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Freud: A Very Short Introduction [Audio Book]

by: Anthony Storr; Narrated by Neville Jason
en

9626342978  9789626342978 



Freud: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
By Anthony Storr


 


Book Description:

 

Total playing time: 03:55:07

Sigmund Freud revolutionised the way in which we think about ourselves. From its beginnings as a theory of neurosis, Freud developed psychoanalysis into a general psychology which became widely accepted as the predominant mode of discussing personality and interpersonal relationships, Anthony Storr goes one step further and investigates the status of Freud's legacy today and the disputes that surround it. The first of several releases from Oxford University Press's highly successful Very Short Introduction series. A popular and direct introduction.
Disc 1 A Very Short Introduction - Freud(more info) Composed by: Anthony Storr
Neville Jason, reader

Life and character - 03:01 Freud enrolled in the medical department of the University of Vienna - 03:07 From the mid-1890s onward - 02:15 Like most people with this type of personality - 03:22 Freud exhibited a number of other obsessional habits and traits - 02:22 Freud had a lively appreciation of literature - 02:47 Freud's honesty compelled him substantially to modify or revise his ideas - 02:22 Excessive generalisation is a temptation for all original thinkers - 03:50 From trauma to phantasy - 03:37 These reminiscences were of a special kind - 02:42 At first, Freud thought of the repressed affect as being always associated with trauma - 03:45 Freud's next step was to assert that, in many cases of hysteria - 02:40 For Freud, sex was especially suitable as a linchpin - 02:45 There were three reasons for Freud's subsequent abandonment of the seduction theory - 03:09 It is quite possible that psychoanalysts have underestimated - 01:34 Exploring the past - 03:18 Freud pictured the infant's sexuality as 'polymorphously perverse' - 02:47 Of a variety of oral characteristics described - 02:40 The Oedipus complex - 02:36 The female version of the Oedipus complex is less clearly worked out - 03:59 In putting forward his ideas about infantile sexuality - 02:50 Infantile amnesia - 02:37 Many common human problems - 02:47 Free association, dreams and transference - 01:54 Dreams - 02:48 Freud regarded dreams as if they were neurotic symptoms - 03:39 Freud's technique of dream interpretation is notably ingenious - 02:31
Disc 2 A Very Short Introduction - Freud(more info) Composed by: Anthony Storr
Neville Jason, reader

Today, very few psychoanalysts support Freud's theory in its original form - 02:22 Transference - 03:35 It is surely because Freud was by nature an impersonal investigator - 03:05 Ego, super-ego and id - 03:30 Freud was essentially a dualist - 03:59 Structure of the mental apparatus - 02:50 The ego is that part of the mind representing consciousness - 02:47 The origin of Freud's concept of the super-ego - 02:21 Aggression - 02:31 Freud's first full acknowledgement of an aggressive instinct - 03:23 The death instinct - 03:28 Aggression, depression and paranoia - 02:30 Melancholia would today be described as a severe depressive illness - 03:00 What Freud suggests is illuminating - 02:38 Today we might describe the person prone to melancholia rather differently - 04:25 We commented earlier on the accuracy of Freud's description - 03:22 Jokes and The Psyco-Pathology of Everyday Life - 04:06 Freud's explanation is extremely ingenious - 04:18 Art and literature - 03:30 Since content, rather than style - 03:12 One cannot blame the art historians - 04:18 Freud's paper 'The Moses of Michelangelo' - 04:03 Culture and religion - 02:01 Totem and Taboo - 03:13
Disc 3 A Very Short Introduction - Freud(more info) Composed by: Anthony Storr
Neville Jason, reader

The ritual totemic meal could be interpreted as a 'return of the repressed' - 02:43 Some of the same criticisms which have been levelled at Totem and Taboo - 02:19 Freud believed that religion originated in man's feelings of helplessness - 03:44 The impression gained from reading Freud - 04:13 Freud as therapist - 03:30 Earlier two reasons were given for requiring the patient to lie supine upon a couch - 02:46 A certain degree of detachment is undoubtedly required of the analyst - 03:16 Freud advised that most analytic patients should be seen every day - 03:36 Freud's own cases - 03:56 Any reader who studies the case of Dora without prejudice - 03:05 The 'Rat Man' is an entirely different porposition - 03:00 Freud gave his account of the 'Wolf Man' - 04:16 The 'Wolf Man' reveals that Freud discussed Dostoevsky with him - 03:28 Psychoanalysis today - 03:19 Earlier some aspects of the obsessional personality were outlined - 04:15 Freud defined the therapeutic aim of pyschoanalysis as follows - 03:28 Patients who seek psychoanalysis today are rather different - 04:25 Modern psychoanalysts have recognized the difficulty of defining - 03:55 The appeal of psychoanalysis - 03:32 Freud is often linked with Darwin and Marx - 02:50 Psychoanalysis has often been referred to as a religion - 04:29 Freudian theory made western man suspicious of conduct - 04:51


