ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses an essential aspect of the patient's activity – his efforts to freely associate – which provides the analyst a glimpse into the operation of the patient's unconscious and offers the patient a chance to practice using his mind in a relatively novel fashion. Theories function like polarizing filters that "let in" only a certain select segment of the data – that which is noted because it's deemed salient to one's theory. Analysts subscribe to a general psychology theory about human nature and human behavior that helps them recognize certain sorts of patterns – alerting them, for example, to instances when a slip of the tongue or an interrupted association indicates something meaningful is happening. Lacanians go a step further when they speak about the danger of making understanding the goal of analysis. Lacanians go a step further when they speak about the danger of making understanding the goal of analysis.
