Freudians at War

s not, as it turns out, a particularly interesting or unusual development; the history of psychoanalysis is full of splits and internal wranglings, and this one doesn’t appear to have any interesting characters or outrageous behaviours to recommend it. I was, however, struck by this little snippet:

[A]ll psychoanalysts share certain beliefs: the importance of the unconscious, for example. And Freud’s own legacy is still central. His sense of mistreatment by Viennese academics is one reason psychoanalytic training still goes on mostly in private institutes rather than in university departments.

That must also, I imagine, be the reason that Scientology training isn’t taught in university departments: because L Ron Hubbard was so upset at the way he was treated by academia….

For a more penetrating look at Freud’s legacy, check out this at butterfliesandwheels.