Freud and His CriticsWars against Freud have been waged along virtually every front during the past decade. Now Paul Robinson takes on three of Freud's most formidable critics, mounting a thoughtful, witty, and ultimately devastating critique of the historian of science Frank Sulloway, the psychoanalyst Jeffrey Masson, and the philosopher Adolf Grnbaum. Frank Sulloway contends that Freud took most of his ideas from Darwin and other contemporary thinkers--that he was something of a closet biologist. Jeffrey Masson charges that Freud caved in to peer pressure when he abandoned his early seduction theory (which Masson believes was correct) in favor of the theory of infantile sexuality. Adolf Grnbaum impugns Freud's claim to have grounded his ideas--especially the idea of the unconscious--on solid empirical foundations. Under Robinson's rigorous cross-examination, the evidence of these three accusers proves ambiguous and their arguments biased by underlying assumptions and ideological commitments. Robinson concludes that the anti-Freudian writings of Sulloway, Masson, and Grnbaum reveal more about their authors' prejudices--and about the Zeitgeist of the past decade--than they do about Freud. Beautifully crafted and full of surprises, Robinson's work is a compelling defense of one of history's most original and powerful minds. Freud and His Critics will earn an enduring place in the raging Freudian debate. Wars against Freud have been waged along virtually every front during the past decade. Now Paul Robinson takes on three of Freud's most formidable critics, mounting a thoughtful, witty, and ultimately devastating critique of the historian of science Frank Sulloway, the psychoanalyst Jeffrey Masson, and the philosopher Adolf Grnbaum. Frank Sulloway contends that Freud took most of his ideas from Darwin and other contemporary thinkers--that he was something of a closet biologist. Jeffrey Masson charges that Freud caved in to peer pressure when he abandoned his early seduction theory (which Masson believes was correct) in favor of the theory of infantile sexuality. Adolf Grnbaum impugns Freud's claim to have grounded his ideas--especially the idea of the unconscious--on solid empirical foundations. Under Robinson's rigorous cross-examination, the evidence of these three accusers proves ambiguous and their arguments biased by underlying assumptions and ideological commitments. Robinson concludes that the anti-Freudian writings of Sulloway, Masson, and Grnbaum reveal more about their authors' prejudices--and about the Zeitgeist of the past decade--than they do about Freud. Beautifully crafted and full of surprises, Robinson's work is a compelling defense of one of history's most original and powerful minds. Freud and His Critics will earn an enduring place in the raging Freudian debate. |
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Adolf Grünbaum Aetiology Aetiology of Hysteria analysis anti-Freudian argues Assault on Truth assertion Balmary biographers biological Breuer causal Charcot child childhood seductions childhood sexual choanalysis Cioffi claim clinical Complete Letters conception critics critique cures Darwin death instinct Dora dreams and slips Edelson Emma Eckstein evidence evolutionary fact fantasy father Ferenczi Fliessian Foundations of Psychoanalysis Frank Sulloway Frederick Crews Freud's ideas Freud's intellectual Freud's theory Freud's thinking Freud's thought Freudian Grün Habermas hermeneutic human Ibid ical important infantile sexuality insight insists interpretation Jeffrey Masson Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson Karl Popper Krüll Letters to Fliess mind neuroses notion Oedipus Oedipus complex original patient philosophical phylogenetic Popper primal crime psycho psychoanalysis psychoanalytic theory psychological repression Ricoeur Sachs scientific seduction hypothesis seduction theory self-analysis sense sexual abuse Sigmund Freud Standard Edition suggests Sulloway's Tally Argument Tally defense therapeutic therapy thinker Three Essays tion uncon unconscious Wilhelm Fliess writes