Time and the Rorschach

This paper will consider the Rorschach responses, especially movement responses, in some time-oriented aspects. The “Rorschach Testing” by Satoru Tsuzi is both interesting and instructive because of his characteristic employment of philosophical terms, simultaneity and successiveness. With the exception of his book, it can hardly be disputed in Japan that there are few Rorschach writings of which interpretation is based on, and making full use of, the conception of time. In our discussion, we would command a panoramic view of the human movement responses in particular, elucidating his opaque passages, having an outlook on the time other than him: time-of-action, personal and idiosyncratic temporarity, and so on. It does become clear that his explanation of movement responses has two aspects, according to the notions, for example, immobilization, stationariness, motion, kinesthesia, duration, and instantaneousness. One is, on which the Gestalt psychology also depends absolutely, quantified-abstractive conception of time. The other is qualitative-concrete conception of lived time. And these aspects are intermingled, scarcely aware of that matter, with each other in his book. In Tsuzi's understandings, a Rorschach response that is characterized by successiveness with instant aspect should be assessed as low. But we will make his fused Rorschach interpretations founded on lived time and try to interpret movement responses differently. And this will be obvious that various kinds of Rorschach responses with instant aspect is not inferior to the one with durative aspect. No less important is the fact that we are seldom if ever to come across the ideal human movement responses that are characterized by simultaneity with durative aspect, no matter how many people and what kinds of men to be tested.