Transfert, controllo, e critica

This article examines Freud’s concept of transference and explores its potential use in social and political philosophy, with particular attention to its relationship with critical theory. After reconstructing the complex history of the philosophical reception of transference, often marginalized in political readings of Freud, the text shows how some interpretations value it as a decisive element in understanding the dynamics of subjectivity and power relations. It therefore proposes a reconstruction of Freud’s concept of transference, first in more general terms, and then through a brief analysis of the famous clinical case of Dora. The text then discusses Amy Allen’s proposal to construct an analogy between transference and social criticism, questioning the limits and transformative potential of criticism. In agreement with Allen, the article finally argues that, despite all its ambiguities, transference is an essential resource for rethinking the political function of psychoanalysis and for imagining forms of criticism capable of affecting the structures of experience and power.