Abstract

This chapter discusses the concept of truth in philosophic and psychoanalytic thought and its relation to psychic realities. Placed in a psychological framework, truth is redefined in terms of human experience, psychic structure and mental dynamics. The notion of truth axes as organizational principles of the mind is introduced as the psychic source and reflection of paradigmatic, abstract conceptions of truth. Truth axes are related to basic human needs and anxieties, construals of reality and alternating self-states. This analysis gives rise to a post-postmodern view of truth, articulated in terms of finite, definable non-contingent features of the psyche. It also emphasizes the ethical dimension involved in prioritization of truths in clinical practice.