Studying the Unknowable

“The unconscious is by definition unknowable in that once the individual has become aware of a given thought, feeling, phantasy, sensation, or the like, it is no longer an aspect of unconscious experience. The psychoanalyst is therefore in the unfortunate position of being a student of that which cannot be known. It is little wonder that we cling to our ideologies, our patriarchs and matriarchs, our analytic heroes and heretics, and our analytic schools, all of which serve us in our efforts to avoid our awareness of our confusion.”

from The Primitive Edge of Experience, by Thomas Ogden