Chapter 7 Psychoanalysis

~

Chapter 7

PSYCHOANALYSIS

INTRODUCTION. Psychoanalysis is one of the schools which was formed around the turn of the century. It was founded by Sigmund Freud, who obtained his first followers in Vienna at the beginning of the 1900s. Some of the original disciples broke away and founded their own microschools. The most famous of these were Alfred Adler and Curl Gustuv Jung. Apart from them we shall discuss a number of Freud's other famous pupils. For lack of a better term, 'psychoanalysis' will be applied specifically to the macroschool that was founded by Freud. The term 'depth psychology' could possibly have been used as common denominator both for this macroschool and the microschools that developed out of Freud's psychoanalysis. But each has since acquired its own special name, so presumably it will not create any misunderstandings if 'psychoanalysis' is used to denote the entire macroschool that was organized by Freud as well as that part of it (the microschool) which continued to use both the meta-paradigm and the theoryparadigm created by Freud. As in the other chapters the first part will deal with the history of the psychoanalytical scientific community, and the second part with the production of the psychoanalysts (which for practical reasons will consist exclusively of Freud's own production).

Psychoanalysis

260

The history of the psychoanalysts Freud's Life and Work INTRODUCTION. Freud is presumably the psychologist who has been written about more than any other, so the interested reader may be referred to a large number of biographies apart from Freud's own autobiography (see, for example, Jones, 1953-57; Andkjar Olsen and K@ppe,1987; Schur, 1972; Sjoback and Westerlund, 1977; Sulloway, 1979). There will only be room here for a selection of facts relating to 1) Freud's childhood, 2) Freud's studies and education, 3) The establishment of psychoanalysis in the 1890s, and 4) The period until the Second World War. FREUD'S CHILDHOOD. Sigmund Freud was born in 1856 in the town of Freiberg, then in Czechoslovakia, where his father was a wool dealer. As the result of an economic crisis and an upsurge of Czech nationalism and antisemitism, Freud's father, who was Jewish, fled in 1859 to Vienna. Freud was the first-born child of his father's third marriage. Freud's father was then forty and his mother only twenty. Thus he had older brothers and sisters from his father's previous marriages and later also younger ones. In many respects, Freud, as first-born son, received preferential treatment according to the traditions, and especially the Jewish ones, of that time; and, despite his father's deprived circumstances, Freud attended a secondary school, where he became very interested in literature and languages. FREUD'S STUDIES AND EDUCATION. Freud was very keen to continue his hu-

manist studies; but for economic reasons he chose to study medicine, which he commenced in 1873 at the age of seventeen. During the entire period of his studies and throughout the rest of his life he kept up his general interest in philosophy, history, archeology, literature and the natural sciences. Thus, while still studying, he attended Franz Brentano's philosophical lectures, and later he translated some of John S l u m Miff's works into German. Already in his third year of studies, apart from his general interest in various subjects other than medicine, Freud also engaged in scientific research. Thus he carried out neuroanatomical and microscopic investigations while acting as assistant to the fa-

The history of the psychoanalysts

261

mous physiologist Ernst Briicke. He would like to have continued his physiological research, but Brucke had no means of obtaining a university post for him and advised him to become a general practitioner. So from 1882-85 Freud carried out his clinical studies at the hospital in Vienna, where he received an all-round clinical training. But Freud was chiefly interested in neurology and psychiatry, which subjects were taught by Professor Theodor Meynert - one of the doctors who regarded psychological illnesses to be organic diseases of the brain. In 1885 Freud acquired the title of 'privatdozent' at the university and also a travel grant to France. Here Freud came to study under the famous neurologist J.M. Charcot in Paris, where he stayed during the winter of 1885-86. Charcot was very interested in hysteria, which he treated with hypnosis. Freud became very taken with Charcot's psychological conception of hysteria, and he translated Charcot's lectures into German. Perhaps it was his acquaintance with hypnosis - amd especially with so-called post-hypnotic suggestion - that gave Freud his first inkling of the importance of the unconscious. When Freud returned to Vienna he set up practice as a specialist in neurology. At the same time he married Martha Bernays, to whom he had been engaged for four years and with whom he had carried on an extremely intense correspondence. During the following years six children were born to them, of whom the youngest, Anna Freud, also became a psychoanalyst. During his first years as practising specialist Freud also worked as a neurologist at a children's hospital, and in time he became a recognized expert on aphasia, on which he wrote both an article and a book. Freud began to make use of hypnosis and suggestion in his private practice when treating neurotic patients, especially after a period of intense collaboration with an older colleague, Josef Breuer (18421925). The latter had also used another psycho-therapeutic method which he called 'catharsis'.This method consisted of the patient tatking himself out of his symptoms. Breuer had been successful with this method especially in the treatment of a patient later known as 'Anna 0.' Together, Breuer and Freud developed the first theory of neuroses. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF PSYCHOANALYSIS. Breuer's and Freud's frst theory

of the neuroses, with particular regard to hysteria, was inspired by Charcot, P. Janet and G.T. Fechner. The theory presupposes the existence of two systems of consciousness: a normal wakeful system of consciousness and a dream system. These systems are localized in different areas of the brain. The two alter-

262

Psychoanalysis

nating states of consciousness normally correspond to the wakeful state and to sleep, but in hysteria dream consciousness - often in the form of daydreams may predominate also in the wakeful state. According to Freud's and Breuer's theory, this abnormal state arises as the result of a 'trauma' - a violent event causing hyperstimulation of the psychical system, which reacts in some cases with a attack of hysterics, though in other cases it may create personality changes in the form of a dichotomy between normal and dream consciousness. Freud's and Breuer's theory was presented in the book Jtudien iiber Hysterie", which was published in 1895. At that time many differences had arisen between Breuer and Freud, and their collaboration ceased altogether in 1895. The conflict was chiefly due to their disagreement about the nature of the 'trauma'. Freud maintained that it was always of a sexual nature, whereas Breuer rejected this. On the other hand it was supported by a new collaborator, who was Freud's 'pen friend' throughout the period 1887-1902. The latter was a Berlin doctor, Wilhelm Fliess (1858-1928). He was generally interested in and conversant with the natural sciences. So Freud discussed all his theoretical problems with Fliess by letter. Fortunately, Freud's letters to Fliess have been preserved, and in 1950 they were published. They illuminate the birth and development of Freud's ideas during this period. Among the letters to Fliess a manuscript was discovered which was published together with the letters under the English title ,,The Project" (1950). In this ,,Project" Freud puts forwards a 'neuropsychological theory', in which he identifies psychological processes with brain processes. In this neurophysiological version 'ideas' and their mutual 'association' become nerve cells and paths. 'Affects' or 'feelings' become nervous energy. Apart from external stimulation Freud now reckoned with the internal stimulation that arises from the needs of the organism. In this neuropsychological system internal stimulation became instinctual drives. Freud added to this a developmental theory, i.e. that the individual reacts from birth with the so-called primary processes steering processes in which emotionally charged reminiscences and fantasies predominate. Later the individual learns to react with the so-called secondary processes, i.e. steering processes in which rational thinking predominates. As appears from the above description, this ,,Project" contains nearly all the important hypotheses in Freud's subsequent theories apart from the theory of the unconscious system.

