Freud-bashing

greenspun.com : LUSENET : History & Theory of Psychology : One Thread

This is a 4-part question:

1) Is it true that some individuals seem intent on trashing Freud?

2) If yes, have they been successful in their quest to discredit his work?

3) Who are the main perpetrators?

4) Is there any online discussion about this matter?

-- visualize me (visualizeme@webtv.net), November 20, 2001

Answers

Many people have been highly critical of Freud over the past century for any number of reasons. There are not many who still believe Freud's theory to be true, in its original form at least, but that doesn't undermine its historical significance. There is a book called "Without Hindsight" which republished the criticisms of Freud from his own day. Thre is a famous philosophical criticism by Adolf Grunbaum called _The Philosophical Foundations of Psychoanalysis_. The most spectacular recent criticism of Freud was that of Jeffrey Mason whose book _The Assault on Truth_ claimed that Freud gave up the "seduction theory" under social pressure. Mason has been strongly crticized by Janet Malcolm in _In the Freud Archives_.

-- Christopher Green (christo@yorku.ca), November 20, 2001.

Two major critiques of Freud’s work in recent years are: *Freud Evaluated: The Completed Arc* (M. Macmillan, MIT Press, 1997) *Unauthorized Freud: Doubters Confront a Legend* (ed. F. Crews, Viking, 1998).

Allen Esterson allenesterson@compuserve.com

-- Allen Esterson (allenesterson@compuserve.com), January 18, 2003.


Moderation questions? read the FAQ