The Mirror of Ambivalence: Wittgenstein and Psychoanalysis

The relationship between Wittgenstein and Freud has intrigued many critics and has been interpreted in various ways. However, few people have noted how Wittgenstein's view of psychoanalysis is marked by deep ambivalence - a fact that cannot be overlooked in interpreting his appreciation and criticism of Freud. This paper discusses how Wittgenstein's arguments contra Freud, even where justifiable and not merely idiosyncratic, have been surpassed by post-Freudian developments in psychoanalytic theory. Moreover, it is suggested that psychoanalysis itself, by postulating the existence of the unconscious, is incompatible with one of the most deep-rooted ideas in the "second Wittgenstein" - that is, the impossibility of a "private language".