Psychoanalysis as a science of process: what evidence emerges from Metapsychology?

• Grant number: 24/23544-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• Start date: June 01, 2025
• End date: August 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology - Fundamentals and Assessments in Psychology
• Principal Investigator: Vitor Orquiza de Carvalho
• Grantee: Vitor Orquiza de Carvalho
• Host Investigator: Elizabeth Lunbeck
• Host Institution: Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo (EAESP). Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Harvard University, United States

Abstract

The project aims to provide a more precise characterization of psychoanalysis as a science by investigating how the theoretical framework of this discipline, metapsychology, can evidenciate psychic phenomena and transform them into concepts. The concept of evidence, as used here, refers to a specific perspective on how Freud might have understood nature, with the idea of process as an ontological commitment. In collaboration with Professor Elizabeth Lunbeck's research group at the Department of the History of Science at Harvard University, the goal is to analyze the criteria that identify and justify psychic processes and to explore how this theory evidenciates the continuity and transformation of psychic phenomena, without resorting to reductionism. To achieve this, the project is organized as follows: First, we will discuss the current state of the debate on the scientific status of psychoanalysis, highlighting its continuity and theoretical development. Next, we will analyze how Freudian naturalism may have created a blind spot in this issue. Finally, we will present research paths focusing on the ontological commitment of metapsychology as process, outlining the objectives of studying the concept of evidence and its implications for grounding psychoanalysis.