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Even though major scientific discoveries have been made from the intensive study of singular cases, modern science is mostly quantitative in its approach. In this course we will follow psychoanalysis’ use of clinical practice as the primary context for the generation of knowledge. We will use two notions from the philosophy of science: “exemplars” (Kuhn) and “personal knowledge” (Polanyi), as we read Freud’s cases in which he combines theoretical consideration and detailed investment in the singularity of the person. In his accounts of the “hysteria” of Dora, the “phobia” of Little Hans, the “obsession” of the Rat Man, the “infantile neurosis” of the Wolf Man and Schreber’s “paranoia,” Freud not only generated theoretical and technical knowledge but also constituted the “single case study” genre of investigation, as the primary source of psychoanalytic knowledge. Readings will include: Freud, Foucault, Polanyi, Kuhn, Hacking, and Forrester. Cross-listed with Film and Media Studies