ABSTRACT
The creation of a third subject is the essence of the experience of reading, and is also at the core of the psychoanalytic experience. From the elements of the dialectic of subject and object, a new whole begins to emerge that almost immediately reveals itself to be a new source of dialectical tension. This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book attempts in different ways to explore a conception of psychoanalysis as a unique form of dialectical interplay of the individual subjectivities of analyst and analysand leading to the creation of a new subject. It discusses the phenomenon of projective identification as a specific form of analytic thirdness in which the interplay of mutual subjugation and mutual recognition is fundamental to its elaboration and "analytic resolution." The book addresses the phenomenon of personal isolation, and discusses a wide range of issues of psychoanalytic theory and practice.
