An interesting (and potentially psychologically informative) question in relation to Freud: How is it that so many eminent intellectuals and scholars failed to recognize the dubious aspects of Freud's writings throughout much of the twentieth century?
Walter Kaufmann http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Kaufmann_(philosopher) wrote in *Freud Versus Adler and Jung*, volume 3 of his trilogy *Discovering the Mind*: "Freud had extraordinarily high standards of honesty and I know of no man or woman more honest than Freud." In his celebrated *Four Essays on Liberty* the philosopher Isaiah Berlin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaiah_Berlin referred to Freud's "work of genius as the greatest healer and psychological theorist of our time". And more recently, philosopher John Wisdom http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wisdom wrote in *Freud, Women and Society*: "Masson made the incredible accusation that Freud was a liar. A more honest man than Freud scarcely walked the earth…" Equivalent assessments of Freud by eminent intellectuals and scholars during the first three-quarters of the twentieth century could be replicated many times. That such assessments were profoundly in error is now a commonplace of modern Freud scholarship and raises the question of how highly intelligent intellectuals could be so mistaken in their reading of Freud. I have attempted a tentative (and grossly inadequate :-) )examination of "Freud's Techniques of Persuasion" in Chapter 12 of *Seductive Mirage*, but eminent intellectuals/philosophers should surely be able to see through rhetorical strategies of the kind he frequently employed. So what was going on? I'm genuinely puzzled by this phenomenon (also in relation to other instances that I'm sure some TIPSters could suggest). Allen Esterson Former lecturer, Science Department Southwark College, London allenester...@compuserve.com http://www.esterson.org --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=5597 or send a blank email to leave-5597-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
