Freud

Abstract

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.

Review of Core Concepts in Classical Psychoanalysis: Clinical, Research Evidence and Conceptual Critiques.

“…I agree with Eagle’s complex arguments for many reasons, among them that his empirical case is compelling but also that, and here I wish Eagle had been more detailed, the historical record now reveals a very different picture of Freud’s childhood than Freud’s (1900/1953, 1910/1957) theorizing of a universal Oedipus complex would have us believe, an important matter because Freud’s conclusion that the Oedipus complex is a universal phenomenon ultimately rests on the shaky foundation of Freud’s self-analysis (Breger, 2001; Stolorow & Atwood, 1978; Whitebook, 2017). By now, sufficient historical evidence has accreted for us to conclude that this self-analysis, however heroic it might have been, actually distorts Freud’s psychodynamics by highlighting his disappointment with his weak, ne’er-do-well father Jakob Freud while allowing him to idealize his relationship with a mother, Amalia Nathansohn Freud, who emerges as self-absorbed and emotionally difficult, possibly even more emotionally unavailable than usual when raising the young Sigmund because she was also likely depressed at the time on account the deaths in short order of her father Julius Nathansohn and then her second son, Julius Freud, named, per Ashkenazic Jewish custom, after her late father (Breger, 2001; Shapiro, 1996; Whitebook, 2017).…”

“…I would go further and say that the Oedipus complex appears to be one of the defining features of psychoanalytic thought, given that it scarcely registers as a topic in neighboring disciplines like (nonpsychoanalytic) psychology, (nonpsychoanalytic) psychiatry, sociology, and anthropology but is still widely mentioned throughout our journals. Reasons for the continuing importance of the Oedipus complex are themselves complex, among them (a) the continuing prestige with the field of its founder, Freud, who on the basis of his self-analysis (Breger, 2001; Gay, 1988; Whitebook, 2017) made the Oedipus myth the founding narrative of psychoanalysis, (b) the growing importance of thirdness (Benjamin, 2004; Muller, 1996; Ogden, 1994, 2004) in the psychoanalytic literature, and (c) the growing popularity of Lacanian approaches, which have always emphasized the Oedipal, even if Lacan’s (1966/2006, 1998/2017) formulation, which connects it with the Symbolic order, is very different from Freud’s. It is uncertain what proportion of analysts still hold as a literal truth that children, in the positive Oedipus complex (Freud, 1910, 1957, 1923/1961), have incestuous wishes toward an opposite-sex parent and murderous ones toward a same-sex parent, but I suspect that this proportion has dropped considerably over the years, given (a) the rise of the relational movement, at least in North America, (b) the dramatic changes in psychoanalytic theory of gender differentiation given to us by psychoanalytic feminism (Benjamin, 1988; Chodorow, 1999; Harris, 2005), and (c) the dramatic changes in family structure in the past 120 years, especially the last 50, in places where psychoanalysis is practiced.…”

Review of Freud: An intellectual biography.

“…Whitebook (2017) writes that he is both a “philosopher and psychoanalyst.” 1 His biography, while lengthy, does not attempt to be a comprehensive mapping of Freud’s entire life. Rather, Whitebook focuses particularly on Freud’s childhood and the effect of his early experiences on the theoretical concepts that Freud developed.…”

“…Whitebook’s (2017) central assertion is that “the figure of the mother—especially the pre-Oedipal mother” (p. 2) is largely missing from Freud’s work because of dissociation and disavowal of his own early traumas. According to Whitebook, “Freud Studies” over the last three decades have uncovered new information regarding Freud’s relationship to his mother during the first 3 years of his life.…”

“…The book to be featured is Joel Whitebook’s, Freud: An Intellectual Biography (Whitebook, 2017). We will look at four reviews of this book from psychoanalytic journals.…”