of Psychiatry

Volume 116 • Number 5 • November 1959

Pages: 405 - 408

PubMed: 13793664

History

Published in print: November 1959

Published online: 1 April 2006

Authors

Details

RONALD W. ANGEL

VA Hospital, Hines, Ill.

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THE CONCEPT OF PSYCHIC DETERMINISM

Abstract

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