Freud's Paranoid Quest: Psychoanalysis and Modern Suspicion

Notes

Notes Introduction 1. O n paranoi a i n Americ a se e Richar d Hofstadter' s semina l observation s i n The Paranoid Style in American Politics and Other Essays (Ne w York : Knopf , 1966). 2. Se e Le o Braudy , "Providence , Paranoia , an d th e Novel, " English Literary History 48 (1981) : 619-37 . 3. Lette r t o Mari e Bonapart e o f Augus t 13 , 1937 . Letters of Sigmund Freud, trans. Tani a an d Jame s Stern , ed . Ernes t L . Freu d (Ne w York : Basi c Books , 1961), 436 . I hav e replace d Freud' s phras e "question s th e meanin g o f life " i n th e translation wit h "ask s abou t th e meanin g o f life," whic h i s close r t o hi s intent . 4. Th e cas e agains t Freu d develope d b y scholar s i n recen t year s ha s bee n trenchantly an d provocativel y summarize d i n a numbe r o f review s an d essay s b y Frederick Crews . Se e The Memory Wars: Freud's Legacy in Dispute (Ne w York : New Yor k Revie w o f Books , 1996) . Se e als o "Th e Freudia n Temptation, " Par t On e of Skeptical Engagements (Ne w York : Oxfor d Universit y Press , 1986) , 1—111 . For tw o excellent , wide-ranging , an d highl y critica l assessment s o f th e valu e o f psychoanalytic doctrin e se e Alle n Esterson , Seductive Mirage: An Exploration of the Work of Sigmund Freud (Chicago : Ope n Court , 1993) , an d Malcol m Macmillan , Freud Evaluated: The Completed Arc (Ne w York : Elsevie r Science , 1991) . Just a s thi s boo k wa s goin g t o press , Richar d Webster' s compellin g synopti c critique o f psychoanalysis , Why Freud Was Wrong: Sin, Science, and Psychoanalysis (Ne w York : Basi c Books , 1995 ) appeared . 5. Th e mos t penetratin g critiqu e o f th e method s b y whic h psychoanalyst s hav e attempted t o validat e Freud' s theorie s wit h clinica l evidenc e ha s bee n provide d i n two studies b y Adol f Griinbaum , The Foundations of Psychoanalysis: A Philosophical Critique (Berkeley : Universit y o f Californi a Press , 1984) , an d Validation in the Clinical Theory of Psychoanalysis: A Study in the Philosophy of Psychoanalysis, Psychological Issues 6 1 (Madison , Conn. : Internationa l Universitie s Press , 1993) . In th e forme r Griinbau m concentrate s o n th e problem s o f epistemi c contaminatio n in th e dat a gathere d i n psychoanalyti c sessions , an d i n th e latte r o n th e absenc e o f demonstrated causa l connection s betwee n thes e data , eve n i f the y coul d i n princi ple b e reliabl y gathered , an d th e phenomen a the y ar e suppose d b y th e theor y to explain . 6. E . M . Thornton , The Freudian Fallacy: An Alternative View of Freudian 223 224 • Notes to Chapter 1 Theory (Garde n City , N.Y. : Th e Dia l Press , 1984) . Th e valu e o f Thornton' s analysis o f Freud' s clinica l practic e i s repeatedl y confirme d b y th e researche s o f Webster i n Par t On e o f hi s wor k cite d above . Se e als o th e provocativ e articl e b y Peter Swales, "Freud , Fliess , an d Fratricide: The Rol e o f Fliess i n Freud's Concep tion o f Paranoia, " i n Sigmund Freud: Critical Assessments, ed . Laurenc e Spurlin g (New York : Routledge , 1989 ) 1 : 302-30 . 7. Se e th e critica l comment s i n Macmillan , 17—18 . 8. Loui s A . Sass , Madness and Modernism: Insanity in the Light of Modern Art, Literature, and Thought (Ne w York : Basi c Books , 1992) . I ten d t o locat e th e affinities betwee n cultur e an d madnes s i n its moder n acceptatio n a s stemmin g fro m the seventeent h century , jus t a s Freu d did...