The history of the psychoanalysts

263

Freud also incorporated his theory of the neuroses in this general neuropsychological theory. The neurotic reaction (attacks, symptoms, etc.) could be regarded as a regression to more primitive, primary processes after the growing child had already developed the secondary processes. This regression to a more primitive form of steering was in fact a defence against emotionally charged memories of traumatic events in early childhood. In subsequent letters to Fliess Freud also puts forward his hypothesis concerning memory, i.e. that some memories arise so early that the individual has not yet acquired a language that can be associated with them. These memories therefore consist entirely of reproductions of the original sense impressions of the objects and persons which are to be found in the surrounding world and which enter into specific events and situations. These memories constitute the so-called object-representations. When the individual has learnt a language these will be supplemented with word-representations. These two sets of representationss are depositied in two psychlcal systems: the oldest system with object-representationsis called the unconscious and the subsequently developed system with word-representations is called the pre-conscious. This system is directy connected with consciousness, and so pre-conscious word-representations can easily become conscious, whereas unconscious object-representations can only become conscious via the pre-conscious. With his hypotheses about the unconscious and the preconscious systems Freud formulated all the hypotheses entering into psychoanalytical theory during the period from around 1900 until the First World War. But during this period Freud had also developed the psychoanalytical method. First of all, he employed, as mentioned, hypnosis and suggestion. But since not all patients could be hypnotized, he also used Breuer's cathartic method. During the 1890's Freud developed this method into the psychoanalytical method proper, which consisted of an analysis of free fancies or associations. These associations might take dreams as their point of departure. The psychoanalytical method turned out to be more effective in the treatment of neurotic patients than previous methods. By way of analysis the patient obtained increased self-insight (the unconscious became 'raised to consciousness'), at the same time as an emotional reaction took place. Eventually the insight coupled with the reaction resulted in the patient's emancipation from the purposeless neurotic reaction fields. Thus it appears that psychoanalytical method is at one and the same time a method of observation and a therapeutic method.

264

Psychoanalysis

Before proceeding with a description of the continued development of psychoanalysis, we shall briefly summarize the most important points regarding the establishment ofpsychoanalysis: Just like other schools, and in accordance with Kuhn's theory, psychoanalysis started with the discovery of an anomaly. In this case the anomaly consisted of neurotic symptoms. These could not be explained satisfactorily either by classical, neuropathological psychiatry or by classical experimental psychology. It was primarily in order to explain hysterical - and subsequently other neurotic symptoms - that Freud developed his theory. This psychoanalytical theory was gradually developed into a general psychological theory. The birth of psychoanalysis may be distinguished from that of other schools, however, by the fact that the anomaly consisted essentially of apractical problem, i.e. how does one cure neuroses? Therefore a development of a method of treatment - the psychanalytical method - had to develop side by side with the development of psychoanalytical theory. Since psychoanalytical method is at the same time an observational method, the method-hypothesisput forward in Chapter 4 is also substantiated, i.e. that a science is established when, on its emancipation from philosophy, a method is found for testing its theories. Psychoanalysis may therefore be regarded a the science about the unconscious psychical system. Psychoanalytical method may be regarded as a method for analysing (observing) unconscious psychical processes and structures. Thus, with the development of the psychoanalytical method it became possible to test theories about the unconscious which had previously been a part of philosophy (and perhaps of the general knowledge of human nature). THE PERIOD FROM C. 1900 UNTIL THE FIRST WORLD WAR. Following the es-

tablishment of his psychoanalytical theory and method Freud wrote his first major work ,,The Interpretation of Dreams", which was published in 1900. (In the following the English titles refer to the ,Standard Edition", which comprises all Freud's preserved writings together with detailed notes, many of which are the result of discussions between the translators and Freud himself. These notes have later been transferred to the German Jtudien ausgabe", (see the bibliography). In ,,The Interpretation of Dreams" Freud presented his entire psychological theory together with the famous 'lens model' of the psychical apparatus,

The history of the psychoanalysts

265

which consists of three systems: the unconscious, the pre-conscious and the conscious. Both theory and model were used for interpreting and explaining dreams. Freud had become interested in dreams because so many of his patients had told him quite spontaneously about their nightly dreams. Freud discovered that these were an excellent point of departure for psychoanalytical treatment, and they could be explained with the help of the same general psychological theory that had been developed primarily in order to explain neuroses. Later Freud discovered that his theory could also be used to interpret and explain everyday slips of the tongue and erroneous actions. These were therefore dealt with in the book ,,The Psychopathology of Everyday Life", which was published in 1901. Later Freud demonstrated that even jokes could be analysed (interpreted and explained) with the help of his general theory, and he wrote the book , P e r Witz und seine Beziehung zum Unbewussten", which was published in 1905. ,,Three Essays on Sexuality" was also published in the same year. With these books Freud gradually became known. He also acquired many patients; he usually had about 9-10 patients a day (taking about an hour each). In 1902 he also became 'professor extraordinarius' at the university. Although this job was unpaid, it not only gave him prestige (and thereby more patients) but also contact via his lectures with budding doctors and other university graduates. Some doctors applied to him for training. The theoretical part of this training took part in connection with a weekly discussion nicknamed the 'Wednesday club, which started in 1902. Among the first participants were Alfred Adler and Wilhelm Stekel. The Wednesday club may be said to be the first formal organization of the psychoanalytical research (and therapeutic) community. It grew fast and obtained more Vienese members, and in 1907 the group was extended to include members from Switzerland, of whom the most famous were Carl Gustav Jung, Karl Abraham and Ludvig Binswanger. Thereafter psychoanalytical associations modelled on the Vienna association were created also in Zurich, Berlin, London and Budapest. A meeting was held for psychoanalysts and their sympathizers in Salzburg in 1908. This was later known as 'The First International Psychoanalytical Congress', and followed by a similar congress in Nurenberg in 1910. In the meantime Freud, Jung and Sandor Ferenczi were invited in 1909 to hold a series of lectures in the USA, and a symposium was held at Clark University, organized by its president, Stanley Hall (see Chapter 4). Here Freud

266

Psychoanalysis

was enthusiastically received by many outstanding American psychologists, among them, William James. Freud mentions in his autobiography that for him it constituted a great personal encouragement to meet this recognition. In 1910, at the second international congress, an International Psychoanulytical Association was formed. This was based in Zurich, with Jung as its first president. At the same time he started a journal, Zentrulblattfur Psychoanalyse, with Adler and Wilhelm Stekel as editors. After this congress a certain amount of rivalry started up between the various groups, especially between the associations in Vienna and Zurich. In 1911 Adler broke with Freud and formed his own association for 'free psychoanalysis'. We shall return later to Adler's theory and his creation of a microschool known as 'Individual Psychology'. In 1912 it also came to a breach between Freud and Jung, with the result that Jung resigned his presidency of the International Psychoanalytical Association in 1914 and formed his own ,,Society for Analytical Psychology". We shall also return to Jung and his work later on. In both these case the official reason for the breach was that Freud would not tolerate any refusal to recognize the fundamental significance of the sexual drive. For Freud it was tremendously important to recognize the importance of the sexual drive both for the development of personality and for the development of the neuroses. This formed an essential part of psychoanalysis's theory-paradigm and a qualification for becoming a members of the microschool constituted by the international community of psychoanalysts. Therefore Freud wrote a great many theoretical - so-called 'metapsychological' - articles in the years following the breach with Adler and Jung. Amongst other things, he elaborated his theory ofthe drives with its distinction between the reproductive or sexual drives and the self-preservative, or egodrives. The First World War made it very difficult to get the articles published and not all of them were printed - in fact Freud destroyed some of them himself because he thought they had become out-dated. Apart from these theoretical articles, during the war Freud also had an opportunity of presenting a comprehensive survey of psychoanalysis in some lectures he held at Vienna University in the winters of 1915-16 and 1916-17. They were published in 1917 under the title ,,Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis". They are regarded as the best introduction to psychoanalysis, since Freud was both an ex-