Summary: A first-rate introduction to Freud
Rating: 5

Freud is now somewhat unfashionable, and stands on the periphery of current psychological thought and practice. Yet the very people who denigrate his work do so using terms and concepts that owe a great deal to that work. To be a 'Freudian' today makes as much sense as being a 'Newtonian', but that should not blind us to the importance of his contribution. Storr adopts just the right approach -- he begins each topic with a summary of what Freud said, then offers criticisms of it. He talks more than once of the need to 'separate the wheat from the chaff'. Freud was once revered as a kind of Messiah. Now he is reviled. As usual, the truth lies somewhere in between. Given the brevity of this book, it is remarkably comprehensive, and is an ideal introduction to the man and his work. I read Schopenhauer: A Very Short Introduction before reading this book and I would recommend doing that. There is an obvious indebtedness, although Freud specifically denied it.



Summary: The unconscious purveyor of 20th century terminology
Rating: 5

We are all aware of many of Freud's ideas, even if we're not conscious aware of that derivation. The concept of the id, the ego, the super-ego, Oedipal complex, etc., are now so much a part of our everyday language that we could find it easy to forget that they have not always been so.

This little book is truly a perfect introduction to Freud's life and work for those who'd never read any Freud and who want to get a good starting point. The writing is exceptionally clear and remarkably unbiased - readers will gain a good understanding of why Freud was so fêted and they will also have the information to make decisions on whether his theories are justified. To acknowledge that Freud was a highly intelligent man is not to admit that he understood human nature. In fact, in his case studies and his determined turning of every neurosis to a sexual starting point is the most exasperating element one encounters in reading Freud - that of Freud's certainty of his own right point of view, without the evidence to support that viewpoint.

But certainly the reader will be able to follow up on the writing here. For those wishing to read Freud's own works, his books have been translated into English for those who are not able to read the original German. I have always found reading Freud to be a puzzling experience. On the one hand, the man had a very intelligent way of writing. On the other, he leapt to conclusions without bridging the gap with anything other than his own certainty. One can certainly "interpret" Freud in terms other than the organic or strictly literal, but any reading of his own writing will reveal to the reader that Freud didn't have a metaphorical interpretation in mind. But even if his ideas were often stubbornly wrong, Freud is well worth reading.

As Anthony Storr says, perhaps the greatest gift Freud gave to the world is the understanding that it is important to listen. To simply listen.

This is a highly recommended book for anyone not familiar with Freud's writings. Anthony Storr is well worth reading.



Summary: I dig Freud!
Rating: 5

Yes, it's true that he pretty much reduced everything to sex in some way or other. But if you go beyond that little foible then you see that SF was one of the most brilliant people of the last century, without doubt. There's a section in here on his analysis of jokes and why we tell them that is priceless. And if you are honest with yourself then you will have to admit that he is exactly right on target. This book has definitely spurred my interest in the field and SF himself. I do think that the author glosses over SF's religious views and writings a little too glibly, as though he thinks that SF really didn't believe what he wrote. I actually think that these are some of the most profound of Freud's writings and some that I definitely intend to pursue further. All in all though, this is definitely worth your time and money.



Summary: A few words on Freud's genius
Rating: 5

I concur with the other reviews I have seen on this book. It is a clearly written , fine introduction to Freud's work. It does what it can in the space it has but cannot provide the interpretation of interpretations of the great over- interpreter of us all.
Freud's genius was in making mankind see fundamental truths about its own nature it had conveniently ignored throughout its recorded history.His genius was also in understanding ways the mind works ( The defense mechanisms) which explain us to ourselves in a way we did not know how to before. His genius also consisted in a powerful capacity for interpreting and reinterpreting the realities before him, so that he gave us the sense that there is more in us than has been dreamnt in any of our philosophies.
The master investigator of the human mind was an immense and complicated mind himself. Storr shows us how some of it worked and developed.



Summary: Nice intro to Freud
Rating: 5

I studied philosphy as an undergrad, theology as a grad student, dropped out of a Ph.D. program in philosophy to write fiction, and as a result, grew more curious about human beings and why they act the way they do.

So I took up the study of psychology. I'd heard a lot about Dr. Freud: about how great he was from some people and what a crackpot he was from others. Still, whatever view you have of him, you must admit (and I mean MUST admit) that the man was a genuis.

Dr. Storr's book is a nice intro to Freud; all the bases are covered in this little book. It's written in a simple style and offers clear explanations of Dr. Freud's views of sexuality, dreams, religion, and more. There are plenty of quotes throughout the book and biographical tidbits. I checked this book out at the library but will probably buy it to have on my bookshelf. A very interesting read and a solid foundation for any future reading of Freud.