Introducing The Freud Wars

Introducing Graphic Guides

by Stephen Wilson, Oscar Zárate

This book addresses the chief accusations leveled against Freud and the oppositions to his discoveries.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Psychoanalysis, Science, Comics, Philosophy, Graphic Novels

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads data base.

Reviews

[Alan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let me start with reference to a section I really enjoyed: Wittgenstein’s banger of an interpretation (“Who would like a banger in the mouth?”) is so funny. He remarks that “Freud very commonly gives what we might call a sexual interpretation. But it is interesting that among all the reports of dreams which he gives, there is not a single example of a straightforward sexual dream. Yet these are as common as rain.” The quotes are Wilson’s, I think. I am not sure if Wittgenstein put it like that. I will explain why.

My single biggest issue with these books is the lack of sources cited. I know most of this stuff happened, and I know where to find a lot of the information should I choose to stand up and walk over to my shelf and spend 50 minutes combing through a dusty tome. However, it’s not like I’m in the 9th grade anymore, hoping that the 20-page article is really made up of 10 pages of references so that I can get rid of them. I need to do further reading, dive deeper, and Wilson makes this impossible.

This, of course, is unacceptable when Wilson approaches the topic in the way that he does – very clearly batting for Freud on most counts, bringing an overly-biased lens to his history telling. You cannot just dispute an opinion without further facts to point to, no matter how well known your sources are. Wilson’s book is more or less set up like that: person X objected to Freud’s view, but I object to his objection. I actually almost dropped to my knees in the middle of my house when I read Wilson’s backing up of the Oedipus Complex by referring to the “empirical sources” (not cited still!) of Plato and Robert Louis Stevenson. The content is fine, but the method of the presentation is mildly infuriating.

[Josh S · Rating 3 out of 5]

While a great introduction to Freudian thought, especially explications of often confused jargon, Stephen Wilson is too credulous of Freud's claims and seems to cherry-pick straw man criticisms of Freudian thought. The overall context is that claims of "clinical" psychoanalysis are valued, methodological complaints are only levied against Freud's critics, and the focus on knocking down people who claim to have "disproved" Freud doesn't address the simpler argument that the claims Freud made are not always (even often) provable in themselves. It further does disservice by ignoring the broad range of clinical psychology (not psychoanalysis) and neurology that contradict Freud, leaving the book a bit strained by its unstated biases — it reminded me not a little of "Intelligent Design" proponents who don't recognize that making a case that the broad Darwinian view of evolution is not without faults is not the same as making a positive case for "Intelligent Design." Even a moderate amount of surveying the empirical work on childhood development in contrast to Freud's inductive speculation would have improved the book immeasurably. Instead, sceptic arguments are noted and then discarded in favor of negative arguments easier to rebut and often based on the same sloppy thinking Freud evidenced.

As an introduction to Freud, the book is a fair success; as an introduction to the Freud wars, it's only modestly successful and has serious flaws. However, as a survey text, the explication of Freud's stronger and more complex arguments makes it worth reading.

[Michael P. · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book cheats by pretending to look at the debate, but ends up siding with Freud every time. What a disappointment.

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

quotes without references, trivia and a terrible lack of arguments. a shallow and incomplete work hiding behind the word "introducing"

[Julian Worker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sigmund Freud is recognised as a pivotal figure in modern culture, yet he and his body of work attract controversy to this day. This book addresses the chief accusations against him, some more serious than others.

Freud was born in the town of Freiberg, Northern Moravia then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. From an early age, he wanted to become famous. His hero was the Carthaginian general Hannibal. Unfortunately there was no one around to analyse why he regarded Hannibal in such high esteeem.

This was because Freud was the founder of psychoanalysis, a term he first coined in 1896. He longed to become a medical researcher and make important discoveries (again why was this?) but this line of work didn't pay well and he lacked independent wealth, so he studied to become a doctor and a neurologist.

Freud did not invent the notion of unconscious mental processes. The unconscious mind was already a fashionable idea amongst 19th-Century poets and philosophers such as Goethe and Wordsworth. What Freud added was the notion that unconscious mental processes could be usefully investigated and modified, based upon a prolonged and intimate dialogue between patient and doctor.

Some of the controversies addressed include whether Freud tried to murder his colleague Wilhelm Fliess by pushing him off a cliff, whether Freud was a drug addict, as well as the better known arguments about Freud's interpretation of dreams, his theory of a death instinct, and his theory of symbolism based on Lamarck's notion of 'acquired characteristics'.

The book does rather gloss over his split with Jung which seemed to be largely caused by Freud's bio-genetic libido theory. Freud insisted on the sexual origin of the libido whereas Jung regarded it asa kind of generalised mental energy not specifically determined by sex.

[Castles · Rating 2 out of 5]

A short and quite good summery of the controversy around Freud, very much to the beginner level.

[Combimagnetron · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun oversight of the basic concepts of Freuds thought. Although it seems to suggest it paints a balanced picture, it tends to pick Freuds side. Weird because it does do a good job of narrating Freud's insane leaps of logic, but then fails to recognize that pretty much every single Freudian theory put forth still feels like wishfull thinking and overgeneralization.
Also, the book tends to but the burden of proof with critics of Freud. It seems to want critics to provide 'scientific' evidence whilst Freud has not provided any real evidence besides these leaps of logic in the first place.

[Jerome Ramcharitar · Rating 5 out of 5]

An astute and informative introduction written with care and so much nuance. The illustrations were also apt and amusing.

[Tim Sully · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book is a mess. The title makes you think it will delve into the debates and fracturing of Freudian thought. The book is 80% history of Freud and his ideas. 20% of the book is random, not organized, counter arguments of Freud that are not well described. The pictures are disturbing and not helpful for learning the concepts. There was only one line from Carl Jung.