The history of the psychoanalysts

267

tremely good lecturer and a good writer. In these lectures he presents the theory of psychoanalysis in relation to erroneous actions and slips of the tongue, to dreams and the neuroses. He chose this order for pedagogical reasons, even though the historical development of the theories was the reverse. THE PERIOD BETWEEN THE FIRST AND SECOND WORLD WARS. After the war contacts were resumed and co-operation within the International Psychoanalytical Association continued. The Englishman Ernest Jones (1879-1958) was for many years President of the International Association, and was largely responsible for the dissemination of psychoanalysis in Great Britain and America. Jones had been a close friend of Freud since 1907, and later he was given access to all his private letters, so that he was able to write the most comprehensive and well-documented biography of Freud. This was issued in three volumes, in 1953, 1955 and 1957, but subsequently published in a shortened one-volume edition (see Jones, 1961). Freud was generally interested in international collaboration, and it is worth mentioning Freud was actively engaged in establishing an international psychoanalytical publishers. But later Freud was forced to withdraw from active international collaboration, including congresses, on account of increasing ill-health. He was found to be suffering from cancer of the jaw, for which he was operated altogether thirty-three times during the last sixteen years of his life, Freud was treated by the doctor Max Schur, who later also followed Freud to London. Schur has written a book about Freud's latter years, which includes an account of Freud's attitude towards illness and death (see Schur, 1972). But Freud continued to have patients and did not cut down his working hours until his very last years. At the same time he found time to write, and he continued to add to his already voluminous production right until he died. After the war Freud, who at that time was in his late sixties, started work on an extensive revision of psychanalytical theory. In 1920 ,,Beyond the Pleasure Principle" was published, which included some changes in his theory of the drives. The previous distinction between the sexual drives and the ego-drives was now abolished, both being collectively categorized as life drives or 'Eros'. As a parallel to the life drives Freud introduced a new concept, namely the 'death drive', or 'Thanatos', which comprised all destructive drives, both outwardly directed aggression and inwardly directed self-destruction. However, there were many psychoanalysts who could not accept this new theory of the drives, or possibly only in a modified version

268

Psychoanalysis

in which the 'death drive' was merely regarded as an outwardly directed agressive drive. In 1923 came ,,The Ego and the Id", which contained a new model of the structure of the personality or 'psychical system'. This model was to replace the 'lens model', whose three systems - the unconscious, the pre-conscious and the conscious - were replaced by the three systems of the new model: the 'id ('das Es'), the' ego' ('Ich') and the 'super-ego' (Uber-Ich'). The new model's three systems are only partly coincident with those of the old model; but we shall discuss these personality models in more detail in the second part of the chapter under the meta-theoretical analysis of Freud's theory. The new model of the psychical system, often called 'the structural model' became further elaborated in the next theoretical discourse ,,Hemmung, symptom und Angst", which was published in 1926. In this 'anxiety' (or fear) acquired a theoretical status which placed anxiety almost on a par with the two primary instincts. Anxiety was now regarded as the cause of the 'defence mechanisms', which were able, when put into action, to produce neurotic symptoms. Previously Freud had regarded anxiety as a 'bi-product' of a frustrated (unsatisfied) sexual drive. This new contribution to the development of psychoanalytical theory was later summarized in ,,New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis", which was published in 1933. These new lectures assumed an acquaintanceship with the first introductory lectures from 1917, since they dealt exclusively with revisions of and additions to psychoanalytical theory. Later (in 1938) Freud started to write an entirely new, comparatively popular, account of psychoanalysis, but unfortunately it was not completed before his death. But the completed chapters are absolutely worth reading and were published posthumously under the title ,,Abriss der Psychounaiyse". During the last years of his life Freud also wrote some works in which psychoanalysis is applied in an analysis of cultural and social phenomena and of well-known persons. These include ,,Civilization, and its Discontents", which was published in 1930, and ,,Moses and Monotheism" which was published in the last year of Freud's life. These years were not only marked by illness and personal sorrows but also by the political events. When Hitler came to power in 1933 the persecution of the Jews started in earnest. Freud's works were publically burnt on a bonfire in Berlin. Many Jewish psychoanalysts emigrated

The history of the psychoanalysts

269

to America. Many had already found their way there when it became generally known that psychoanalysis was very popular in the USA, and that the structure of the American health service favourized the type of private practice psychoanalysists themselves preferred. During the thirties, with the emigration of so many well-known psychoanalysts to America, this country became the centre for psychoanalysis (as well as for psychology in general). In 1938, when the Nazis occupied Austria, Freud was put under house arrest. In the meantime his friends were planning to get him to London, and this succeeded after the intervention of Roosewelt (influenced by an American ambassador who had been analysed by Freud). Freud arrived in London during the summer of 1938, followed by his daughter, Anna Freud, and the doctor Max Schur. They came to live in the London suburb of Hampstead, where Freud continued his written production right until the end. Freud would not take any analgesics during his long illness, because he wanted to be able to think clearly while working. But, according to an old agreement between Freud, Anna Freud and Max Schur, Freud was to have a sufficiently strong dose of morphine when he himself asked for it. This occurred on 23rd September 1939, when Freud died according to his own wish. Anna Freud remained living in the house in Hampstead. During the war Anna Freud was very active in the treatment of children with 'war-neuroses', and after the war she converted the house together with some of the neighouring ones into a psychoanalytical clinic for children, where she led the training of analysts and the research that took part in connection with the treatment. Anna Freud also contributed to the theoretical development of psychoanalysis with a book on ,,The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defence", which was published in 1936.

Other Psych oanaI y sts INTRODUCTION. In this section we shall deal with other important members of the psychoanalytical community. To start with we shall deal with the two pupils who broke with Freud at an early date and founded their own microschools, namely A d f e r and Jung. After that we shall mention other subsequent 'revisionists' and, finally, Freud's 'orthodox' successors. ALFRED ADLER AND 'INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY'. Adler, as mentioned, was

one of the first members of Freud's 'Wednesday club'. He was born in Vienna in 1870 and trained as a doctor. He was active in the organization of the psy-

