The distinction word representation/thing representation in Freud: Theoretical changes and philosophical consequences. Freud reintroduces the distinction thing representation/word representation in metapsychological works after it was used in 1891. This representational pair synthesizes, in 1915, a break both with the psychology of the time and with a long philosophical tradition. Such break turns problematic many of the suppositions deeply rooted in today's philosophy. This article inquires about the significance of the division word/thing representation for psychoanalysis as well as for the representational philosophy, and it points out some of the most important effects of it.
Word/thing representation; psychological reality; philosophy; representation