Chris Green wrote:
>I'm sure Koehler (trained as a physicist under Max Planck)
[Thanks for that nugget, Chris!]
>had his legitimate doubts about psychoanalysis. One
>should keep in mind, also, the ongoing intellectual rivalry
>between Berlin and Vienna at work here.
As I'm sure Chris will agree, though such rivalries sometimes play a
role in the positions taken by the respective proponents, what matters
in the end is the calibre of the work and the arguments. Whatever the
rivalry between the Viennese and Paris "schools" of
psychology/psychotherapy at the turn of the twentieth century, Janet's
critiques of psychoanalysis were insightful ("The Journal of Abnormal
Psychology", 1914-1915, pp. 1-35; 153-183), as was his later
observation: "The psychoanalysts invariably set to work in order to
discover a traumatic memory, with an a priori conviction that it is
there to be discovered… Owing to the nature of their methods, they can
invariably find what they seek."
>Interestingly, the one obvious conflict that was probably
>NOT at work in Koehler's remark was anti-semitism.
>The other major Gestalt theorists (Wertheimer, Koffka)
>were, of course. Jewish (though Koehler was not).
In Freud's case, claims of opposition motivated by anti-Semitism have
tended to be over-stated (the Nazi period excluded, of course). In his
monumental volume *The Discovery of the Unconscious* Henri Ellenberger
noted: "The [Freud] legend considerably exaggerates the extent and role
of anti-Semitism, of the hostility of the academic world, and of
alleged Victorian prejudices" (1970, p. 547). On misconceptions about
alleged anti-Semitism in regard to the Minister of Education's failing
to ratify Freud's nomination in 1897 for promotion from Assistant
Professor to Associate Professor at the University of Vienna, see Frank
Sulloway's *Freud: Biologist of the Mind* (1979, p. 463). (He was
eventually promoted in 1902.)
Allen Esterson
Former lecturer, Science Department
Southwark College, London
[email protected]
http://www.esterson.org
-------------------------
From: Christopher D. Green <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Freud and intellectuals
Date: Wed, 13 Oct 2010 17:03:07 -0400
Allen Esterson wrote:
An addition to Stephen's list of quotes:
Wolfgang Köhler, gestalt psychologist and ethologist:
"I now turn to psychoanalysis, the source of more, and of darker, smog
than any other doctrine has produced." (Quoted in Percival Bailey,
*Sigmund the Unserene: A Tragedy in Three Acts*, 1965)
I'm sure Koehler (trained as a physicist under Max Planck) had his
legitimate doubts about psychoanalysis. One should keep in mind, also,
the ongoing intellectual rivalry between Berlin and Vienna at work
here. My wife once suggested to a friend of hers from Berlin, who was
experiencing some personal difficulties, that she might seek out a
therapist of counselor. The instant and definitive reply was "We are
Prussian, not Austrian!" There is a religious aspect to the this
rivalry as well (Prussian is Protestant, Austria Catholic).
Interestingly, the one obvious conflict that was probably NOT at work
in Koehler's remark was anti-semitism. The other major Gestalt
theorists (Wertheimer, Koffka) were, of course. Jewish (though Koehler
was not).
Chris
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