Maria Vittoria Ceschi

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Freud and Keynes on the Drive-Based Nature of Expectations in Economics

Throughout the lecture, the concept of expectations in economics is explored through an approach of naturalization, drawing primarily on the thought of John Maynard Keynes and Sigmund Freud. The theoretical framework of the rational expectations hypothesis (and its subsequent developments) is contrasted with Keynesian concepts such as conventions and animal spirits, highlighting the role of uncertainty and of purposes or motives in economic behavior. The biological foundation is first outlined through the theory of anticipatory systems, and subsequently the drive-based foundation is developed through metapsychology. It is argued that the evolution of expectations is determined by the different relationships they maintain with the drive aim, understood as the conjunction of object and goal (satisfaction). A naturalized understanding of expectations thus allows them to be formulated within a theory of the living—complex and creative.

Metapsychology of Probability: Probability and Its Relationship to Reality and Judgment

In this lecture entitled “Metapsychology of Probability: Probability and Its Relationship to Reality [Realität] and Judgment [Urteil],” Maria Vittoria Ceschi explores the relationship between probability and metapsychology by focusing on a neglected function of the ego: that of choice, connected to freedom and its psychic health. Within this framework, probability is treated in all its richness and complexity, as an analytical and epistemic device that links the subject to the object — or, in Freudian terminology, psychic reality [psychische Realität] to external reality [externe Realität]—through the function of Judgment [Urteilsfunktion].

The discussion is structured in three parts. The first retraces the history of thought surrounding the concept of probability through an analysis of the major schools — objectivist (classical, frequentist, and propensity-based), subjectivist, logical, and axiomatic — and reconstructs, on the basis of their respective definitions, the differing roles attributed to external and psychic reality. The second part distinguishes three analytical scenarios — “quasi” certainty, risk, and uncertainty — and examines how each affects the function of Judgment, with particular attention to the scenario of uncertainty and an in-depth discussion of the Keynesian approach. The third part focuses on uncertainty, proposed as a “symmetrical” situation; here, the ways in which this symmetry may break down within psychic reality are analyzed. Situations of free choice are thus made explicit, as well as those in which specific clinical configurations can be identified.

The first lecture will focus on the first two parts.

Metapsychology of Probability: Uncertainty, Symmetries, and Reasonable Judgment

This work explores the relationship between probability and metapsychology by focusing on a neglected function of the ego: that of choice, connected to freedom and its psychic health. Within this framework, probability is treated in all its richness and complexity as an analytical and epistemic device that links the subject to the object — or, in Freudian terminology, psychic reality [psychische Realität] to external reality [externe Realität] — through the function of Judgment [Urteilsfunktion].

In this second lecture devoted to the topic, Maria Vittoria Ceschi delves more deeply into the situation of uncertainty, with particular reference to J. M. Keynes’s theory of probability. From this perspective, uncertainty is interpreted as a symmetrical state. The modes through which symmetry is broken are then explored as moments of choice (or decision). This elaboration provides a bridge to metapsychology, helping to enrich the notion of reasonable judgment. In closing, the lecture develops some reflections on the function of Judgment in relation to so-called natural intelligence and so-called artificial intelligence.

The methodological and theoretical limits of contemporary research in psychotherapy

The aim of the seminar is to present how research in psychotherapy is flawed by methodological and theoretical errors that have to do both with an erroneous conception of the clinical moment understood along the lines of the medical-pharmacological sciences, and with the very aim of psychological treatment, i.e. a health aim. It will be shown how the clinical moment in psychotherapy, unlike in medicine or pharmacology where it is considered the concluding part of the research process, is an independent experimental moment, and different from any other type of psychological investigation because it represents the moment of investigation of the subject understood in an organic and complete way, otherwise not investigable. It will be seen how the standard medical-pharmacological research setting is unable to demonstrate treatment efficacy as it is unable to discriminate suggestive aspects from specific treatment results. Finally, it will be concluded by demonstrating how the Freudian approach, moving within an alternative paradigm that autonomises clinical research by devising an intraclinical experimental protocol, is on the contrary capable of discriminating the theoretical validity of constructions from suggestion, thus attributing to psychoanalytical practice a cognitive and not a medical purpose. It is precisely the assumption of a cognitive end that is capable of determining, consequently, the possibility of therapeutic efficacy.

Some considerations on the formal structure of metapsychology

We will present a few brief general considerations about metapsychology, with particular reference to the arguments put forward in Volker Hartmann Cardelle and Dietmar Dietrich’s essay in this issue of the journal. In particular we demonstrate that, in opposition to the claims of many psychoanalysts and experts, the differences between the metapsychology model and the model of the Project are substantial. These depend on the radical change in Freud’s approach to the problem of the mind. We show that a proper neurobiological reduction of metapsychology is impossible. We also show that any parallelism between computer science and metapsychology becomes inadmissible if we consider the mind only in terms of its relationship with an organic substrate. It will also be shown how, despite the fact that the link between physics and metapsychology is generally regarded as a mere analogy, the metapsychological model is actually a physical model. It is specifically physics and not for example computer science, which can provide an important aid to a better understanding and development of metapsychology. Finally, although any possible formalization of metapsychology is undoubtedly useful and desirable, we maintain that such formalism must again be translatable into natural language given that the unique character of psychology is that it contains both the instrument for and the object of investigation.

On the psychoanalytic method of experimental testing of theoretical hypothes

The aim of the lesson is to provide epistemological evaluations of the architecture and the logical hypotheses and rules that underpin the Freudian method of investigation. With regard to the architecture, it is emphasised how the method is inspired by Systems Theory, in particular the logical-temporal sequencing of two Black Boxes with specific characteristics. With reference to the logical aspect, it is shown how the method makes use of sophisticated and rare hypotheses and rules that underpin the entire architecture, such as Negation as Failure and Consequentia Mirabilis. It concludes by showing how the entire methodological framework is falsificationist and, specifically, transcendental.

Validating, generalising, formalising

Maria Vittoria Ceschi takes up the method-related issues detailed in the seminar ‘On the psychoanalytic method of experimental testing of theoretical hypotheses’ specifying why Freud opted for such a configuration and specifically why the intraclinical method.
The most common objections to psychoanalysis with reference to the stages of validation, generalisation and formalisation are presented, showing with solid arguments how these objections are in fact inconsistent.

In the second part of the lecture, Franco Baldini presents a novel elaboration on drive dynamics, showing how they can be represented through real vector operations.

Beyond Limits: Psychoanalysis, Freedom, and Enterprise

Maria Vittoria Ceschi takes us on a journey through Freudian psychoanalysis, entrepreneurship, and the pursuit of freedom.
With an eclectic background ranging from economics to psychoanalysis, Maria Vittoria is an entrepreneur, Vice President of the School of Freudian Psychoanalysis in Milan, and founder of a climbing-related startup, NIVA.

We talk about how to overturn biases, recognise the limits of existing models, and find the courage to rewrite them—whether in building a career or confronting the deeper knots of the mind.

At the heart of her approach lies a quest for complexity, seen as a driving force to overcome rigid frameworks and shape a more authentic freedom.

A valuable conversation that weaves together experience, creativity, and a desire to explore new horizons, with insights that apply equally to personal growth and entrepreneurial development.