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BestsellerE-book
Author Bouveresse, Jacques, author.

Title Wittgenstein reads Freud : the myth of the unconscious / Jacques Bouveresse ; translated by Carol Cosman ; with a foreword by Vincent Descombes.

Publication Info. Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, 1995.

Item Status

Description 1 online resource (xx, 143 pages).
Physical Medium polychrome
Description text file
Series New French thought
New French thought.
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 133-137) and index.
Summary Did Freud present a scientific hypothesis about the unconscious, as he always maintained and as many of his disciples keep repeating? This question has long prompted debates concerning the legitimacy and usefulness of psychoanalysis, and it is of utmost importance to Lacanian analysts, whose main project has been to stress Freud's scientific grounding. Here Jacques Bouveresse, a noted authority on Ludwig Wittgenstein, contributes to the debate by turning to this Austrian-born philosopher and contemporary of Freud for a candid assessment of the early issues surrounding psychoanalysis. Wittgenstein, who himself had delivered a devastating critique of traditional philosophy, sympathetically pondered Freud's claim to have produced a scientific theory in proposing a new model of the human psyche. What Wittgenstein recognized--and what Bouveresse so eloquently stresses for today's reader--is that psychoanalysis does not aim to produce a change limited to the intellect but rather seeks to provoke an authentic change of human attitudes. The beauty behind the theory of the unconscious for Wittgenstein is that it breaks away from scientific, causal explanations to offer new forms of thinking and speaking, or rather, a new mythology. Offering a critical view of all the texts in which Wittgenstein mentions Freud, Bouveresse immerses us in the intellectual climate of Vienna in the early part of the twentieth century. Although we come to see why Wittgenstein did not view psychoanalysis as a science proper, we are nonetheless made to feel the philosopher's sense of wonder and respect for the cultural task Freud took on as he found new ways meaningfully to discuss human concerns. Intertwined in this story of Wittgenstein's grappling with the theory of the unconscious is the story of how he came to question the authority of science and of philosophy itself. While aiming primarily at the clarification of Wittgenstein's opinion of Freud, Bouveresse's book can be read as a challenge to the French psychoanalytic school of Lacan and as a provocative commentary on cultural authority.
Local Note eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - North America
Subject Wittgenstein, Ludwig, 1889-1951.
Wittgenstein, Ludwig, 1889-1951.
Freud, Sigmund, 1856-1939 -- Influence.
Freud, Sigmund, 1856-1939.
Freud, Sigmund, 1856-1939.
Freud, Sigmund 1856-1939 -- Influence.
Freud, Sigmund 1856-1939.
Wittgenstein, Ludwig 1889-1951 -- Views on psychoanalysis.
Psychoanalysis and philosophy.
Psychoanalysis and philosophy.
Freudian Theory.
Philosophy.
Indexed Term Psychoanalysis
Genre/Form Electronic books.
Electronic books.
Subject Psychoanalysis.
Psychoanalysis.
Added Author Descombes, Vincent, writer of supplemental textual content.
Added Title Philosophie, mythologie et pseudo-science. English https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n94097369
Other Form: Print version: Bouveresse, Jacques. Philosophie, mythologie et pseudo-science. English. Wittgenstein reads Freud. Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, 1995 0691034257 (DLC) 94040607 (OCoLC)31434155
ISBN 1400811104 (electronic book)
9781400811106 (electronic book)
9781400821594 (electronic book)
1400821592 (electronic book)
9780691029047
0691029040 (Trade Paper)
0691034257 (cloth)
Standard No. 9780691029047