Scan barcode
A review by carolynf
Freud: The Making of an Illusion by Frederick C. Crews
3.0
Definitely makes its case that Freud's reputation was undeservedly high for way too long. It was a bit dry in places because it is so specific, seemingly going case by case through Freud's career.
Reasons to feel bad for Freud:
- He was of Jewish ancestry in an place and time that viewed Jews as culturally and racially inferior.
- He was the only son of a struggling family with a lot of daughters, so he was under a lot of pressure to provide for the family.
- He was kind of pushed into medicine because it was a prestigious career and he was good at Latin, regardless of him not having any intrinsic interest in medicine.
Reasons to be appalled at Freud:
- He was much more a perpetrator of antisemitism that an victim. There are very few historical examples of him being harassed or passed over due to his Jewish ancestry. But he forbade his wife, the daughter of a prominent rabbi from expressing her religion in any way whatsoever, and spread unscientific depictions of Jewish people in his writings.
- He was horribly misogynist and homophobic, and completely bought into the condemnation of masturbation prevalent in society at the time. These ideas also were given a longer longevity in society than they perhaps would have if he was not spreading misinformation.
- When he was a doctor at mental institutions treating epilepsy and "hysteria" he was completely unmoved by the physical and sexual abuse that the inmates suffered, and by the lead doctor intentionally making his patients ill again so that he could continue to display them in his scientific demonstrations. Freud didn't admit to any abuse himself, but boasted in his letters that he had total control over the inmates and could do whatever he wanted with them.
- His publications lack statistics or any attempts at scientific measurement or mathematical documentation, because he was actually horrible at math. Instead he aimed to spread his theories through assertive arguments.
- He would change the names and facts in his case studies in such a way as to make it impossible for other researchers to build on his information in any kind of reliable way. You had to accept his writings at face value, or not at all.
- He not only used cocaine, but insisted that it was a viable treatment for morphine additional long after more knowledgeable scientists had discounted it, because he didn't want to back down from a scientific claim once he had published it and it was starting to bring him fame.
Reasons to feel bad for Freud:
- He was of Jewish ancestry in an place and time that viewed Jews as culturally and racially inferior.
- He was the only son of a struggling family with a lot of daughters, so he was under a lot of pressure to provide for the family.
- He was kind of pushed into medicine because it was a prestigious career and he was good at Latin, regardless of him not having any intrinsic interest in medicine.
Reasons to be appalled at Freud:
- He was much more a perpetrator of antisemitism that an victim. There are very few historical examples of him being harassed or passed over due to his Jewish ancestry. But he forbade his wife, the daughter of a prominent rabbi from expressing her religion in any way whatsoever, and spread unscientific depictions of Jewish people in his writings.
- He was horribly misogynist and homophobic, and completely bought into the condemnation of masturbation prevalent in society at the time. These ideas also were given a longer longevity in society than they perhaps would have if he was not spreading misinformation.
- When he was a doctor at mental institutions treating epilepsy and "hysteria" he was completely unmoved by the physical and sexual abuse that the inmates suffered, and by the lead doctor intentionally making his patients ill again so that he could continue to display them in his scientific demonstrations. Freud didn't admit to any abuse himself, but boasted in his letters that he had total control over the inmates and could do whatever he wanted with them.
- His publications lack statistics or any attempts at scientific measurement or mathematical documentation, because he was actually horrible at math. Instead he aimed to spread his theories through assertive arguments.
- He would change the names and facts in his case studies in such a way as to make it impossible for other researchers to build on his information in any kind of reliable way. You had to accept his writings at face value, or not at all.
- He not only used cocaine, but insisted that it was a viable treatment for morphine additional long after more knowledgeable scientists had discounted it, because he didn't want to back down from a scientific claim once he had published it and it was starting to bring him fame.