Sublimated or castrated psychoanalysis? Adorno’s critique of the revisionist psychoanalysis. An introduction to >The Revisionist Psychoanalysis<

  • In >The Revisionist Psychoanalysis<, Adorno criticizes the neo-Freudian psychoanalysis for losing the critical edge of Freud’s theory with regard to social critique. Neo-Freudians whom Adorno calls >revisionists< criticize Freud for his >mechanical< views of the human psyche and for his over-emphasis on sexual libido. They reverse Freud’s dictum – >where id was, there ego shall be< – by stressing the importance of development of the ego, and thus that of its adaptive functions. For revisionists, the aim of psychoanalytic practice is to help analysands be better adapted to their social environment. According to Adorno, the revisionist psychoanalysis is suspected of conformism, and implicitly advocating an ideology that what is existent is the best of all possible worlds. The emphasis on adaptation actually weakens the ego instead of strengthening it – leaving it vulnerable to the whim of social conditions, and that of instinctual impulses. Most importantly, it weakens individuals’ ability to think critically and makes them susceptible to ideological and psychological manipulation against their own rational interests.

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Metadaten
Author:Nan-Nan Lee
Parent Title (English):Philosophy & Social Criticism, Vol. 40 (No. 3, March 2014), pp. 309-338.
Document Type:Articles
Language:English
Year of first Publication:2014
Release Date:2015/12/14
Format:no download and copy possible
IdNo:Lee_N-N_2014
Writings about Erich Fromm (Secondary Literature):Articles / Artikel
Erich Fromm's Library and Erich Fromm Archive:Articles / Artikel
Licence (German):
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