Freud and Rand

[psychoanaleesis]

First off, I'm a graduate of psychology and I have come to like and play around the ideas of Dr. Freud, in the goal of improving them and discover its principles since it also applies to psychopathology. I also have come to know and love Ayn Rand's philosophy, which, I have practiced but never had the words for until of late. I am very grateful to these two person although I found that Rand is directly opposed to School of Psychoanalysis. Although not saddened nor deterred, in fact, happy that Rand has criticized Freud which in turn gave me tips, tools and corrections for my own selfish need. To sum up this paragraph, I would like my own school of thought someday.

Case: I do not like to think that we have an unconscious mind rather a subconscious one as Rand/Objectivism proposed. I agree on certain Freudian concepts but I disagree on how he applied them. His works are mainly on psychopathology and has been proven medically e.g. reptilian brain as the concrete representation of the Id. Nonetheless, the theory is incomplete and thus could not be and should not applied to the general population although I do see the need to bring those 'unconscious' conflicts to the center-stage (ego) to be processed through analysis.

I believe Freud was essentially correct but he made a mistake in some of his premises. Thoughts?

P.S. In the United States (at least) Freud's theory is supposedly debunked by the scientific community but I cannot yet find a reliable source of information that definitively states why. Any suggestions?

[Guyau]

Welcome to Objectivist Living, David Lee.

One book is The Scientific Credibility of Freud’s Theories and Therapy by Semour Fisher and Roger P. Greenberg (Columbia 1985).

Table of Contents

1. How Can Freud’s Theory Be Sensibly Tested?

2. The Dream Theory

3. Personality Types: Oral and Anal Characters

4. Oedipal Dynamics and Consequences

5. The Origin of Homosexuality

6. Paranoia: Defensive Projection of Homosexual Impulses

7. Freud’s Psychoanalytic Therapy and the Realities of Current Analytic Practice

8. The Outcome of Psychoanalytic Treatment

9. The Mechanisms of Psychoanalytic Therapy: The Search for Insight

10. A Total Look at the Findings

At the site for Scientific American, you will find this list for Freud. Your library may have this magazine.

Have you read Brain and Psyche – The Biology of the Unconscious by Jonathan Winson (Random House 1985)? It is terrific!

When I was in college, I had to drop out for a semester because I had no money. During that time, I had a job monitoring burglar alarms through the night. I read books that were outside my area, which was physics. One was Freud’s The Interpretation of Dreams. Impressive. During that time, I became adept at seeing the day residue in dreams that I remembered upon waking. Years later I read also his delightful little book Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious, which he wrote at the same time as Dreams.

–Stephen

[Christopher]

I'm ot familiar with the book Stephen mentions, but here are two opposing viewpoints on Freud:

Nathaniel Branden - http://blog.nathanielbranden.com/2008-02/marx-freud-and-freedom/

Freud propounded a philosophy of psychological determinism in which man is controlled by forces outside his awareness and volition.

Ken Wilber - Eye to Eye

Freud's philosophy dealt with hermeneutics, the understanding of emotional language within the context of a specific culture.

Me -

Freud had many good ideas regarding interaction between subconscious and conscious forces. Because he dealt so much with a single instance of emotional language, many of his assertions regarding Oedipus complex, etc. are not universalizable. However, the roots of his approach to psychology is extremely useful

[psychoanaleesis]

I'm ot familiar with the book Stephen mentions, but here are two opposing viewpoints on Freud:

Nathaniel Branden - http://blog.nathanielbranden.com/2008-02/marx-freud-and-freedom/

Freud propounded a philosophy of psychological determinism in which man is controlled by forces outside his awareness and volition.

Ken Wilber - Eye to Eye

Freud's philosophy dealt with hermeneutics, the understanding of emotional language within the context of a specific culture.

Me -

Freud had many good ideas regarding interaction between subconscious and conscious forces. Because he dealt so much with a single instance of emotional language, many of his assertions regarding Oedipus complex, etc. are not universalizable. However, the roots of his approach to psychology is extremely useful

Christopher, that is close to the point I'm trying to make. Freud's theory is essentially valid in the sense that there are underlying forces in the human psyche which I think are not necessarily causes but rather impetus for the motive(s). If there should be a rift between these in cases of neuroses (anxiety disorders) or psychoses in people, what were the prerequisites that allowed it and in consequence, overthrown the Ego from being fully in control. I strongly oppose Freud when he said and I quote, "Anatomy is destiny." I believe that the dichotomy he saw in most people (patients) were a result of their illogical thinking. He was only over-exposed to this idea (or people) which made him lose sight of the foundation of psychoanalysis and its goal of being a principle of human psychology. I think, we are not predetermined creatures as Freud proposed and Ms. Rand corrected but I do see the benefits of - as Ms. Rand summed up and reason dictates - identifying (identification) of the causes of our behavior and of the reality around us which is one of the main ways of maintaining our general and mental well-being as a person.