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Freud
Sigmund Freud 1856-1939
A critical reassessment of one of the most controversial philosophers of the last century.
Few figures have had so decisive and fundamental an influence on the course of modern cultural history as Sigmund Freud. Yet few figures also have inspired such intense controversy and continued debate. The criticisms directed against his ideas have tended to become better informed with the passing of time.
With almost a hundred years of Freud scholarship to draw on, it is now possible, perhaps for the first time, to offer a considered and balanced judgement on the value both of Freud’s thought and of the movement he founded. It is this which Richard Webster has set out to do in a book which provides both a lucid introduction to Freud’s theories and a striking account of why it is that Freud is still widely regarded as the most important of all modern thinkers.
A critical reassessment of one of the most controversial philosophers of the last century.
Few figures have had so decisive and fundamental an influence on the course of modern cultural history as Sigmund Freud. Yet few figures also have inspired such intense controversy and continued debate. The criticisms directed against his ideas have tended to become better informed with the passing of time.
With almost a hundred years of Freud scholarship to draw on, it is now possible, perhaps for the first time, to offer a considered and balanced judgement on the value both of Freud’s thought and of the movement he founded. It is this which Richard Webster has set out to do in a book which provides both a lucid introduction to Freud’s theories and a striking account of why it is that Freud is still widely regarded as the most important of all modern thinkers.
- GenresPsychology
84 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 14, 2011
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About the author
Richard Webster
6 books6 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
RICHARD WEBSTER was born in 1950 and studied English literature at the University of East Anglia. He is the author of A Brief History of Blasphemy: Liberalism, Censorship and 'The Satanic Verses', 1990; Why Freud Was Wrong: Sin, Science and Psychoanalysis, 1995; Freud (Great Philosophers), 2003; and The Great Children's Home Panic, 1998. His most recent book, The Secret of Bryn Estyn: The Making of a Modern Witch Hunt (2005), was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize. He lives in Oxford.
RICHARD WEBSTER was born in 1950 and studied English literature at the University of East Anglia. He is the author of A Brief History of Blasphemy: Liberalism, Censorship and 'The Satanic Verses', 1990; Why Freud Was Wrong: Sin, Science and Psychoanalysis, 1995; Freud (Great Philosophers), 2003; and The Great Children's Home Panic, 1998. His most recent book, The Secret of Bryn Estyn: The Making of a Modern Witch Hunt (2005), was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize. He lives in Oxford.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 29, 2024
picked this up randomly and thought it would be a good introduction to freud, the history of psychoanalysis, and it's more of a critical essay that gets pretty bitchy by the end, like yeah sure it seems pretty fair to say that these cases and symptoms, which we can clearly diagnose today as epilepsy or whatever, are probably not rooted in sexual hysteria, and that reshaping dreams to interpret them (a bunch of wolves in a tree symbolising your parent's fucking, their tails' an inverse of the oedipal fear of castration) in-order to meet the specifications of your theoretical framework/conjecture, is excessive! also love the author just saying fuck it freud why dont i add another phase to the theory of infantile sexuality while im here. but hey what do i know! because i was expecting a text that would approach freud in a more holistic way, for instance tackling the id, ego, superego, and going into more depth with oedipal theory and freud's sessions with his daughter, i found myself wanting more, but y'know that's more my fault for picking up a small book and expecting a proper biography. anyway, good stuff!
February 9, 2025
Good summary of Freud’s frameworks and the deep flaws associated with his psychoanalysis theories.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews