Freud: A Critical Re-evaluation of his Theories

273 Pages·2013·11.838 MB·English

by  Reuben Fine

ROUTLEDGE LIBRARY EDITIONS:
FREUD
Volume 1
FREUD
This page intentionally left blank
FREUD
A Critical Re-Evaluation of His Theories
REUBEN FINE
RO Routledge
UTLEDG Taylor & Francis Group
E
LONDON AND NEW YORK
Firstpublishedin1963
Thiseditionfirstpublishedin2014
byRoutledge
27ChurchRoad,HoveBN32FA
SimultaneouslypublishedintheUSAandCanada
byRoutledge
711ThirdAvenue,NewYork,NY10017
RoutledgeisanimprintoftheTaylor&FrancisGroup,aninformabusiness
©1962ReubenFine
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereprintedorreproducedor
utilisedinanyformorbyanyelectronic,mechanical,orothermeans,now
knownorhereafterinvented,includingphotocopyingandrecording,orinany
informationstorageorretrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwritingfromthe
publishers.
Trademarknotice:Productorcorporatenamesmaybetrademarksorregistered
trademarks,andareusedonlyforidentificationandexplanationwithoutintent
toinfringe.
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
ISBN:978-0-415-83209-0(Set)
eISBN:978-1-315-85608-7(Set)
ISBN:978-0-415-71708-3(Volume1)
eISBN:978-1-315-87156-1(Volume1)
Publisher’sNote
Thepublisherhasgonetogreatlengthstoensurethequalityofthisbookbut
pointsoutthatsomeimperfectionsfromtheoriginalmaybeapparent.
Disclaimer
Thepublisherhasmadeeveryefforttotracecopyrightholdersandwould
welcomecorrespondencefromthosetheyhavebeenunabletotrace.
FREUD
A Critical Re-Evaluation
of His Theories
BY
REUBEN FINE
PH.D.
London
GEORGE ALLEN & UNWIN LTD
RUSKIN HOUSE MUSEUM STREET
FIRST PUBLISHED IN GREAT BRITAIN
IN 1963
This book is copyright under the Berne Convention.
Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of
private study, research, criticism or review, as per-
mitted under the Copyright Act, 1956, no portion
may be reproduced by any process without written
permission. Enquiries shoub be addressed to the
publisher.
© ReubenF ine 1962
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN
in 10 point Juliana type
BY EAST MIDLAND PRINTING CO. LTD
BURY ST. EDMUNDS
Dedicated to
BEN JAM IN!. WEI N I N G E R, M.D.
III gratitude for his lifelong courage,
originality and inspiration
This page intentionally left blank
Preface
This book undertakest o examinet he whole body of Freud'st hought,
to clarify what he said, and to review his ideas critically in the light
of the best available existing knowledge. In this processo f criticism
I have tried to specify which aspectso f Freud have stood the test of
time, and which have not.
Life is full of surprises.O ne of the most surprisingd iscoveriest hat
I made in writing this book is that no comparablea ttempt has ever
been made, with the exception of Ernest Jones,w hose work is in a
different category. So far as I can see no one has ever taken the
trouble to ask: What did Freud actually say? and How does what
Freud said stand up in terms of what we now know?
Jones,i n his monumentalt hree-volumew ork on Freud, undertook
three distinct tasks. He wrote a biography, describedF reud's intel-
lectural development,a nd provided much original source material.
For a long time to come his contribution will remain unique.
But psycho-analysisc ontinuest o expand,a nd much has happened
even since Jones wrote. Apart from Jones, there are scarcely any
works that attemptt o investigatet he whole body of Freud'st hought.
Some writers, like Erich Fromm, try to uphold certain partisan
positions. Most, following the leads of Karen Horney and Clara
Thompson, provide a sketchy description of some of Freud's ideas,
and then contrast them with others which are regarded as more
'modern'. The vast complexity of Freud's thought is conveniently
forgotten.
Freud's writings cover a period of more than half a century, and
the StandardE dition, which is to contain all his works on psycho-
analysis, will run to twenty-four volumes when completed.T hat he
would propound many theories that were later to be amendedo r
discarded,a nd that he would handle some problems so thoroughly
that little else remained to be done while others would be treated
only superficially, was scarcely to be avoided. Furthermore,m uch
new knowledge in psycho-analysisp, sychology, and psychiatry has
beeng aineds inceh is death.
The question inevitably arises: Which is the true Freud? In
answer to this I have tried to stress the consistentt hread that runs
throughout his entire thought. Freud looked upon himself as the
founder of a new science-psycho-analysisa, branch of psychology.
Today psycho-analysisc ould be equatedw ith dynamic psychiatry,
basis psycho-dynamics, psycho-analytic psychology, or even the
major portion of clinical psychology. In all these fields there have
been many developmentss ince Freud, but the basic insights we still
owe to him.