270

Psychoanalysis

choanalytical community and became editor of the first psychoanalytical journal. He also contributed to the theoretical development of psychoanalysis with the theory about inferiority feelings, which was first presented in ,,Studie uber Minderwertigkeit der Organe und die seelische Kompensation", (1 907). To start with Freud recognized this theory as constituting an important conmbution to psychoanalysis, but later a conflict arose between Freud and Adler, because Adler maintained that the selfpreservation drive was the most important human drive, and feelings of inferiority, the essential cause of neurosis. Freud, on the other hand, maintained that the sexual drive was the most important drive, and that sexual frustration was the fundamental cause of all neuroses. This hypothesis was such an essential part of psychoanalysis' theoryparadigm that Freud would not recognize any departures from this as constituting psychoanalysis, So he pressed Adler into resigning from the psychoanalytical association, whereafter Adler formed his own association for 'free psychoanalysis', which he later called Individual Psychology. Adler further extended the theory about feelings of inferiority and self-assertion, and maintained that during the first five years of its life the child develops a special life-sole, which later determines consciousness and behaviour. This natural urge to compensate for feelings of inferiority may result in overcompensation and possibly neurotic symptoms. But naturally the compensatory urge may also result in a healthy and socially adapted development. The individual psychological therapy consists in analysing the life-style through the family relations of childhood, together with interests and aversions, occupation and leisure pursuits. Since Adler did not regard repressed sexual traumas as the cause of neurosis, his analysis had no need to penetrate so deeply into unconscious, repressed memories. Therefore this form of therapy is not so time-demanding as classical psychoanalysis. Individual psychological therapy is maintained to be especially suitable for children. Adler visited America in 1926 and 1927, and in 1932 he became Professor of 'Medical Psychology' at Long Island University in the USA. He died in 1937. But his daughter, Alexandre, and his son, Kurt Adler, helped to further 'individual psychology' in the USA. C.G. JUNG AND ANALYTICAL PSYCHOLOGY. Freud regarded Jung as the most

talented of his pupils, and so Jung was chosen as the first President of the Inter-

The history of the psychoanalysts

271

national Psychoanalytical Society. Jung also turned out to be the most original and most productive of Freud's pupils. His collected works have been published in various English editions (see Jung, 1962-76). Jung has also written a very personal and deep-boring autobiography: ,,Memories, Dreams, Reflections'' (English edition, 1963). He was born in 1875, the son of a Protestant pastor. After completing his medical studies he specialized in psychiatry. Thereafter he served under the famous psychiatrist, Eugen Bleuler, who created the concept of schizophrenia. Together with Bleuler and his colleague Karl Abraham, Jung founded a psychoanalytical association in Zurich. At this point Jung was already known for his creation of a 'word-association' test, which reveals 'complexes', i.e. ideas with strong emotional connotations. The complexes manifested themselves during the test in the form of a long reaction-time, misunderstandings of the stimulus-word and psycho-galvanic skin reflexes (GSR). At an early stage Jung developed his theory about psychological types. The fundamental category in this type-theory is the personality dimension 'introvert contra extrovert', which we have already mentioned in connection with Pavlov, who applied the terms: 'weak contra strong nervous system'. As we know, this personality dimension is applied in the modem factor-analytical psychology of personality, and especially by H J . Eysenck (see Eysenck, 1967) and R.B. Cattell (see Cattell, 1965 and 1977). In Jung's type-theory this personality dimension is combined with four psychological functions: perception, thought, intuition and emotion. This gives rise to altogether eight types (perceiving introvert, perceiving extravert, thinking extravert, etc.). Under the influence of Freud, Jung developed his theory of the unconscious. According to this theory the unconscious consists of two layers: 1) the personal unconscious, which - like Freud's corresponding concept - comprises personal memories, which cannot be transferred to consciousness, and 2) the collective unconscious, which includes 'the memories of the human species' in the form of the so-called 'archetypes'. These can best be compared with a kind of instinctive, cognitive schemata, i.e. schemata for perception, ideas and thoughts typical of the species. These archetypes are not only revealed in dreams, hallucinations and symptoms, but also in myths as well as in religious and artistic symbols. Freud refused to recognize the collective unconsciousness, and still less, that Jung used Freud's term 'libido' in a different sense. This was what Freud

272

Psychoanalysis

termed the sexual drive - later the energy of the life drives. But in Jung the term 'libido' was applied to a general psychical energy, or life-force. This theoretical disharmony led to the breach between Freud and Jung in 1912-14, whereafter Jung formed his own association for analytical psychology. Freud's subsequent references to Jung were always tinged with bitterness, whereas Jung recognized Freud's great importance and almost regarded his analytical psychology as a supplement to Freud's theory. Thus, Jung maintains that psychoanalytical theory is applicable to people in the first half of their lives (childhood, youth, establishment of the family), whereas his own theory is especially applicable to the latter half of life, in which people try to realize themselves as individuals, to understand themselves and their position in life, the 'meaning' and 'goal' of life, etc. Thus, comparatively speaking, Jung not only undertook analyses and therapy of his patients, but also, to a greater extent than Freud, analyses of culture, religion, philosophy and myths, etc. He was especially interested in the alchemy of the European Middle Ages and in oriental philosophies and religions. Because of his broad interest in 'spiritual systems', Jung had a great influence on modem humanistic psychology, which became interested in 'self-realization', and in transpersonal psychology, which studies higher states of consciousness. Jung died in 1961, but his theories were taken up again with renewed and increasing interest in the 70s in connection with the above-mentioned development of humanistic and transpersonal psychology. OTHER EARLY 'REVISIONISTS. For the sake of completion we should briefly

mention two psychoanalysts who broke with Freud quite early on and went their own ways, though without obtaining as many followers as Adler and Jung, who came to form microschools. OTTO RANK (1884-1939) was among Freud's first pupils. He wrote about the significance of the birth trauma. To start with, Freud was positive, and in his subsquent theory of anxiety from 1926 he integrated the birth trauma as a prototype anxiety-producing situation. But when Rank maintained the birth trauma to be the cause of neurosis, and advocated a simplified therapy by way of an immediate analysis of the patient's repressed birth anxiety, this naturally caused a break with Freud.

The history of the psychoanalysts

273

WILHELM REICH (1897-1957) was a German psychoanalyst who elaborated

a theory about 'character' (see ,,Character Analysis", 1933), which viewed character as 'psychical armour'. Reich tried to integrate this extremely simpified theory with Marxism, since he regarded psychoanalysis and Marxism as two theories able to supplement one another, each of them dealing with its own field (respectively the individual and society). Reich's attempt was not very successful, since he was excluded both from the international association of psychoanalysts and from the German communist party. On account of Nazism Reich had to leave Germany, staying one year in Denmark and Norway before travelling on to the USA. Here he developed the extremely speculative 'orgon theory', which maintains that the release of muscular tension gave forth a biophysical energy called 'orgon energy' (because this occurred mostly during orgasm). When Reich subsequently began to base the treatment of cancer patients on this theory he was charged according to American law with being a quack, for he was not a qualified doctor. Later he was (declared to be) insane and died in an American state penitentiary. His theories nevertheless gained some followers among Scandinavian psychologists and psychiatrists, though with the exclusion of the extremely speculative orgon theory. THE NEO-FREUDIANS. This is a group or microschool which broke especially

with Freud's biological conception of man and substituted a conception of man as product of society. The most famous of these are Karen Homey and Eric Fromm. KAREN HORNEY (1885-1935) was originally a German psychoanalyst who worked at the psychoanalytical institute in Berlin. On account of Nazism she emigrated to the USA, where she worked at the psychoanalytical institutes in Chicago and New York. In the USA Homey gained understanding of the importance of social and cultural factors for both the normal and the neurotic development of personality. Thus, therapy should not concentrate on the sexual traumas of childhood alone, but also on the social situation of the adult patient. Horney has written several books, and these have been translated into many languages, especially her ,,New Ways in Psychoanalysis" (1949). ERIC FROMM (1900-1981)was educated in Germany, where he was attached to the Institute for Social Sciences at Frankfurt University, later known as the 'Frankfurter School'. Fromm too sought to integrate psychoanalysis and Marxism, which in accordance with the Frankfurter philosophy he regarded as 'critical sciences', or sciences whose purpose it is to criticize social phenomena

