Freud: Prophet or Heretic? (original) (raw)

Freud An Intellectual Biography

The life and work of Sigmund Freud continue to fascinate general and professional readers alike. Joel Whitebook here presents the first major biography of Freud since the last century, taking into account recent developments in psychoanalytic theory and practice, gender studies, philosophy, cultural theory, and more. Offering a radically new portrait of the creator of psychoanalysis, this book explores the man in all his complexity alongside an interpretation of his theories that cuts through the stereotypes that surround him. The development of Freud's thinking is addressed not only in the context of his personal life, but also in that of society and culture at large, while the impact of his thinking on subsequent issues of psychoanalysis, philosophy, and social theory is fully examined. Whitebook demonstrates that declarations of Freud's obsolescence are premature, and, with his clear and engaging style, brings this vivid figure to life in compelling and readable fashion.

“Freud, Religion, and Messianism,” Working Papers, Hebrew University, 146/2015

This paper seeks to address Freud’s early theory of religion and to uncover its basic anti-eschatological structure. I argue that Freud identified in Totem and Taboo (1913) a fundamental religious impulse, at the infrastructure of human history, which commits history to constant struggle between guilt and rebelliousness. This impulse, the product of the murder of the primal father, prevents, in the Freudian formulation, the fulfillment of the ideal of reason within history. Compared with German Idealism theories of history and nature, Freud’s theory of religion subverts the organizing structure and purposeful causality of historical progress, and hinders all hopes for a Hegelian End of History. Freud’s anti-messianic theory of religion thus not only negates the eschatological vision of German philosophy, but allows for political action by rejecting hopes for transcendental salvation. If Freud’s critique of religion usually assigns Freud to the tradition of Kant and Hegel, the proposed reading of Freud’s theory of religion establishes his place in counter-Enlightenment philosophy, alongside Nietzsche and Heidegger.

The Relevance of Freud in the Modern World

JOURNAL OF CLINICAL AND DIAGNOSTIC RESEARCH, 2021

Sigmund Freud has affected generations not only in the field of psychology but also in social scenarios, home life and popular culture. His views and theories have shaped our current concepts ranging from development to therapy. His beliefs, in his time, not only inspired his contemporaries with theirs’ but they also sparked controversies with other intellectuals. Despite being subject to criticism, his ideas have been and are still relevant. The terms introduced by him like the ‘Freudian slip’ and ‘denial’, have been incorporated into the present dictionaries and everyday life. Massively influential, his ideas, theories and his school of thought, psychoanalysis, continue to have a strong impact on psychology as well as psychotherapy even today.

A Synopsis of Freud and His Discontents; an aetiology of psychoanalysis

Freud and his Discontents; an aetiology of psychoanalysis, 2021

The book, ‘Freud and his Discontents; an aetiology of psychoanalysis’ (ISBN 978-87-4303-717-0) is published, available in Denmark and Germany, and will be promoted in Britain, America, and Canada. A synopsis of the book is contained in the pdf along with text samples from the book. The book runs from the records of the Freud family in Pribor, the Jewish Enlightenment from a center not too far of in Tysmenitz which, influenced Freud’s parents and his early years. His first three years were actually spent with a Catholic nanny which left him relatively positive to the Catholic faith but his family's beliefs in Judaism were strongly rejected. This, plus his reports of some sexualization in Freud records, leaves him with early sexual attachments to his mother and anger against his father - his response to his family was therefore rooted in Oedipal dynamics. Sexual theories of the time, including Havelock Ellis, von Krafft-Ebbing, and Albert Moll also play a part in his theory of libido. He also seems to hold to such templates where two mothers are present and with birth confusion, he records two possible fathers. Freud’s Oedipal theory established at age three, occur simultaneously when Freud significantly lost his nanny and returned to his mother. These factors become evident in his works up to and including his last work, Moses and Monotheism. A significant amount of Freud’s works are discussed including, the psychosexual stages, Leonardo da Vinci, Totem and taboo, and the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society. In this last section, there are brief entries describing the main ideas of those who met with Freud in Vienna on Wednesdays. These are the ‘discontents’ where despite stormy meetings, some remained as Freudians, and some, like CG Jung and Alfred Adler, go their own way. We then have a ‘diaspora’ of psychologists which, gives rise to the modern world of psychology and its disciplines as we find it.