Sense and sensemaking. Implication of a semiotic and dynamic model of mind for psychoanalysis

The notion of meaning plays a central role in psychoanalytic theory and theory of the technique. Concepts like representation, object, affects, fantasy, interpersonal schemata, just to take a few examples, entail the basic idea of the mind as a system working through and/or on meanings.Despite this, it is only recently that psychoanalysts have expressed some commitment to developing the theory of meaning that grounds psychoanalytic thought (Barclay & Kee, 2001; Muller, 1996; Muller & Brent, 2000; Neuman, 2009, 2010; Olds, 2000; Saporta, 2011). As a result, contemporary psychoanalysis is still based on a conception of meaning that has a glorious past (Bühler, 1934/1990; De Saussure, 1916/1977; Frege, 1892/1980; see also Eco, 1975) but that needs to be radically updated.