Psychopathia Sexualis: Sexuality in Old and New Psychoanalysis

Abstract

The different conceptions of sexuality in classical and contemporary psychoanalysis are explored. Freud's misguided theories of sexual or libidinal drives and the Oedipus complex are shown to be defenses against his own traumatic attachment history. The evidence for this is found in a review of his childhood and self-analysis, and further illustrated with the cases reported in the Studies on Hysteria and elsewhere. Modern views of sex turn these old theories on their heads, demonstrating that sexual fantasies and actions are phenomena, unique to each individual, that are themselves in need of explanation. These radically different conceptions of sexuality are illustrated with 3 case histories.