ABSTRACT
Bion’s work also can be seen as a link between the Freudian and object relations theorists and the more contemporary schools of thought within psychoanalytic theory, such as the relational and intersubjective, for which, in many ways, his work is a forerunner. Bion’s contribution to psychoanalytic theory and technique has often not been understood, due to his unique and often dense or obscure use of language. This chapter reviews the major concepts that Bion presents in his writing, focusing on how those concepts relate to each other and how they inform the transference in the analytic relationship. For Bion, as for Freud, consciousness itself, as well as thinking, arises out of the infant’s need to free himself from the clutter of direct sensory impressions. Klein agrees with Freud regarding the view that all human beings are born with an innate epistemophilic instinct as being part of the libidinal drive.
