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"SIGMUND FREUD: FIVE LECTURES ON PSYCHOANALYSIS"
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(James Strachey). Critical review of basic ideas, theories, significance of Freud.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
(James Strachey). Critical review of basic ideas, theories, significance of Freud.
Paper Introduction:
A Critique of Sigmund Freud: Five Lectures on Psycho Analysis
Sigmund Freud was obviously a brilliant and thoughtful man, and much of his theory is noteworthy. However, he was also a man of his times. He lived in an era when a physician's bedside manner was as important in the treatment of illness as the understanding of scientific principle. Without any real understanding of the underlying mechanisms of disease, though, all any doctor could really do for patients whether the affliction be mental or physical was talk to them. Freud's accomplishment was the elevating of the doctor/patient relationship to new levels of therapeutic effect.
Comforting a patient may, at least temporarily, alleviate symptoms. The value of psycho analysis, however, is debatable. In fact, much of Freud's theory is neither practically useful nor
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Many of hisideas can be traced to the literature of his day. A Critique of Sigmund Freud: Five Lectures on Psycho-Analysis Sigmund Freud was obviously a brilliant and thoughtful man, and muchof his theory is noteworthy. Sigmund Freud was actually more of a celebrity than a scientist. He answers his detractorswith a slight, saying that anyone who sees the method as circumstantial canbe assured that it is the only one available (32). Norton, 1989.----------------------- 1 Forthat matter, one might transfer any prior emotional relationship ontoanother. It need not be a parental relationship transferred to a physician(58). One of the main problems with thetheory is its focus on sex. Helived in an era when a physician's bedside manner was as important in thetreatment of illness as the understanding of scientific principle. The popular novella of the late 19thcentury, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Lewis Stevenson, does more tolend an understanding of Freud's "superego and id" than any "case history." The field of psychiatry cannot be blamed for the mind'sinvulnerability to scientific examination. Comforting a patient may, at least temporarily, alleviate symptoms.The value of psycho-analysis, however, is debatable. While other areas ofmedicine have benefitted tremendously from scientific discoveries duringthe last hundred years, much of psychiatry remains a mystery.Additionally, the field seems reluctant to accept its relative ignorance.The book, Sigmund Freud: Five Lectures on Psycho-Analysis, illustrates thepoint. There is a certain danger is such attitudes. There were logical reasons for hisconcentration on sexual behavior. HadSigmund Freud lost his sons during World War I, he most likely would havesuffered from psychological symptoms that had absolutely nothing to do withhis sexual development. In fact, much ofFreud's theory is neither practically useful nor scientifically verifiable. Freud's accomplishment was the elevating ofthe doctor/patient relationship to new levels of therapeutic effect. Even his oft referred tocase histories are more reminiscent of religious faith healing than anyexample of experimental method. Perhaps it is only the mind's particular resistance to scientificelucidation that keeps Freud from fading away. Each is a fairly accuratedescription of a psychological phenomena. Obviously not. It is not only excessively difficult to read, but it includes 14pages of appendices, bibliographies, and indexes. However, those ideas aside, much ofwhat Freud claims is simply hard to believe. Perhaps such impudence toward criticism was necessary, though.Everyone has heard the joke regarding Freudian allusion theory: "Sometimesa cigar is just a cigar." Such mockery comes from the fact that hisconcepts are fundamentally flawed. However, if dreams are the "disguised fulfillment ofrepressed wishes" (36), then theoretically, dream activity should decreaseanytime wishes are actually fulfilled. Healso freely admits that the concepts did not come from scientific endeavor,but instead are traceable to literature. It is easy to understand how aperson might transfer his or her emotional relationship with a parentalfigure to somebody else, especially when that other person represents thesame things as the parental figure (authority, security, etc.) does. This is not because thematerial is complex or because 14 pages of references are necessary, butbecause the editor desires to boost the intellectual credibility of thework. Again though, it is Freud's case history whichmakes the reader wonder. The book, Sigmund Freud: Five Lectures on Psycho-Analysis, was as much a commendation of celebrity as a discussion of anintellectual discipline. Some of what he states is plausible. Freud elaborateson the fact, though, by establishing his Oedipus and Elektra theories. Work helps people forget their problems. Other interesting ideas elaborated on in Freud's lectures includetransference, sublimation, and allusion. It seems possible that thoughtsjudged unacceptable by the conscious mind might be repressed into theunconscious (21). Sigmund Freud: Five Lectures on Psycho-Analysis. Thus, his real successhas been achieved by his becoming a cultural