Bion and Mysticism: The Western Tradition

Bion is widely acknowledged to be an innovator in the Kleinian tradition responsible for drawing attention to the communicative aspects of projective identification, introducing the container/contained distinction, and postulating the existence of an undifferentiated unconscious. His late writings concerning O, F, and K, however, are generally dismissed or ignored by contemporary Kleinians. The author argues that these writings are coherent if we understand Bion's aims and sources. Bion's aim is to find a method to understand what is unsymbolized and exists only in fragments, so as to transform these fragments into words that can be interpreted to the patient. The author likewise suggests that Bion's technical language of O, F, and K is derived from philosophical and theological sources, most notably Plato, Plotinus, Eckhart, and Kant. He proposes that the unease felt by many in reading the late Bion stems from his belief in transcendence and the existence of Platonic Forms.