The bark and bite of the logically negative soul: further reflections on Rilke's dog of 'divine inseeing'

J Anal Psychol. 2015 Apr;60(2):267-280. doi: 10.1111/1468-5922.12147.

Abstract

Following on the approach taken in the previous essay, this article critically reflects Rilke's account of his having imaginatively entered into the interior of a passing dog more deeply into itself. In doing so, it illustrates the concepts of logical negativity and absolute negative interiorization, which are core concepts of the speculative turn within analytical psychology that is known by the name 'psychology as the discipline of interiority'. Just as analytical psychology often thinks in terms of the alchemical figure of 'the stone that is not a stone', so in this article the bark and bite of a logically negative 'dog that is not a dog' is grappled with. Further insights into what is meant by the author's phrase, 'the Archimedean-less interiority of the soul', are imparted.

Keywords: Giegerich; Logical negativity; Rilke; absolute negative interiorization; analytical psychology; speculative self-relation.

MeSH terms

  • Creativity
  • Humans
  • Imagination*
  • Literature, Modern*
  • Poetry as Topic*
  • Psychoanalysis*
  • Psychoanalytic Interpretation*
  • Symbolism