Find
it in our On-Line
Resource Center and visit it (note: look under "museums")
Pay
attention to the following: (Note: to find these things, click on "Freud
online" at the bottom of the page.
- The
layout of Freud's office, consultation room etc... What does it
tell you about what kind of a therapist Freud was, how it might
have felt to be his client, what concerns Freud had for his patients
etc.
- Freud's
interest in art. How is this related to his understanding of psychology?
(especially of the unconscious) How might this be related to Darwinian
theory?
- Did
Freud think one can render justice to psychoanalysis in a movie-format?
What do you think? In the movies you have seen, are there some that
use psychoanalytic themes? Explain.
- Look
at the different places where Freud lived, the chronology of his
life etc... What kind of person does he seem to have been? Does
that help you put his theory in context?
- Look
at the material on Anna Freud. What did she do? How was she trained?
What was her relationship with Freud?
The
Freud museum in London
Find
it in our On-Line
Resource Center and visit it (note: look under "museums")
Based
on the information there, add to, or modify the information you collected
in Vienna. London is where Freud lived in his declining years, but it
is where Anna Freud lived for 44 years.
When
you are on that site, be sure to look at the Dream
Exhibit --both the archeology and the theory part. Make
sure you also read some of the interpreted dreams.
What
do you think of Freud's dream theory? How well does it mesh with your
own understanding?
An
exhibit from the Library of Congress
Sigmund
Freud: Conflict and Culture
Examine
the three sections of the exhibit. What does this add to your understanding
of Freud?
Freud
and religion
here
are a couple of quotes from Freud about religion:
"Religious
ideas have sprung from the same need as all the other
achievements of culture: from the necessity for defending itself
against the crushing supremacy of nature."
[Sigmund Freud, "The Future of an Illusion" 1927, p.34]
-------
"While the different religions wrangle with one another as to which
of them
is in possession of the truth, in our view the truth of religion may
be
altogether disregarded. Religion is an attempt to get control over the
sensory world, in which we are placed, by means of the wish-world, which
we have developed inside us as a result of biological and psychological
necessities. But it cannot achieve its end. Its doctrines carry with
them
the stamp of the times in which they originated, the ignorant childhood
days
of the human race. Its consolations deserve no trust. Experience teaches
us that the world is not a nursery. The ethical commands, to which religion
seeks to lend its weight, require some other foundations instead, for
human
society cannot do without them, and it is dangerous to link up obedience
to
them with religious belief. If one attempts to assign to religion its
place
in man's evolution, it seems not so much to be a lasting acquisition,
as a
parallel to the neurosis which the civilized individual must pass through
on his way from childhood to maturity."
[Sigmund Freud, "Moses and Monotheism", 1932]
Is
religion the immature fulfilling of infantile wishes for security? Is
there any truth in Freud's assertion? What do you think?
Should
you want to go more in depth in Freud's ideas on the topic, read a short
lecture by Freud that contrasts the religious and the scientific
worldviews. He says there (among other things) "Of the three forces
which can dispute the position of science, religion alone is a really
serious enemy." This is a talk addressed to a marxist audience.
The first part of the article is the most relevant to you.