274

Psychoanalysis

with a view to object of achieving emancipation. Fromm emigrated during the 30s to the USA; he later resided for many years in Mexico, but finally returned to Europe, dying in Switzerland. Fromm's most famous work is probably ,,Fear of Freedom" (1942), in which he analyses the psychological background of Nazism. One of his last great works was ,,The Anatomy of Human Destruction" (1973), in which he puts forward a theory of aggression. Fromm was also interested in analysing religion, e.g. in ,,Psychoanalysis and Religion", and many of his books have been translated into several languages. EGO-PSYCHOLOGISTS.Finally, we must mention a group of psychoanalysts - a

microschool - who may be viewed as Freud's 'orthodox' successors. All of them have concentrated on the further development of the psychoanalytical theory of the ego, and so they can be collectively termed 'ego-psychologists'. We have already mentioned Anna Freud, who may be regarded as belonging to this school. Another prominent ego-psychologist is Heinz Hartmann (born 1894), whose first major work was ,Jch-Psychologie und Anpassungsproblem", published in German in 1939 and in English in 1958. Among other prominent ego-psychologists Ernst Kris (1901-1957) and David Rapaport (1911-1961) could be mentioned. Some people also include Erik H . Erikson (born 1902), whose most well-known work from 1950 deals with the ego-development of the child under various social conditions. With the ego-psychological microschool we have reached the next period in the history of psychology (after the Second World War), which we shall deal with in Chapter 8. But first we shall analyse Freud's production.

Freud's production INTRODUCTION. In the previous section we have dealt with the history of the psychoanalytical community. From this it appeared that Freud was very interested in demarcating psychoanalysis's paradigm. He regarded it an important hypothesis in psychoanalysis's theory-paradigm that the sexual drive was the most important drive in the normal as well as the neurotic development of

Freud's production

2 75

personality. Those pupils who proposed other ovemding hypotheses - as for exsmple Adler and Jung - were either excluded or resigned voluntarily from the international psychoanalytical community, in some cases even forming their own theoryparadigms and microschools. But it is usually accepted that they still belong to the psychoanalytical macroschool and share its metaparadigm. It could be interesting to undertake a meta-theoretical analysis and comparison of the production of Adler, Jung and other 'revisionists' in order to test whether they really share the same meta-paradigm. But for various reasons, including shortage of space, we must suffice with an analysis and reconstruction of Freud's production, refemng interested readers to other specific histories of psychoanalysis and its school formation (see Munroe, 1955). A meta-theoretical analysis of Freud's production is more difficult than that of the other meta-theoretical analyses we have undertaken (both here and in Madsen, 1959, 1974) for reason that Freud only produced a systematic account half-way through his copious production (namely ,,Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis", 1917). Unfortunately he did not manage to complete the ,,Outline" or ,,Abriss" which he was working on at the time of his death. This account may in any case have been too brief or popular to constitute a satisfactory foundation for a meta-theoreticalanalysis. Consequently, for lack of a representative, systematic account we are obliged to incorporate the whole of Freud's production in this meta-theoretical analysis. Since Freud's production is extensive (comprising 24 volumes of about 500 pages in the English Standard Edition), it is a big job to undertake such an analysis, and the description of the analysis and the results of the reconstruction must be more concentrated in form, if the chapter on psychoanalysis is not to be disproportionately long. The interested reader may be referred to some of the many extensive scientific accounts relating to Freud and psychoanalysis (see Arlow and Brenner, 1964; Colby, 1955; Peterfreund, 1971; Gill, 1963; Frenkel-Brunswik, 1954; Lesche and Madsen, 1976; Nagera, 1969; Andkjaer Olsen and Koppe, 1988; Rapaport, 1960; Sandler et al., 1975; Sherwood, 1969; Sjoback, 1973). We shall follow the usual disposition in the systematological taxonomy (see Appendix).

Freud's Meta-stratum INTRODUCTION. Freud's meta-theses are to be found spread over his entire production, but there are especially many to be found in the so-called 'meta-

276

Psychoanalysis

psychological papers'. Freud used the term 'meta-psychology' for the first time in a letter to Wilhelm Fliess (letter No. 41, 1896, see Freud, S.E.), but he did not define the term until two years afterwards in a letter to Fliess (No. 84, 1898), in which he proposed applying the term 'meta-psychology' to that part of psychology which 'leads behind consciousness'l. Later he introduced the meta-psychological concepts 'topographical', 'dynamic' and 'economic' (see S.E., Vol. 14, p. 181)2 It appears from his proposed definitions that Freud applies the term metapsychology to the accounts which transcend the empirical ('lead behind consciousness') and uses transempirical (hypothetical)terms from one of the three categories he introduces, ('topographical', 'dynamic' and 'economic'). We shall return to these later. The term 'meta-psychology' has presumably been formed by analogy with 'metaphysics'. These meta-psychological accounts also turn out to include meta-theses of a scientijk nature. The above-mentioned classification of possible 'description' (or rather explanations) into topographical, dynamic and economic is in itself a meta-theoretical classification. It corresponds to the metatheoretcial classifications employed in the systematological taxonomy as follows: 1. 'Topic', 'topographical' or 'structural' are used to denote transempirical descriptions of the (ontological or hypothetical) structures entering into the psychical system. To these, therefore, belong the descriptions of Freud's two famous models of 'the psychical apparatus'. 2. 'Dynamic' is used to denote transempirical (ontological or hypothetical) descriptions of the processes taking place in the psychical system. To these belongs Freud's theory about 'primary and secondary processes', to which we shall return later. 3. 'Economic' is used to denote transempirical (ontological or hypothetical) descriptions of energy states and changes in the psychical system. To these possibly belongs Freud's theory of the drives.

If we compare this meta-psychological classification with the classifications of hypothetical variables in the systemtological taxonomy, we find the following:

Freud's production

277

1. A classification according to existentialform into structures and processes

in also to be found in Freud's classification, since the first category - topic, topographical or structural - corresponds to the structures in the systematology, whereas the two other categories refer to the processes. 2. A classification according to function into dynamic, directive and vector variables, is not clearly expressed in Freud's writings. 'Economic' refers to energy and energy changes, thus corresponding to the systematology's dynamic variables; while meta-psychology's 'dynamic' view encompasses all variables, dynamic, directive and vector alike. It is possible - like Olsen and Kgppe (1982) - to create a certain clarity by viewing meta-psychology's dynamic aspect as covering exclusively 'primary processes' and 'secondary processes'. These two process-categories most closely approximate the systematology's directive variables - the primary processes, and possibly the secondary, have at any rate a dynamic constituent and thus constitute combined vector variables. In other words: meta-psychology's 'dynamic' concepts almost correspond to the systematology's directive process-variables, whereas meta-psychology's 'economic'concepts almost correspond to the systematology's dynamic process variables. The difference between the meta-psychological and systematological classifications

2 78

Psychoanalysis

may be further clarified by converting Freud's concepts into the customary table (see Table 7.1 p. 277). We shall discuss the classification of the hypothetical variables in more detail in connection with the hypothetical stratum. Until now we have allowed the question as to whether Freud's meta-psychological concepts and formulations are ontological or hypothetical remain open. The only thing to be derived explicitly from Freud's own definition is that the meta-psychological concepts and theses are transempirical ('lead behind consciousness'), as Freud expresses it in the definition referred to). But, strictly speaking, the term 'transempirical' covers both hypotheses and ontological meta-theses, the difference between these being that hypotheses are empirically testable. However, a careful meta- theoretical analysis, to which we shall refer later, shows that Freud's 'meta-psychology' contains both ontological and philosophical meta-theses as well as testable hypotheses and explanatory models. In accordance with the systematological taxonomy we shall first of all deal with the ontological meta-theses and thereafter with the philosophical metatheses. Freud's explanatory models and hypotheses will be dealt with in the following section about the hypothetical stratum. ONTOLOGICAL ETA-THESES. It is possible on the basis of Freud's scattered remarks to reconstruct his ontological meta-theses about: 1) the conception of man, 2) psycho-physical relations, and 3) the problem of determinism.

