“All science is about truth. And if it is not, it is ideology.” Prof. Dr. Lilli Gast on why Truth Matters at the International Psychoanalytic University (IPU)

This year, SAR celebrates 25 years of a global academic freedom movement strong enough to meet the challenges ahead. In this special series, we are inviting partners from across the network and around the world to share what the 25th anniversary Truth Matters theme means to them and their work. Join the movement »

Prof. Dr. Lilli Gast, Chair of the Supervisory Board and Senior Professor at the International Psychoanalytic University (IPU) in Berlin, sees SAR’s 25th anniversary theme Truth Matters across her work. In discussing psychoanalysis as a “project of enlightenment,” Dr. Gast reflects on the fundamental connection between psychoanalysis, truth-seeking, and academic freedom. “All science is about truth,” she says. “And if it is not, it is ideology.” As a longtime member of the SAR network and a founding member of the SAR Germany section, IPU also demonstrates how welcoming at-risk academics enriches university communities, inspires student activism, and safeguards the global pursuit of knowledge.

Episode highlight:

Robert Quinn: So in your leadership at the International Psychoanalytic University, what are you seeing, and what does the theme of Truth Matters mean to you?

Prof. Dr. Lilli Gast: Well, I mean, basically all science is about truth, and if it’s not, it’s ideology. I think this is where science is under attack… in Germany once in a while, and all over the world. So, I mean, as a university, it’s the core issue to protect truth. And to advise students and researchers, to sort of, you know, struggle with truth, and, care for it.

Robert Quinn: Do you think the members of your university community see themselves as involved in the process of truth-seeking?

Prof. Dr. Lilli Gast: Yes, of course. We’ve got a psychoanalytic perspective at the IPU. Psychoanalysis from its very beginning is a project of enlightenment. And the task is to reveal the psychic conditions of the subjects and to foster self-reflection. And this is all about truth.

Robert Quinn: And so, how does it play out? Because over the history of psychoanalysis, there’s been pressure on that field of study, right?

Prof. Dr. Lilli Gast: It’s had to defend its own place in the university. This struggle for enlightenment, this struggle for the inner truth of the human condition, has been under attack. The history of psychoanalysis shows this, in a very distinct way. The psychoanalytical community had to emigrate in the 30s. . . The re-establishing of psychoanalysis at universities in Germany was a major task, and the IPU as a private university is a beacon in this respect.

Listen and subscribe to the ‘Free to Think’ podcast on your preferred platform: