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In this sense, it becomes a defence:
according to Hannah Segal,
"The individual, producing a phantasy of
wish-fulfillment, is not only avoiding frustration and the
recognition of an unpleasant external reality, he is also,
which is even more important, defending himself against the
reality of his own hunger and anger - his internal reality.
Phantasies, moreover may be used as a defence against other
phantasies".
The distinction between defence mechanism
and phantasy depends, Segal claims, on "the
différence between the actual process and its
specific detailed mental representation". She gives a good
example of this: repression, a defence mechanism, can be
actually experienced and recounted by a patient as an inner
dam which could burst under the pressure of a flood. "What
an observer can describe as a mechanistn is experienced by
the person himself as a detailed phantasy."
Two arguments can be put
forward:
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1°)-either
the anxiety and its "phantasmatic support" (support
fantasmatique) are displaced into
mathematics, and
defences are directed against mathematics, so
directly containing the anxiety;
2°)-or the anxiety is
contained in some other way and defences can be
seen to be mounted against this anxiety,
mathematics serving as an instrument of this
defence.
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Mathematics, then, through the phantasies
that it calls forth, can be either that which you can defend
yourself against, or - on the other hand - that which
participates in a defence against anxiety. It can even
sometimes, by splitting, serve as both.
Methodology
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I have tried to study some of
the different defence mechanisms employed against
mathematics by using a questionnaire with a group
of 614 students from the public educational
establishments of the Marne department.
The questionnaire
called for agreement or disagreement (on a five
point scale) with representative statements
covering those themes that came up most frequently
in 64 preliminary interviews. These interviews,
lasting 45 minutes, were recorded and later
transcribed.
The same survey was carried out
in Québec, in Belgium, in
U.S.A., in Ontario and in Gread
Bretagne;
( National
comparisons) the three
samples amounted in all to 2000 students (about 45
% of these being girls). The results were
statistically analysed in some detail.
(My
bibliography)
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