Freud The Fusion Of Science And Humanism

A response to the veritable renaissance in Freud studies, Freud: Appraisals and Reappraisals presents the readers with the fruits of recent scholarship on Freud, the man and scientist, and the origins and development of the psychoanalytic movement spawned by his work. The premier volume of this series offers three major essays embodying different tributaries of contemporary Freud research. Peter Swales, drawing on extensive archival research, reveals the identity and explores the life and times of the woman Freud terms his first "teacher," but presented to his readers only as the "Frau Caecilie M" of the Studies on Hysteria. Barry Silverstein brings together complementary strands of textual analysis and psychobiographical reconstruction in his provocative reconsideration of the circumstances surrounding Freud's lost papers on metapsychology. Finally, Edwin Wallace's integrative review of Freud's scattered remarks on ethics and morality, combined with his appraisal of Freud's personal ethics, yield a measured and scholarly account of Freud as "ethicist." Briefer essays on Freud and the oral tradition (Patrick Mahony), Freud's psychology of religion (Paul Stepansky), and recent assessments of Freud's character (John Gedo) round out a volume that is destined for a place of distinction in the secondary literature on Freud. Collectively, these essays represent a most auspicious debut for the new series; they admirably bear out Paul Stepansky's intent of "presenting readers with original articles that embody high scholarship an a thought-provoking and imaginative use of the fruits of this scholarship."

Vitz psychoanalyzes Freud's motivation to reject religion.

Gedo's pathbreaking exploration of the psychology of creativity incorporates first-hand material drawn from his extensive clinical work with artists, musicians, and other exceptionally creative individuals. Using this body of clinical knowledge as conceptual anchorage, he then offers illuminating reassessments of the artistic productivity of van Gogh, Picasso, Gauguin, and Caravaggio, and the literary productivity of Nietzsche, Jung, and Freud.

The current resurgence of interest in the scientific origins of psychoanalysis has overshadowed the artistic and literary models to which Freud had recourse time and again in the development and presentation of his theories. It is this neglected aesthetic wellspring of psychoanalysis to which Harry Trosman calls attention in Freud and the Imaginative World. Trosman enriches our understanding of psychoanalysis by demonstrating how Freud's cultural and humanistic commitments guided his pursuit of a science of mind. Toward this end, he undertakes a number of challenging tasks: to situate Freud in the formative culture of his time, to adumbrate the human concerns that infromed his work in the natural sciences, and to delineate the multiple "modes of influence" that fostered his creativity. The second part of the book moves from the cultural sources of Freud's creativity to the psychoanalytic contribution to our understanding of art and literature. Here, Trosman focuses on the consumer of art and literature, tracing psychoanalytic perspectives on aesthetic responsiveness from Freud to the present. Trosman's critical review of the da Vinci and Hamlet literature illustrates the limitations as well as the explanatory potential of the two principal genres of applied psychoanalytic work, and leads naturally to the reflective estimation of psychoanalysis and creativity that concludes the work. Throughout, Trosman is a well-informed and engaging guide, both to the imaginative Freud and to the abundant literature on psychoanalysis and the arts. He documents Freud's continuing indebtedness to the literary models that nourished his theorizing and gave shape to his narrative clinical expositions, even as he takes pains to show how psychoanalysis has, in many ways, outgrown Freud's own reductive explanations of aesthetic phenomena. A skillfully crafted overview, Freud and the Imaginative World is an exemplary introduction to a crucial aspect of the Freudian legacy.

The 67 chapters of this book describe and analyse the development of Western science from 1500 to the present day. Divided into two major sections - 'The Study of the History of Science' and 'Selected Writings in the History of Science' - the volume describes the methods and problems of research in the field and then applies these techniques to a wide range of fields. Areas covered include: * the Copernican Revolution * Genetics * Science and Imperialism * the History of Anthropology * Science and Religion * Magic and Science. The companion is an indispensable resource for students and professionals in History, Philosophy, Sociology and the Sciences as well as the History of Science. It will also appeal to the general reader interested in an introduction to the subject.

Psychoanalytic Knowledge presents cutting-edge thinking on some fundamental ideas in psychoanalysis by important international scholars in the field of the philosophy of psychoanalysis. It explores the nature of psychoanalytic knowledge in the light of contemporary philosophical views or critiques of a diversity of topics relevant to psychoanalysis: the philosophy of mind; the notion of changing oneself; religion; the notion of interdisciplinary links with psychoanalytic knowledge; post-Freudian psychoanalytic knowledge and challenges to psychoanalytic methodology.