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Bion compared the process of cognition to an emotional experience that moves from ps (the chaos of the schizoparanoid position) to pd (the order of the depressive position connected with choice of a vertex). This paper seeks to apply this progression to the discovery of Bion's thought, with reference to three philosophers who inspired him?: Bradley, Braithwaite and Poincar?. It becomes evident how Bion sought to give a scientific status to psychoanalysis and to apply psychoanalysis to a more general reflection on the philosophy of science.