Cassandra's Daughter: A History of Psychoanalysis - Hardcover

Schwartz, Joseph

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0670886238 ISBN 13: 9780670886234

Publisher: Viking, 1999

Synopsis

Psychoanalysis is arguably the single most important intellectual development of the 20th century. Comparable to the theory of evolution in its social impact, Freud's theory of human unconscious motivation -- and with it, terms like repressed, ambivalent, neurotic, ego, paranoid -- are part of our everyday conversation. Always emphasizing the social and economic milieu of the analytic pioneers, Schwartz lays out the pre-Freudian approaches to mental illness and health and explains the context in which Freud's revolution took place. He traces the evolution of Freud's own thought, then shows how the rifts and shifts in the analytic community took place. He then focusses on Freud's colleagues, rivals, successors and detractors -- Jung, Adler, Harry Stack Sullivan, Melanie Klein, Erich Fromm, and so on. The center of analytic thought shifts from Vienna to London to New York, and for once we see how the rival schools and interpretations fit together -- how they grew in response to each other, and what separate contributions each pioneer made over the last 100 years to create an effective understanding of the world of human subjective experience.As a trained scientist, Schwartz probes analysis's relationship to physics and biology, creatively exploring the criticism that it is not "legitimate" science, and successfully locates it within the traditions of Western science not as a systematic attempt to describe experience, but to understand it. The real question for humans who suffer is not whether analysis produces understandings that are "scientific" -- but if they are any good. Whether you are pro- or anti-Freud, you will find this a learned, revelatory, original -- and humane -- book.

About this title

Review:

'The book is packed with fascinating insights and controversial propositions; the only adequate response from a reviewer would be to write another book.'- Frank McLynn, The Independent

About the Author:

Joseph Schwartz is a training therapist and supervisor at the Bowlby Centre. He worked for over fifteen years in mental health research before becoming a clinician. He is the author of numerous papers on clinical practice, the history of psychoanalysis, and the lack of a role of genetics in mental distress. He has also written numerous books including 'Einstein for Beginners'. He currently lives in London with his partner and two children.

About this edition

• Publisher: Viking
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0670886238
• ISBN 13: 9780670886234
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 352