icon. His motivation was that sex--and itspotential for generating controversy--sold as well at turn of the lastcentury as it does at the turn of this one. It may sound good to call a "dream" the unconscious "fulfillment of a[sexual] wish" (35). Only the concept of allusion is obviously vulnerable to criticism.In his third lecture, Freud states that resistance to repressed thoughts issometimes so great that only vague references (or allusions) to themsurface in the conscious mind (3 ). In his first lecture, Freud uses a case history to introduce hispsycho-analytic theory (3-17). Hardly. New York: W.W. How many textbooks have a photograph of theirauthor emblazoned on their front cover? Social mores vary in time and place. Transference might occur, for example, when similar interactionpatterns of sibling relationships are employed with friends. The continual arousal of such thoughts might also taxthe ability of the conscious mind to repress them, thus resulting in mentalconflict and symptoms. Furthermore, the book was difficult to read and strangely organized.Were three pages of editor's notes, two pages of appendix, a list ofabbreviations, four pages of bibliography and author index, and seven pagesof general index really necessary in a 77-page paperback? In fact, his defense ofthe entire psycho-analytic theory is similarly weak: he merely uses thepower of his position to define anyone who disagrees with it as mentallyill, i.e., suffering from "repressions disguised as intellectual rejection"(41). However, he was also a man of his times. Withoutany real understanding of the underlying mechanisms of disease, though, allany doctor could really do for patients--whether the affliction be mentalor physical--was talk to them. He claims that, by collecting enoughfree associations, the psycho-analytic postulate that "nothing can occur tohim [the patient] which is not in an indirect fashion dependent on thecomplex" will lead the therapist to the repressed thought. Granted, the theoriesof Sigmund Freud are intriguing and enlightening. That suppressed memories of adog drinking out of a glass would make it impossible for someone to drinkwater is ridiculous (9). However, for a single medicalspecialty to cloak idol worship in the robes of experimental investigation,is almost immoral. It is misleading to depict human existence as a struggle by each ofus to deal with primitive sexual urges. It is difficult to believe that repressed desirefor an in-law could result in psychiatric disease or that airing such adesire with a psycho-analyst would return the patient to health (23). It is as a cultural icon that Freud is truly successful, and, likemost cultural icons, he was aware of those who had gone before him. Accordingly,then, if there is any truth to his theory as it pertains to turn-of-the-century Vienna, that truth would have to be revised for less repressivesocieties like, for instance, aboriginal Australia. In the second lecture, Freudintroduces the concept of repression. Aperson's suppression of powerful emotions is bound to have negativeconsequences, possibly even resulting in long-term physical symptoms. Works CitedStrachey, James. The main priority of any organismis not sex and reproduction but basic survival in a hostile universe. Sublimation also seems like a possible mechanism--albeit a healthyone--by which the human mind transforms its hurt into something productive(6 ). When people are busy working (especially when it is work they love),they tend to be happier. Furthermore, the claim that Freud cured the"hydrophobia" by inducing a state of hypnosis, thus enabling the patient,by accessing the suppressed memory, to discharge it emotionally, is just asridiculous (9). In hisfourth lecture, he describes the sexual development of children (42-53).That sexual yearnings are a part of childhood is obvious. Freud then goeson to admit the weakness of this assumption. If the psycho-analytic theory ismerely reworded literary fiction--works such as Oedipus Rex and Hamlet--then should it not also be considered fiction? Thesucceeding lectures offer more of the same. Had the demonstration been given to a live audience, onewould be tempted to presume that the doctor and the patient were incahoots, that what was going on was not medical science, but a faithhealing--a sensational deception put on for show. Suchelements were actually ploys used to lend intellectual credence to thebook's substance. However, to attempt togive them the same validity as areas of medical science that have beentested by experimental method, verges on fraudulence. Inaddition, there may even be a marked distinction between our consciousthought and our unconscious thought. The driving force behindpsycho-analytic theory, therefore, probably was not the desire to establisha means by which to cure psychiatric disease; rather, it was Freud'spersonal ambition to fill lecture halls and get written up in journals. Like any larger-than-life cultural figure, Freud paid homage to his contemporaries. In fact, Freud's use ofliterature is even more pervasive. For one thing, the sexual repression he talksabout is not universal. Yet Freud was not a stupid man. Hispontification on sexual matters has more value as entertainment than as ameans toward the treatment of medical pathology. So does that mean that, when acouple becomes sexually active and begins to act out sexual fantasies, eachperson will stop having dreams?
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