1. The conception of man. Like the natural scientists of his time Freud pos-

sesses a biological conception of man, which is influenced by evolutionary theory (Lamarck, Darwin and Spencer). There are no brief formulations to be found in the first part of Freud's production, but, underlying the entire theory of the drives in ,,Beyond the Pleasure Principle" (1920) is a biological developmental philosophy which accounts for the development from inorganic matter via organic life to unconscious and consciouspsyche3. 2. Psycho-physical theory. It has been difficult for the various authors who have written about Freud's theories to agree as to which psycho-physical theory Freud held. This is partly due to the lack of explicit formulations in ac-

Freud's production

279

cepted philosophical terminology, and possibly also to the changes he made in his theory during its long period of development. Freud (and Breuer) shared the materialist 'Weltanschauung' of their time (which, as far as the psycho-physical problem is concerned, should rather be classified as an epiphenomenalism). Later Freud abandoned purely neurophysiological explanations and formulated his explanations with the help of (hypothetical) psychological terms. As a result, some people have classified Freud's psycho-physical theory as dualism (see e.g. Lesche and Madsen, 1976). Others, on the contrary, have viewed Freud's theory as an example of neutral monism - especially in Gilbert Ryle's version (see Ryle, 1949). This view was also maintained by the philosopher Nils Egmont Christensen (see Christensen, 1961). Finally, Ole AndkjRr Olsen and Simo K@ppeinterpreted Freud's psychophysical theory on the basis of three qualitively different 'levels of discourse': 1. The biophysical level: The organism and its nervous system. 2. The level of psychical quantities: The unconscious (in the widest sense, i.e. what Freud calls 'the descriptive unconsciousness', which we shall discuss later). 3. The level of psychical qualities: Consciousness. This interpretation in terms of levels puts Freud's psycho-physical theory into the same class as various modern pluralistic theories (e.g. Popper and Eccles, 1977) as well as system theory. It also proves very fruitful in Olsen and Kprppe's account (see Olsen and Kprppe, 1982).

Of the various interpretations of Freud's psycho-physical theory I have most sympathy for the latter (the pluralistic level-theory), but it has not been possible to find any instances in which Freud discusses psycho-physical relations in accordance with the theory of levels. On the other hand, there is a fairly clear example of a neutral-monistic theory in Freud's account of 'the lens model' in Chaper 7 of ,,The Interpretation of Dreams". Here he writes in the introduction that the 'mental apparatus' is also known to us in the form of an anatomical 'preparation', or rather, organ (i.e. the brain). But this he chooses to disregard, subsequently describing it as a lens system (photograhic apparatus or microscope)4. This derives from the fact that Freud regards the brain ('the anatomical preparation') as being identical with the mental apparatus (regarded as analo

280

Psychoanalysis

gous to a lens system). This interpretation of Freud's theory as an identity theory must be seen in the light of the fact that in ,,Project for a Scientific Psychology" from 1895 Freud's discourse was couched in neuro-physiological concepts which were structurally identical with the lens model. This suggests that since he has so easily been able to 're-write'neurophysiological'language' as psychological 'language' Freud has regarded the brain and the 'mental apparatus' as identical. Furthermore Freud refers on the same page to Fechner, who, as mentioned in Chapter 4, professed an identity theory (or 'parallelistic theory'). Early in his production Freud employed the term 'psyho-physical parallelism'. In 'practice' the difference between these two theories is very slight, as Popper pointed out (in Popper and Eccles, 1977). Thus we must conclude that in ,,The Interpretation of Dreams" Freud presupposed a neutral monistic identity theory as far as the psycho-physical problem is concerned. A careful meta-theoretical analysis of Freud's later metapsychological writings (e.g. ,,Beyond the Pleasure Principle" (1920), ,,The Ego and the Id" (1923) and ,,Inhibitions, Symptoms and Anxiety" (1926) has not been able to reveal any explicit or impicit accounts of a psycho-physical theory. So we must uphold the classification of Freud's psycho-physical theory as an identity theory. This conclusion does not need to conflict with the interpretation in terms of levels put forward by Olsen and [email protected] two of the levels are psychical while one is physical. In other words, Freud's lens model is regarded as a model of the 'mental apparatus', which comprises both the level of psychical quantities (= the unconscious) as well as the level of psychic qualities (= consciousness). Freud's psycho-physical theory relates these two levels in the psyche (= the mental apparatus) with the physical level (= the brain). On the whole it is possible to regard a psycho-physical theory like, for example, the identity theory, as the preliminary stage of a more comprehensive 'Weltanschauung' like a pluralistic *multi-level'theory.

3. The problem of determinism. Whereas it was difficult to determine which psycho-physical theory Freud held, it is much-easier to characterize Freud's ontology as causal determinist. Psychoanalysis came into being and developed

Freud's production

281

at a time when all natural sciences were assumed to be causal determinist. At that time there existed no other acceptable 'Weltanschauung' capable of being combined with a natural scientific ideal. 'Free-will indeterminism' was not acceptable for a natural science, and it was only after the First World War that probabilism became known and accepted in atomic physics. Since Freud was educated in the natural sciences, and - as we shall see later - retained a natural scientific ideal of science during the whole of his life, he had necessarily to presuppose causal determinism. Perhaps this is most clearly expressed in ,,The Psychopathology of Everyday Life" (1904), in which he mes to show that even seemingly chance slips of the tongue and erroneous actions are determined. One has merely to take unconscious motives into account in order to reveal psychical functions to be causal determinists. The aim of psychoanalytical theory is of course to emancipate by way of self-insight ('to make the unconscious conscious'). This aim apparently conflicts with smct causal determinism, but only apparently so. It could also be expressed as follows: self-insight also becomes a determining factor among the many other conscious and unconscious causes of behaviour. Finally, it should be stressed that Freud's form of determinism is not the simple mechanist but the more complex dialectical (dynamic) form of determinism. Psychoanalysis always takes into account a complicated interplay between several external and internal causes; the internal causes too may conflict with one another, so that the action is the result of opposing (conscious and unconscious) 'driving forces'. PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE. In this section we shall analyse Freud's 1) epistemology, 2) metatheory and 3) methodology: 1. FREUD'S EPISTEMOLOGY. Freud deals with the two epistemological problems - the origin of cognition and cognition's relation to reality (see Appendix) as one. He seems, as pointed out by Rapaport (1960), to have accepted Kant's attempt at a synthesis of the classical epistemological theories. Kant maintained that our cognition is a synthesis of perception and thought, which latter is determined by our innate forms of perception and categories of thought. This cognition is incapable of revealing the reality behind the phenomena ('das Ding an sich) to be in fact independent of our cognition, but Kant assumes the existence of an independent, objective reality (cf. Chapter 3)6.

