I've noted this phenomena also Allen and my hypothesis has been that it
was the esoteric, complex and inaccessible nature of Freud's theories
that appealed to intellectuals. Ironically, I suspect that
intellectuals are more easily seduced by the style of his
presentation--i.e., degree of eloquence and complexity that prevented
them from perceiving the underlying use of "rhetorical strategies."
I've also noted that, in general, east coast intellectual publications,
as per the New Yorker, still appear to be enthralled with Freud's. Has
there ever been a non-psychologist scholar who has challenged Freud's
theories?
Joan
jwarm...@oakton.edu
Allen Esterson wrote:
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
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