Exploring Freud: Controversy and Influence

Paper Summary:

The essay discusses three of Freud's most radical and debated sex-based discoveries: The "psychosexual stages" and the Oedipus and Electra (penis envy) complexes. It goes on to discuss the opinions of contemporaries Carl Jung and Alfred Adler, adaptations on Freudian theories by Erik Erikson and Karen Horney and the opinion of Freud's feminist critics. It also explores why the religious world rejects much of Freud's work. The essay concludes with an assessment of Freud's influence based on modern tenets of psychology and the use of Freudian diagnostic and treatment methods today.

From the Paper:

"At one time or another, everyone needs to express his or her feelings in an unending flow of speech. Known as venting, this type of self-expression sits at the center of debate surrounding a very curious man, Sigismund Schlomo Freud. Psychoanalysis is based on the relief experienced when thoughts are expressed, and psychoanalysis was created by Freud as a method of treating mental illness. Freud created theories of love, power, language, development, death, and sex, applying them "to disciplines ranging from psychology to anthropology to literary theory" (Muckenhoupt 10). He has been called the "best known and most influential personality theorist" (Morris 3). At the same time, his treatment has been deemed "ineffective and dangerous" and his ideas about child sexuality have "horrified many critics" (Muckenhoupt 10). His modern relevance is still the topic of much debate, with extreme claims made by both sides of the argument, but ultimately, it can be acknowledged, that if nothing else, Freud "opened the door" to a whole new world of the unconscious (Downs 183- 185)."

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• Comparison Essay # 121415 : "Freud, Jung and Adler"

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