282

Psychoanalysis

It appears from this that Freud's epistemology is instrumentalist (pragmatic) in character, and is far from being a naive realism and an idealism. This instrumentalism was already to be found in his important work ,,The Interpretation of Dreams" from 1900, in which he writes in connection with the introduction of the lens model that such a model of the psychical apparatus had not previously been put forward, but he regards it as scientifically permissable so long as one does not mistake 'the scaffolding for the building' (i.e. the model for reality)7. Freud expresses here an instrumentalist philosophy of science which stresses the heuristic value of model construction ('the scaffolding'), at the same time as it reminds us that a model is only a schematized construction, a rough hypothesis, which should not be mistaken for reality itself. Freud stuck to this instrumentalist conception coupled with a fruitful distance to his own models ('the coolness of our judgement') throughout his entire life. This may be seen especially in his creativeness as regards new models and in his undogmatic attitude towards the models themselves. 2. FREUD'S METATHEORY. Freud's entire production shows very clearly that he adhered throughout his life to a nomothetic (natural scientific) ideal of science. This was a product of his medical training, which, in accordance with the scientific ideals of his time, regarded physics and chemistry as models for physiology and its application to medicine. The natural scientific ideal finds expression in the originally unpublished manuscript ,,Project for a Scientific Psychology" from 1895, the word 'scientific' meaning here 'natural scientific'. Later, phrases like 'psychoanalysis and the other natural sciences' are to be found in other of his writings, showing that Freud himself regarded psychoanalysis to be a natural science. Even in Freud's last, incomplete work ,,An Outline" (1940) one finds an explicit expression for a natural scientific ideal8. It appears clearly from this work that Freud regarded psychoanalysis to be a natural science with a special connection with biology. So there cannot be any doubt that Freud always adhered to a nomothetic ideal of science. Later we shall see that Freud also tried to realize the nomothetic idea of science by producing models and hypotheses about the psychical 'apparatus' as an explanation of consciousness and behaviour.

Freud's production

283

But apart from nomothetic explanations Freud also 'practices' hermeneutic

interpretaions, but without oflcially (explicitly) putting forward a hermeneutic ideal of science. This has been stressed by philosophers like the German K.0.Apel (see Apel, 1973) and the Frenchman P . Ricouer (see Ricouer, 1969). Apel has shown especially that psychoanalysis is a science that integrates both hermeneutic and nomothetic sciences. According to Carl Lesche and Ellen Stjernholm Madsen the integration of

the two ideals of science proceeds as a dialectical interaction in the following manner (see Fig. 7.1, which has been borrowed from Lesche and Madsen, 1976): The process consisting of psychoanalysis and the associated therapy starts as a diafogue between the analyst and the client, or patient. This dialogue will for a time create understanding on the part of the analyst of the client's psychical processes, because the analyst has a certain pre-understanding (which is based on a common language, common experience, common conception of rationality and psychoanalytical knowledge on the part of the analyst). The analyst's understanding is formulated as a hypothesis about the client's conscious and unconscious psychical processes. This hypothesis forms the basis for the analyst's continued interpretation and understanding. At some point or other, however, the analyst may happen not to understand the client. For example, the case in point may be a dream the patient has related and which the analyst is unable to understand. The analyst then attempts to switch to a nomothetic explanation. This explanation builds on psychoanalytical theory, which theory resembles natural scientific theories in structure, but is nevertheless different from the theories of physics, for example. Therefore it is called a 'quasi-naturalistic theory'. On the basis of the psychanalytical theory a hypothesis of a general nature (a nomothetic hypothesis) is put forward. This may, for example, be a hypothesis about the incidence and development of a dream. In the actual psychoanalytical process this nomothetic hypothesis must be applied to the concrete development of the client's personality. This is done by way of a historical expfanation of the client's life history. On the basis of this historical hypothesis the analyst provides an interpretation of the client's discourse - e.g. his account of the dream. This results in increased insight on the part of the client, and also contributes to the client's emancipation. The interpretation furthermore results in a continuation of the dialogue until a new incomprehensible point in the conversation is reached. Then the analyst has once again to switch to a nomo-

284

w

‘i A

4 c.

Psychoanalysis

Freud's production

285

thetic explanation, which can later be converted into an interpretation. Thus, according to this metatheoretical conception of psychoanalysis, the psychoanalytical process consists of such a continuous dialectical interaction between two levels, or phases, consisting of hermeneutic interpretation and nomothetic {quasi-naturalistic) explanations. In this way psychoanalysis may be regarded as a science that integrates two ideals of science: the nomothetic and the hermeneutic. Since the analytical process results in self-insight and emancipation, one could say that psychoanalysis also integrates the third of the Frankfurter school's ideals of science - the critical. K.-0. Apel considers that in this point psychoanalysis could function as a model for other social and humanistic sciences. 3. FREUD'S METHODOLOGY. According to the systematological taxonomy, this

comprises both empirical methods and data-language. 3.1. Psychoanalytical method, as previously mentioned, consists of a special combination of observational and terapeutic methods. We have already discussed the method as observational method in connection with the discussion of psychoanalysis as a combined nomothetic and hermeneutic science (see the previous section about the ideal of science). Later, under the data-stratum, we shall discuss the practical problems concerned with the method as therapeutic method, so we shall suffice here with a classification of psychoanalytical method in accordance with the systematological taxonomy. It should be classified as a qualitative method, almost an interview method, although it has a certain similarity with field observation. Finally, psychoanalysis also has points of similarity with the experiment, since it is traditionally carried out in a standard manner - at any rate by psychoanalysts who are members of the international psychoanalytical community. 3.2. The data-language of psychoanalysis may be viewed and classified in different ways depending on which ideal of science one attributes to Freud. American psychoanalytical theoreticians like Rapaport ( 1959) and Frenkel-Brunswik (1954) maintain that psychoanalysis uses public behavioral language - like American psychology in general. Thus the client's speech is regarded as 'verbal behaviour'. On the other hand, hermeneutically-oriented philosophers (Apel, Radnitzky and Ricoeur; see also Lesche and Madsen, 1976) maintain that the client's speech is meaningful language which, according to the hermeneutic ideal of science, is essentially different from behaviour. Meaningful language

286

Psychoanalysis

can be subjected to interpretation if not immediately understood. If it remains incomprehensible even after interpretation, then it is not meaningful language but verbal behaviour, which can be subjected to explanation. But irrespective of whether it is viewed as meaningful language or verbal behaviour, according to the systematological taxonomy it must be classified as private phenomenological data made publically accessible by means of verbalization. Freud himself is not concerned with precisely that classification problem. But he emphasizes several times that psychoanalytical method is superior to the introspection of classical psychology, which latter fails especially where unconscious processes are concemed9. In the light of the above we may conclude this section on methodology as follows: psychoanalytical method is a unique psychological method, which nevertheless has points of similarity with other psychological methods. Its peculiarity is that it produces private phenomenological data as well as public behavioral data capable of being made the object of hermeneutic interpretation as well as nomothetic explanation. SUMMARY OF THE META-STRATUM. We may conclude the metatheoretical

analysis of the meta-stratum in Freud's production as follows: Freud's metamodel (ontology)is characterized by a biological conception of man, a neutralmonistic (possibly parallelist) psychophysical theory and determinism. Freud's philosophy of science is characterized by a 'Kantian' (instrumentalist) epistemology, and a nomothetic ideal of science, which is supplemented with a hermeneutic praxis by way of the unique psychoanalytical method.

