Confusion of Tongues: the Primacy of Sexuality in Freud, Ferenczi and Laplanche

Confusion of Tongues: the Primacy of Sexuality in Freud, Ferenczi and Laplanche
Author: Philippe van Haute
Publisher: Other Press, LLC
Total Pages: 165
Release: 2004
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 9781590511282

Confusion of Tongues describes the genesis of Freud's clinical anthropology. A careful reading of Freud's early texts and letters to Fliess illustrates how Freud abandons his seduction theory of the neuroses in favor of a sexual biology. The meaning and the implications of this 'biological turn' are made clear through an analysis of Freud's Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality, first published in 1905. This 'biological turn' leads to three mutually dependent claims that are fundamental to Freud's project of a clinical anthropology: the primacy of (infantile) sexuality, the discontinuity between the world of the adult and the world of the child, and the continuity between 'normality' (psychic health) and pathology. In the later editions of Three Essays, Freud increasingly stresses the continuity between infantile and adult sexuality, thus undermining the radical character of his previous claims. Confusion of Tongues shows that the introduction of the Oedipus complex plays a crucial role in this evolution. The book also attempts to resolve the resulting impasse through a confrontation of Freud's work with the work of Ferenczi and Laplanche. For both Ferenczi and Laplanche, Freud's clinical anthropology gets its foundation from his theory of sexual trauma. However, van Haute and Geysken's careful reading of their texts makes clear that neither Ferenczi nor Laplanche succeed in providing a new theoretical foundation for Freud's original claim that sexuality is the weak spot in human nature that predisposes us to psychopathology. Confusion of Tongues therefore argues that the shibboleth of psychoanalysis is not so much the primacy of sexuality, but the discontinuity between the world of the adult and the world of the child. Philippe van Haute is a professor of philosophical anthropology at the University of Nijmegen (The Netherlands). He is the president of the Center for Philosophical Anthropology and Psychoanalysis (University of Nijmegen/University of Leuven) and a practicing member of the Belgian School for Psychoanalysis.

Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality

Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality
Author: Sigmund Freud
Publisher: Verso Books
Total Pages: 209
Release: 2017-01-24
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1784783587

The first edition of this classic work from 1905 shows a radically different psychoanalysis Available for the first time in English, the 1905 edition of Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality presents Sigmund Freud’s thought in a form new to all but a few ardent students of his work. This is a Freud absent the Oedipal complex, which came to dominate his ideas and subsequent editions of these essays. In its stead is an autoerotic theory of sexual development, a sexuality transcending binary categorization. This is psychoanalysis freed from ideas that have often brought it into conflict with the ethical and political convictions of modern readers, practitioners, and theorists. The non-Oedipal psychoanalysis Freud outlined in 1905 possesses an emancipatory potential for the contemporary world that promises to revitalize Freudian thought. The development of self is no longer rooted in the assumption of a sexual identity; instead the imposition of sexual categories on the infant mind becomes a source of neurosis and itself a problem to overcome. The new edition of Three Essays presents us with the fascinating possibility that Freud suppressed his first and best thoughts on this topic, and that only today can they be recognized and understood at a time when societies have begun the serious work of reconceptualizing sexual identities.

Sexuality and Psychoanalysis

Sexuality and Psychoanalysis
Author: Jens de Vleminck
Publisher: Leuven University Press
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2010
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 905867844X

The relationship between sexuality and psychoanalysis can be described in terms of an old and stormy love affair. The same can be said about the relationship between psychoanalysis and philosophy. It is precisely this fascinating 'love triangle' that the present volume of essays aims to explore. A diverse group of philosophers and psychoanalysts reflected on the concept of sexuality in Freudo-Lacanian psychoanalysis. The result is a stimulating collection of essays where the role of sexuality in psychoanalysis is scrutinized from a philosophical point of view.

Towards the Limits of Freudian Thinking

Towards the Limits of Freudian Thinking
Author: Herman Westerink
Publisher: Leuven University Press
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2024-09-16
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 9462704090

Sigmund Freud’s Beyond the Pleasure Principle stands as a foundational text in psychoanalysis, delving into profound questions about life, death, pleasure and pain. Through a combination of contextualising and philosophical contributions, this critical edition and commentary sheds new light on Freud’s text. In a series of contributions spanning approaches from historical exegesis to philosophical reflections on key concepts and ideas presented in Beyond the Pleasure Principle, the evolution and inconsistencies found in the various versions of the text are highlighted. Particular emphasis is placed on the conceptualisation of trauma and drive theory. These commentaries also provide context for the work, examining its position within the Freudian corpus, its role in the collaborative project with Sándor Ferenczi in speculative bioanalysis, and its clinical insights into war neuroses, trauma, bonding and aggression in post-World War I society. By critically examining diverse interpretations of Freud’s work, Towards the Limits of Freudian Thinking re-actualises this classic text in contemporary philosophy and psychoanalysis, rendering it accessible to both specialised and broader audiences.

