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A systems-mathematical interpretation of psychoanalytic theory

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Abstract

By assigning time-varying coordinates to all environmental stimuli, it has been possible to axiomatize psychoanalytic theory on the five principles of multiple causation, growth-aging influence, genetic influence, historic influence and conscious-unconscious activity. The theorems of summation of response and the inevitability of conscious-unconscious conflict with their corollaries follow directly from the axiomatic foundations, as does the existence of an adaptation-defense mechanism. The interpretation of the defense mechanism in terms of an ego-id feedback system provides the basis for the structural existence of conscious-conscious and unconscious-unconscious conflict.

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Houghton, G. A systems-mathematical interpretation of psychoanalytic theory. Bulletin of Mathematical Biophysics 30, 61–86 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02476940

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