Essay, Research Paper: Freud Controversy

The controversy, which exists in relation to Freud, is more heated than that relating to virtually any other recent thinker. Criticisms come about for a variety of different and unusual reasons, ranging from the contention that Freud's theory was generated by logical confusions arising out of his alleged long-standing addiction to cocaine. To the idea that his discovery of the study of the unconscious mind was simply done knowing that the latter would be more acceptable socially. Most people and myself have a difficult time denying that Freud was a genius. Even those who do question the nature of his achievement (which I do not). Many people view Freudian psychology as a cult religion rather then an approach to mental wellness. This is partly because Psychoanalysts are required first to analyze themselves as people. In this way, it is often alleged, the unquestioning acceptance of a set of ideological principles becomes a necessary precondition for acceptance into the movement - as with most religious groupings. This forces us to believe anyone of the following "(a) the evaluation of Freud's claim that his theory is a scientific one, (b) the question of the theory's coherence, (c) the dispute concerning what, if anything, Freud really discovered, and (d) the question of the efficacy of psychoanalysis as a treatment for neurotic illnesses." The objective of Freud s method of psychology may be said to be a form of self-understanding. Once this is acquired, it is largely up to the patient, in consultation with the analyst, to determine how he shall handle this newly-acquired understanding of the unconscious forces which motivate him. Freud has discovered that much of this motivation can be in a form of sexual energy. This can be transformed into the achievement of social, artistic or scientific goals, more commonly known as sublimation. Another motivation would be the conscious, rational control of the formerly repressed drives - this is suppression. Yet another would be the decision that it is the super-ego, and the social constraints, which inform it, which are at fault, in which case the patient may decide in the end to satisfy the instinctual drives. But in all cases the cure is effected essentially by a kind of catharsis or purgation - a release of the pent-up psychic energy, the constriction of which was the basic cause of the neurotic illness. Freud's theory of infantile sexuality must be seen as an integral part of a broader developmental theory of human personality. This had its origins in that traumatic childhood events could have devastating negative effects upon the adult individual, and early childhood sexual experiences were the crucial factors in the determination of the adult personality. Freud believed that there is a sequence or progression implicit in normal human development, and it is to be observed that at the infant level the attempt is to satisfy the pleasure drive are frequently checked by parental control. The developmental process, then, is for the child essentially a movement through a series of conflicts, the successful resolution of which is crucial to adult mental health. Many mental illnesses, particularly hysteria, Freud held, can be traced back to unresolved conflicts experienced at this stage, or to events which otherwise interfere the normal pattern of infantile development. For example, homosexuality is seen by some Freudians as resulting from a failure to resolve the conflicts of the Oedipus complex, particularly a failure to identify with the parent of the same sex; the obsessive concern with washing and personal hygiene which characterizes the behavior of some neurotics is seen as resulting from unresolved conflicts/repression s occurring at the anal stage. Although a highly original thinker, Freud was also deeply influenced by a number diverse factors which overlapped and interconnected with each other to shape the development of his thought. First of all, Freud himself was very much a Freudian - his father had two sons by a previous marriage, Emmanuel and Philip, and the young Freud often played with Philip's son John, who was his own age. Freud's own self-analysis originated in the emotional crisis, which he suffered on the death of his father, and the series of dreams to which this gave rise. This analysis revealed to him that the love and admiration which he had felt for his father were mixed with very contrasting feelings of shame and hate (such a mixed attitude he termed 'ambivalence'). Particularly revealing was his discovery that he had often fantasized as a youth that his half-brother Philip (who was of an age with his mother) was really his father, and certain other signs convinced him of the deep underlying meaning of this fantasy - that he had wished his real father dead, because he was his rival for his mother's affections. This was to become the personal (though by no means exclusive) basis for his theory of the Oedipus complex. Thus through the information I have gathered, I find it impossible to deny the validity of Freudian psychology. From a man who experienced what he believed himself, and gained to ability to analyze himself we see that Freud s approach to the human psyche is legitimate. As well as this, Every individual who is a student of psychology is able to see the large role in which Freud plays in the subject. No man with an invalid idea would be able to have such a large impact on all of the material presented in the huge study of the human mind.