Freud and His Critics

Freud and His Critics is a 1993 book, by the historian Paul Robinson, about Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, and three authors critical of Freud: the psychologist Frank Sulloway, the former psychoanalyst Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, and the philosopher Adolf Grünbaum. The book received positive reviews. Commentators credited Robinson with providing useful discussions of Sulloway, Masson, and Grünbaum, and some concluded that he discredited their arguments.

Freud and His Critics
Cover of the first edition
AuthorPaul Robinson
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
SubjectsSigmund Freud
Frank Sulloway
Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson
Adolf Grünbaum
PublisherUniversity of California Press
Publication date
1993
Media typePrint (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages281
ISBN0-520-08029-7

Summary

Robinson discusses Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, and three of his critics: the psychologist Frank Sulloway, the former psychoanalyst Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, and the philosopher Adolf Grünbaum. He examines Sulloway's Freud, Biologist of the Mind (1979), Masson's The Assault on Truth (1984), and Grünbaum's The Foundations of Psychoanalysis (1984).[1]

Publication history

Freud and His Critics was published by the University of California Press in 1993.[2] The book was reprinted by the University of California Press in 2018.[3]

Reception

Freud and His Critics received positive reviews from the historian Peter Gay in The American Historical Review,[4] Mary Ann Hughes in Library Journal,[5] Thomas Parisi in Isis,[6] and from Publishers Weekly,[7] The Economist,[8] and the Virginia Quarterly Review.[9] The book was also reviewed by the psychoanalyst Joel Whitebook in The New York Times Book Review,[10] J. M. Hawes in The Times Higher Education Supplement,[11] the philosopher Thomas Nagel in The New York Review of Books,[12] and the sociologist Carl L. Bankston in the American Book Review,[13] and discussed by the sociologist Edith Kurzweil in Society and F. Weinstein in The Psychohistory Review.[14][15]

Gay credited Robinson with providing rigorous and balanced discussions of Sulloway, Masson, and Grünbaum, and endorsed his criticisms of them. He believed that Robinson provided, "probably the most telling counter-critique of Freud's critics yet written."[4] Hughes credited Robinson with helpfully explaining the arguments of Sulloway, Masson, and Grünbaum and with providing a "readable summary of current debate on Freudian theory."[5] Parisi endorsed Robinson's criticisms of Sulloway, Masson, and Grünbaum. However, he criticized Robinson's view that psychoanalysis is best understood purely in psychological terms, noting that the theory has a biological basis.[6]

Publishers Weekly described Freud and His Critics as a "witty, densely argued critique" and credited Robinson with providing a useful corrective to the views of Sulloway, Masson, and Grünbaum.[7] The Economist wrote that Robinson, "writes with clarity and wit and comes to the perceptive conclusion that Freud will emerge largely unscathed from the latest barrage of criticism."[8] The Virginia Quarterly Review credited Robinson with carefully discussing and criticizing Sulloway, Masson, and Grünbaum, showing that they are prejudiced against Freud. It also wrote that he revealed "the imaginative vitality and originality of Freud's thoughts".[9]

References

Footnotes
  1. Robinson 1993, pp. 1–271.
  2. Robinson 1993, p. iv.
  3. Robinson 2018, p. iv.
  4. Gay 1993, pp. 823–825.
  5. Hughes 1993, p. 101.
  6. Parisi 1994, pp. 718–719.
  7. Publishers Weekly 1993, p. 82.
  8. The Economist 1993, p. 83.
  9. Virginia Quarterly Review 1993, p. 86.
  10. Whitebook 1993, pp. 30–31.
  11. Hawes 1994, p. 26.
  12. Nagel 1994, pp. 34–38.
  13. Bankston 1994, p. 24.
  14. Kurzweil 1994, p. 81.
  15. Weinstein 1994, pp. 211–225.

Bibliography
Books
Journals
  • Bankston, Carl L. (1994). "Freud and his critics (Book Review)". American Book Review. 16 (5).CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)  – via EBSCO's Academic Search Complete (subscription required)
  • Gay, Peter (1993). "Freud and his critics (Book Review)". The American Historical Review. 98 (3). doi:10.2307/2167555.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)  – via EBSCO's Academic Search Complete (subscription required)
  • Hawes, J. M. (1994). "In defence of the father". The Times Higher Education Supplement (1106).CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)  – via EBSCO's Academic Search Complete (subscription required)
  • Hughes, Mary Ann (1993). "Freud and his critics (Book Review)". Library Journal. 118 (2).CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)  – via EBSCO's Academic Search Complete (subscription required)
  • Kurzweil, Edith (1994). "Validation in the clinical theory of psychoanalysis (Book Review)". Society. 31 (4).CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)  – via EBSCO's Academic Search Complete (subscription required)
  • Nagel, Thomas (1994). "Freud's Permanent Revolution". The New York Review of Books. 41 (9).CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Parisi, Thomas (1994). "Is anatomy really destiny, Dr Freud?". Isis. 85 (4). doi:10.1086/357037.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)  – via EBSCO's Academic Search Complete (subscription required)
  • Weinstein, F. (1994). "Freud and his critics". The Psychohistory Review. 22 (2).CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)  – via EBSCO's Academic Search Complete (subscription required)
  • Whitebook, Joel (1993). "Freudian slip". The New York Times Book Review. 98.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)  – via EBSCO's Academic Search Complete (subscription required)
  • "Freud and his critics (Book Review)". The Economist. 328. 1993.  – via EBSCO's Academic Search Complete (subscription required)
  • "Freud and His Critics". Publishers Weekly. 240 (5). 1993.
  • "Freud and His Critics". Virginia Quarterly Review. 69 (3). 1993.  – via EBSCO's Academic Search Complete (subscription required)
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