The Intercorporeal Unconscious: A Reply to Discussions by Wolff-Bernstein and Kabasakalian-McKay

ABSTRACT

We are deeply grateful for the benevolent, precise inspiring replies to our article. In our reply we present the research context of our article rooted in a phenomenological analysis of French psychoanalytic approaches to an intercorporeal understanding of the unconscious. We discuss different aspects of the comments by Wolff-Bernstein and Kabasakalian-McKay, namely the role of Hegelian and Lacanian aspects in Doltos psychoanalytic approach, Doltos understanding of the origin and development of the self in intersubjective relations, the dialectics between the individual and the collective in Doltos thinking and the necessary distinction between verbal and nonverbal aspects of communication.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

¹ The French term “sentir” can be translated by “feeling” or by “sensing,” depending on whether one wants to stress the affective dimension (feeling) or the perceptual (sensing). “Sentir” comprises both.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Fritz Thyssen Stiftung.

Notes on contributors

Lukas Iwer-Docter

Lukas Iwer-Docter, M.A., M.Sc. is a Psychodynamic Psychotherapist working at a counseling center for addiction in Frankfurt/Main (Germany). In his PhD project he works on the role of intersubjective recognition in the development and treatment of psychotic disorders at the Heidelberg clinic of General Psychiatry, Section Phenomenology. His clinical expertise lies in psychodynamic therapy and community psychiatry, his research focus is on phenomenology and critical theory. He has published articles on the account of Judith Butler (2020) and Axel Honneth (2022) on recognition and their relevance for social psychiatry. Together with Stefan Kristensen he worked on the research project funded by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation, “The Intercorporeal Unconscious – Resonance and Embodiment in the psychoanalytic tradition”.

Stefan Kristensen

Stefan Kristensen, Ph.D. is a philosopher, professor of aesthetics and art theory at the University of Strasbourg (France), Dean of the Faculty of Arts (Faculté des arts). He works on issues around corporeality and subjectivity, image theory, and the body in psychoanalysis. He is the author of three books, Parole et subjectivité. Merleau-Ponty et la phénoménologie de l’expression (2010), Jean-Luc Godard philosophe (2014), and La machine sensible (2017). His next project, with the title The Intercorpreal Unconscious, will be published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2024. Together with Lukas Iwer-Docter he worked on the research project funded by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation, “The Intercorporeal Unconscious – Resonance and Embodiment in the psychoanalytic tradition”.