Introduction

The introduction explores the concept of unrealized possibilities in life and history, often framed as “what-if” questions. It briefly discusses the impact of these questions on individual lives and collective historical events. The text also introduces the works of psychiatrists and philosophers Ludwig Binswanger and Fernand Deligny, contrasting their approaches to psychiatry. Binswanger’s theoretical humanism is juxtaposed with Deligny’s more poetic and artistic approach. The introduction examines the paradoxes in Binswanger’s case study of Ellen West and Deligny’s descriptions of Janmari. The exploration of unrealized possibilities in these cases provides unique insights into their lives and treatments.