Psychoanalysis, as conceived by Freud, originates from an epistemological position that is often at odds with related disciplines such as psychology and psychiatry. We argue that psychoanalysis is wedded to a Kantian epistemology that is rigorously committed to modesty. The aim of the article is to illustrate how Freud’s thinking was embedded within a Kantian epistemology. Even if he was not explicit, a prevailing Kantian philosophical discussion influenced Freud. Hence, the article shall not argue for Freud as working with Kant as a philosopher, but more narrowly address his epistemological stance as influenced by Kant. Drawing on recent philosophical work, we clarify the difference between a Kantian transcendental idealism and the more modern critical realism, and show why the former is best suited for the psychoanalytic enterprise. This leads to a discussion of how we may understand transcendental idealism as a crucial if tacit premise in modern object-relations theory. We touch upon the implicit epistemological position in Klein and Winnicott, and the more explicit one advanced by Bion. Finally, we explore the psychoanalytic attitude towards the possibility of knowledge.

正如弗洛伊德所构想的，精神分析起源于一种认识论立场，这种立场常常与心理学和精神病学等相关学科不一致。我们认为，精神分析与严格承诺谦虚的康德认识论紧密相连。这篇文章的目的是说明弗洛伊德的思想是如何嵌入康德认识论的。即使他没有明确表达，流行的康德哲学讨论也影响了弗洛伊德。因此，本文不应主张弗洛伊德作为哲学家与康德一起工作，而是更狭隘地阐述他受康德影响的认识论立场。借鉴最近的哲学著作，我们阐明了康德的先验唯心主义与更现代的批判现实主义之间的区别，并说明为什么前者最适合精神分析事业。这引发了关于我们如何将先验唯心主义理解为现代客体关系理论中一个至关重要的默认前提的讨论。我们触及了克莱因和温尼科特隐含的认识论立场，以及比昂提出的更明确的认识论立场。最后，我们探讨了精神分析对知识可能性的态度。