[Sunila V. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Brilliant concept, poorly executed. This book seems to have assumed that the reader has read all of freud's theories. However famous they maybe, some concept or background towards these theories would have made this a lighter read.

[Tiffaney · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well I really wasn't prepared for how this book was written and it has far more pictures than I care for. I guess all I can say is......EH.

[Bernie Gourley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always been fascinated by a question about Sigmund Freud. I can't think of another scholar in modern times who managed to become not only a household name but virtually synonymous with his discipline while being so spectacularly wrong on so many levels. Sure, if you go back to ancient times, you have individuals with similar name recognition (e.g. Plato and Aristotle) who made some major league intellectual boners, but that was ancient times -- pre-scientific method and in an age when employment of any rationality at all set one apart. The question of interest is: How did Freud pull it off?

This book helps one better understand the issue, and to answer a crucial related question: "Did the establishment, in Freud's day, swallow his ideas hook line and sinker?" The answer is "no," and that is the central theme of the book, the opposition faced by Freud in his day. Wilson frames the debate, presenting both sides. (And sometimes three sides, for there were a number of "super-Freudians" who felt that Freud didn't lean hard enough into his own ideas about childhood sexuality being the key to an individual's adult psychology.) It should be noted that this series has a book that is on Freud and his work. I haven't read that book, but presumably it focuses less on Freud's detractors and the nature of their criticisms and more on the entirety of Freud's ideas (not just the most intensely refuted among them.)

This book focuses heavily on Freud's controversial sex-centric ideas, particularly those involving infant sexuality, the Oedipal complex, transference, penis-envy, and hysteria. It does touch upon other Freudian ideas, such as dream interpretation and the "Superego," but these are much less intensely explored, probably because they were less controversial. (Which is not to say they were correct, but that they were less potentially damaging.)

I found this book interesting, and believe I had a better grasp of Freud and his ideas and even had a more sympathetic view of him by the end.

[Andrew Noselli · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I am not a religious Freudian -- I am better characterized as a preacher of the primarily symbolical psychology of Jung or as an advocate for the sexual inferiority theory of Alfred Adler -- I do believe that homosexuals choose love objects resembling themselves out of a desire to maintain a psychological bond with their mother with the purpose of preserving a part of her in their ego, in this way displacing the father in the sexual fantasy-life of their childhood and circumventing the overwhelming demands of their highly developed and all-too-sensitive super-egos.  Reading this book, I had a feeling of relief that I was able to circumvent my own psychological feebleness through the happy circumstances of my adventures in life up to the present.  Reviewing my personal history, which I am always compelled to do when reading Freud's works, I see that what were supposed to be pitfalls thrown in my way as being entirely of my own making.  However, I am a firm believer that, ultimately, we are but puppets playing on the end-strings of a Master artist.  Three stars.

[Benjamin Fasching-Gray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Takes a hard look at Freud but also at his critics and everyone seems to come up short. Seems to me Freud's big problem is he takes every observation and tries to turn it into a universal grand theory for everybody. I like this series, but I should have realized, illustrations of Freud's mental world are never going to be safe for work. I basically read this at work, while the computer wrestled with its bit rate. Luckily the pandemic kept people away so no one saw me squinting at pictures of giant breasts or castrations. Speaking of which, the weirdest stuff by far in this book is about Freud's buddy Fliess whose book "The Causal Connection Between the Nose and the Sexual Organ" led to some horrible surgical mistakes, which Freud fails to recognize, blaming all the bleeding on "hysteria." Here's a guy who is often right when accusing others of self-deception, but repeatedly fails to check the beam in his own eye.

[Neon · Rating 4 out of 5]

freud is lowk dumb asf no wonder everyone hates him. every page of that book had me concerned for what goes on in that guys head. at this point i fully belief that all his theories especially those about sexuality were just projection. everything he did was projection honestly, especially his ‘psychoanalysis’ sessions. just him making dumb conclusions based on His own subconscious interpretation of another person’s psyche, and not an objective interpretation of it. all of freuds work is more of a psychoanalysis of himself than it is of the subconscious of anyone else

[Susan Chow-Dukhan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Graphic book that touches on Freud's theories and tidbits on his personal life and how some of his peers agreed or disagreed with his analysis.
Too light a book, if you're looking at the misdiagnosis of psychoanalysis. It is fairly interesting if you're only vaguely familiar with some of Freud's beliefs as some of the information provided may lead you to think that Freud may have had a few screws loose when coming to his conclusions.

[Michael Patton · Rating 5 out of 5]

For years I've been saying: well, he was outrageously wrong much of the time, but the field needed someone to open the door wide enough for others to pass through. But now, I reconsidering: I'm willing to give some--SOME--of his ideas more credence. In any case, I enjoy the irony of THE FREUD WARS: those opposing Freud's ideas based their opposition on evidence that was just as thin as his evidence.

[Mark Plaid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seems to Have Noticeable Biases and Sympathies

There is much to learn from this book but one should be aware of its biases toward psychoanalysis and sympathies towards Sigmund Freud.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

surprisingly well-done

[Peter Lambert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Writing in speech bubbles is far too small. Can't enlarge.
I will never pay for a graphic guide book.
Otherwise good information.

[SmarterLilac · Rating 4 out of 5]

A surprisingly thorough, factual and cleansing clarification of what Freud did and did not write about and believe. This should be required reading in any survey level introductory course on Freud. I especially like that this is in graphic novel format, as this serves to subtly emphasize the childishness of some of the more absurd criticisms of Freud and his work.