The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy and Psychoanalysis

The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy and Psychoanalysis
Author: Richard Gipps
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 790
Release: 2019-02-14
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0192506862

Psychoanalysis is often equated with Sigmund Freud, but this comparison ignores the wide range of clinical practices, observational methods, general theories, and cross-pollinations with other disciplines that characterise contemporary psychoanalytic work. Central psychoanalytic concepts to do with unconscious motivation, primitive forms of thought, defence mechanisms, and transference form a mainstay of today's richly textured contemporary clinical psychological practice. In this landmark collection on philosophy and psychoanalysis, leading researchers provide an evaluative overview of current thinking. Written at the interface between these two disciplines, The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy and Psychoanalysis contains original contributions that will shape the future of debate. With 34 chapters divided into eight sections covering history, clinical theory, phenomenology, science, aesthetics, religion, ethics, and political and social theory, this Oxford Handbook displays the enduring depth, breadth, and promise of integrating philosophical and psychoanalytic thought. Anyone interested in the philosophical implications of psychoanalysis, as well as philosophical challenges to and re-statements of psychoanalysis, will want to consult this book. It will be a vital resource for academic researchers, psychoanalysts and other mental health professionals, graduates, and trainees.

The Literary Legacy of Child Sexual Abuse

The Literary Legacy of Child Sexual Abuse
Author: Beverly Haviland
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 179
Release: 2023-07-20
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1000898881

This book examines the representation of child sexual abuse in five American novels written from 1850 to the present. The historical range of the novels shows that child sexual abuse is not a new problem, although it has been called by other names in other eras. The introduction explains what literature and literary criticism bring to persistent questions that arise when children are sexually abused. Psychoanalytic concepts developed by Freud, Ferenczi, Kohut, and Lacan inform readings of the novels. Theories of trauma, shame, psychosis, and perversion provide insights into the characters represented in the stories. Each chapter is guided by a difficult question that has arisen from real-life situations of child sexual abuse. Legal and therapeutic interventions respond with their disciplinary resources to these questions as they concern victims, perpetrators, and witnesses. Literary criticism offers another analytic framework that can significantly inform those responses.

Lacan and the Concept of the 'Real'

Lacan and the Concept of the 'Real'
Author: T. Eyers
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 226
Release: 2012-08-07
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1137026391

This is the first book in English to explore in detail the genesis and consequences of Lacan's concept of the 'Real', providing readers with an invaluable key to one of the most influential ideas of modern times.

Maurice Blanchot and Psychoanalysis

Maurice Blanchot and Psychoanalysis
Author: Joseph D. Kuzma
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 239
Release: 2019-07-29
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 9004401334

This work offers an exploration and critique of Blanchot’s various engagements with psychoanalysis, from the early 1950s onward. Kuzma highlights the political contours of Blanchot’s writings on Freud, Lacan, Leclaire, Winnicott, and others, ultimately suggesting a link between these writings and Blanchot’s broader attempts at rethinking the nature of human relationality, responsibility, and community. This book makes a substantive contribution to our understanding of the political and philosophical dimensions of Blanchot’s writings on madness, narcissism, and trauma, among other topics of critical and clinical relevance. Maurice Blanchot and Psychoanalysis comprises an indispensable text for anyone interested in tracing the history of psychoanalysis in post-War France.

The Surface Effect

The Surface Effect
Author: André Nusselder
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 154
Release: 2013
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0415692806

Lacan's theory of fantasy.

Origins and Ends of the Mind

Origins and Ends of the Mind
Author: Christian Kerslake
Publisher: Leuven University Press
Total Pages: 228
Release: 2007
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 905867617X

Figures of the Unconscious 7In Origins and Ends of the Mind, a collection of theoretical essays by philosophers and psychoanalysts, encounters are arranged between Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalysis on the one hand and attachment theory, evolutionary psychology, and philosophy of mind on the other. Psychoanalysts claim that states of mind are inexorably structured by children's relationships with their parents. But the theory of attachment, evolutionary psychology, and contemporary philosophy of mind have all recently reintroduced the claim that mental development and pathology are to a large degree determined by innate factors. Today, Lacanian psychoanalysis most vigorously defends psychoanalytic theory and practice from the encroachment of the biomedical and cognitive sciences. However, classical psychoanalytic theories--the Oedipus complex, primary and secondary repression, sexual difference, and the role of symbols--are being dismantled and reintegrated into a new synthesis of biological and psychological theories.