The quadrifocal oculary: The epistemology of the Freudian heritage

In a continuation of his earlier work on the history and structure of psychiatry and psychoanalysis Bercherie examines Frued's views on epistemology and then identifies the presence of four metapsychological models in his writings. The models are then related to the four major currents in post-Freudian psychoanalysis: Kleinian analysis, ego-psychology, Lacanianism and the more diffuse ‘marginal’ current. He ends by expressing the hope that the prevailing climate of theoretical dogmatism will give way to a new spirit of synthesis and tolerance which will lead to major developments in both the theory and the practice of psychoanalysis.