The Origins of Thinking: A Critical Review of Bion’s Reference to Kant’s Trascendental Philosophy

Bion embraced a meta-theoretical stance concerning the very essence of the epistemological issues involved in psychoanalysis, comparing to Kant’s concepts the significance of some of its core ideas. The present work is aimed at critically reviewing the literature on Bion’s reference to Kant’s transcendental philosophy, quoted by Bion in various occurrences in his theorization of psychoanalytic concepts. All articles included in review (n = 11) are theoretical in nature and point to the complexity of Bion’s (at times problematic) reference to Kant’s transcendentalism in formulating his psychoanalytic theory. Given that Kant and Bion belonged to different historical and conceptual backgrounds, Bion’s reference to Kant’s transcendental philosophy should be ultimately considered critically – in a Kantian sense.