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TWO Paranoid Logic I a m actuall y no t a t al l a ma n o f science , no t a n observer, no t an experimenter , no t a thinker. I am by temperamen t nothin g but a conquistador—a n adventurer, i f you want i t translated—with al l th e curiosity, daring , an d tenacit y characteristi c o f a man of this sort. —Freu d t o Fliess The psychoanalyti c histor y o f th e huma n specie s tha t I hav e reconstructe d from Freud' s work s i n orde r t o expos e th e historica l dimension s o f hi s theory o f paranoia woul d no t now be recognized b y most Freudian s a s valid . It rests upo n scientifi c principle s tha t wer e suspec t eve n i n Freud' s da y an d have sinc e falle n int o th e antique . Freud' s speculativ e abando n i n th e domain o f the instinct s wa s already a source o f dissent withi n the movemen t during hi s lifetime . Thoug h hi s theoretica l activitie s continue d int o th e fourth decad e o f the twentiet h century , the y remaine d withi n th e framewor k of lat e nineteenth-centur y romanti c biology . Lamarckia n evolution , Fechner's law , Fliess' s theorie s o f sexua l cycles , th e 'bio-genetic ' doctrin e that 'ontogen y recapitulate s phylogeny' , thes e erran t principle s themselve s now look , eve n t o th e Freudian , lik e narcissisti c projection s o r 'secondar y revisions' impose d upo n th e dat a i n orde r t o provide a n intellectua l contex t satisfying t o th e mind' s sens e o f coherence. 1 Freu d himsel f raise d th e possibility tha t th e myt h o f th e prima l fathe r an d it s historica l sequel s might b e take n fo r a narcissisti c fantas y o f hi s own : "I s no t a hypothesi s such a s thi s a relaps e int o th e mod e o f though t whic h le d t o myth s o f a creator an d t o th e worshi p o f heroes , int o time s i n whic h th e writin g o f history wa s nothin g mor e tha n a repor t o f th e deed s an d destinie s o f singl e individuals, o f rulers o r conquerors?" 2 Saving Freu d fro m hi s bio-historica l hero-worshippin g projection s ha s meant havin g t o recas t hi s theor y entirel y i n psychologica l term s an d concentrating it s explanatory forc e i n that sphere . Th e psych e describe d b y Freud i s thu s remove d fro m th e flow o f histor y an d become s a universa l 28 Paranoid Logic • 2 9 constant. Whe n th e latter-da y psychoanalys t look s ou t fro m thi s fixed perspective ont o th e spectacl e o f huma n diversity , h e o r sh e see s culture s and segment s o f culture s stil l swaddle d i n narcissism , stil l devote d t o th e exorbitant fancie s o f animis m an d religion . An d h e o r sh e see s th e cultur e of science, grounde d i n th e realit y principl e an d makin g i t for th e first tim e conscious o f it s ow n operation . Bu t no w thes e difference s o f cultur e an d history appea r t o be undergirde d b y a commo n psych e tha t goe s al l th e wa y down t o th e botto m o f huma n nature , wit h it s bedroc k i n th e Oedipu s complex. Histor...

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