Here are the main points of Scott William Gremmels’s 2014 LSE PhD thesis, From Psychoanalysis to Schizoanalysis: Chaos and Complexity in Therapeutic Practice, distilled from the abstract and table of contents:
Core Thesis
- Human subjectivity is formed through a continuous process of mapping the external world, encompassing sensation, emotion, language, and cognition. These constitute the inner experiential web that shapes our perception of reality .
- Philosophical, scientific, and cultural models are parallel forms of this mapping— higher-level “neuro-semantic maps”—that give meaning to inner experience .
From Mapping to Metamodeling
- Gremmels introduces the idea of “metamodeling”: transcending individual theoretical or model content by linking multiple models across disciplines and philosophies.
- This transversal movement allows diverse subjectivities or realities to be integrated at a higher logical level, fostering a more enriched understanding of human experience .
Schizoanalysis as Clinical–Cultural Practice
- Schizoanalysis, as conceptualized by Guattari and Deleuze, is presented as an alternative to classical psychoanalysis, especially suited to the contexts of chaos and complexity.
- The thesis aims to advance schizoanalysis as both a clinical approach and a framework for cultural transformation, broadening its scope beyond psychoanalytic norms into social, aesthetic, and institutional realms .
Structural Outline
- The thesis is organized into four major parts:
- The Construction of Subjectivity – Psychobiology: Mapping processes from sensory experience to conceptual reality.
- Mapping the Psyche – Psychoanalysis: Survey of psychoanalytic models (including Freud, Klein, Lacan, Winnicott, etc.) and their limitations in dealing with complexity.
- Mapping the Socius – Ethnopsychology: Cultural and societal models of human experience, addressing myth, religion, symptom, and cultural logic.
- Clinical and Cultural Practice – Schizoanalysis: Exploration of notions such as chaosophy, ecosystemic thought (“ecosophy”), new mappings of psyche, and “wild analysis” for everyday life .
Summary Table
|
Aspect |
Key Insight |
|
Inner Mapping |
Subjectivity forms via built “maps” of experience across multiple levels |
|
Metamodeling |
Synthesizing models across theories to transcend individual frameworks |
|
Schizoanalysis |
A radical, complexity-oriented practice replacing classical psychoanalytic norms |
|
Practical Scope |
Encompasses clinical, cultural, aesthetic, and institutional domains |
Would you like me to develop a visual diagram of this schema or integrate these ideas into your S12 framework?
