Abstract
My interest in this paper is to show that currently one of the most controversial aspects in psychoanalytic theory - metapsychology - is influenced by positivistic thought. Whereas the importance of relationships and affects, central pillars of current psychoanalysis, are reminiscent of Brentano's ideas. To do this I have analysed the correspondence between Freud as a young man and his friend Silberstein, written from 1871 to 1881, that is, during his university years. In these letters one can observe the enormous interest shown by Freud in the philosophy of his teacher Brentano. Brentano's thesis is: what characterizes psychic phenomena is intention, inferring that there is always a relation which links the subject to the object, and that this relation is always emotionally tinged.
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