Freud's Hypothetical St raturn INTRODUCTION. The hypothesis-system. It is especially difficult to undertake a metatheoretical analysis and reconstruction of Freud's hypothetical stratum, because he did not produce one but several theories (= sets of hypotheses). These theories are of a different date, since they cover about fifty years of production. Some of the oldest have therefore been revised or replaced by new theories without any attempt at systematization on the part of Freud (apart from the ,,Introductory Lectures" from 1917 supplemented by those from 1932, and ,,An Outline" from 1939). Moreover, Freud's theories possess dif-

Freud's production

287

ferent degree of abstraction; some of them - the so-called 'metapsychological' theories - contain almost exclusively purely theoretical hypotheses, while others contain relatively more empirical hypotheses. It can therefore be advantageous to undertake a systematological reconstruction of Freud's theoretical production, such that Freud's theories may be regarded as a hierarchical system consisting of several levels of abstraction. 1. The most abstract theories are the metapsychological theories about psychical topography or structure. To these belong especially the lens model from ,,The Interpretation of Dreams" (1900), which was later (1923) replaced by the 'structural' theory about the Id, the Ego and the Super-ego. 2. The intermediate level of abstraction is composed of theories aboutpsychical economy and dynamics. To these belong the theory of the drives, the theory of anxiety and the theory about primary and secondary processes. 3. The least abstract level of theories is that which contains relatively many empirical hypotheses. To these belong theories about erroneous actions, dreams, neuroses and psycho-sexual development. It is these theories that are the oldest. (See fig. 7.2.) In the following we shall deal with Freud's hypothetical stratum in the above order, finally undertaking the usual systematological analysis of the most important hypothetical terms used in Freud's theories. THE STRUCTURAL THEORIES. These theories are the most abstract,

'metapsychological' theories. They consist especially of two theories from respectively 1900 and 1923, which we shall first discuss separately and then compare. On the other hand we cannot include a metatheoretical analysis of the model in ,,The Project" (1985), but refer readers to the extremely detailed analysis undertaken by Pribram and Gill (1976). 1. THE TOPOGRAPHICALTHEORY (1900). This theory about 'the psychical apparatus' was presented in Chapter 7 of ,,The Interpretation of Dreams", which features the so-called 'lens model'. The psychical apparatus is regarded as analogous to a lens system (e.g. a camera or a microscope) in which the lenses correspond to the three systems of the psychical apparatus: 1) the unconscious system (Ucs), 2) the pre-conscious system (Pcs) and 3) the conscious system (Cs). In the graphic model (see Fig. 7.3) the perceptual system (Pcpt) is indicated as constituting the 'entrance' to the entire psychical apparatus, and the motor system (M) as constituting its exit,

288

Psychoanalysis

Ontology: 1. Identity theory 2. Biological conception of man 3. Determinism (dynamic)

I Philosophy of science:

1. Kantian Epistemology 2. Nomothetic and hermeneutic ideals of science 3. Psychoanalyticalmethod

Topographical theory Lens model

Structural theory Id, Ego, Super Ego

B, Energy-anddrive-theory

B2

c,

c,

Theory about erroneous actions and slips of the tongue

Anxiety theory

I B3

Theory about primary and secundary processes

c 3

Dream theory

Neurosis theory

Data-theses:

Pragmu-theses:

Life histories, dream examples, etc.

Therapeutical prescripts I

Fig. 7.2. Suivey of Freud's theories. Theory A and B constitute the Metapsychology.

the apparatus as a whole consisting of a complicated sort of 'reflex arc'. Finally, nearest to the perceptual system some recollection or memory traces (Mnem, Mnem') are indicated. As the graphic model demonstrates, the conscious system (Cs) is not indicated, and according to an added footnote this is unnecessary, because Cs is equal to the perceptual system (Pcpt). But in one of the letters to Fliess (6.12.1896)Freud included in a very rough sketch both the perceptual system (Pcpt) on the extreme left and the conscious system (Cs) on the extreme right, though not the motor system. Freud has aparently been in doubt, possibly be-

289

Freud's production

cause the graphic model was not intended to indicate consciousness as quality, but to consist exclusively of an analogy model of the structure of the psychical system. Furthermore, in the first verbal representation of the model, Freud indicates that the psychic localization corresponds to the localization of the socalled 'ideal' or fictive images common to models of optic systems. Moreover, Freud did not need a separate localization of the perceptual (Pcpt) and conscious (Cs) systems as far as an explanation of dream processes was concerned. This will appear from the following systematic reconstruction of the partially implicit hypotheses which can be derived explicitly from Freud's textlo. But first a brief summary of Freud's text that introduces the lens model. Psychical processes in the waken state proceed as a rule from the percpetual system via the subsystems of the psychical system to the motor system, which precipitates action. Nightdreaming is hallucinatory perception resulting from a process in the psychical system which starts in the perceptual system or in the unconscious system and proceeds through all the subsystems to the pre-conscious system, which then resists any further admittance to the motor system, so that the process is obliged to proceed 'backwards' through the subsystems to end in the perceptual system. This text may be reconstructed in 9 symbolically formulated hypotheses as followsll: 1. Hypothesis: S (external) + H (Perception) 2. Hypothesis: H (Perception) -+ H (Memoryl) 3. Hypothesis: H (Memoryl) + H (Memory2) 4. Hypothesis: S (internal) -+ H (Unconscious motives) 5. Hypothesis: H (Ucs. motives) -+ H (Preconscious system) 6. Hypothesis: H (Pcs. repression) + H (Memory2) Pcpt Mnem Mnem'

ucs

Pcs

Fig. 7.3 FreudS lens model: The psychical lapparatus' portrayed as analogous to u lens system like a microscope (dter ,,The Interpretation of Dreams", 1900).

Psychoanulysis

290

7. Hypothesis: H (Memoryz) + H (Memoryl) 8. Hypothesis: H (Memoryl) + H (HallucinatoryPcpt.) 9. Hypothesis: H (Perception) + R (Verbal report) The topographical theory with the lens model was employed by Freud from 1900 until 1923, when he put forward a new theory. 2. THE STRUCTURAL THEORY(1923).This theory was presented systematically in ,,The Ego and the Id', although there had been inklings of it during the preceding years. Later, even the graphic model was revised, acquiring the following appearance in ,,New Introductory Lectures" from 1932 (see Fig. 7.4). The development of the graphic model itself is discussed and reproduced in Andk j m Olsen and K#ppe (1988). As the graphic model indicates, the psychical system consists of three subsystems (or structures): the 'ego' (Ich), the 'super-ego' (Uber-Ich) and the 'id' (das Es). These subsystems are defined relatively briefly and precisely in ,,An Outline''12. The definitions will be concentrated even further in the following refor-

mulated definitions: The psychical system (or personality) consists of three subsystems:

pcpt-cs

f:

@e-conscioL

Pcpt.-"-

... ,...

tn

\--kunconscious

I

Fig. 7.4. The structural theory: the psychical system concist of 3 structures: Id, Ego and Super-ego. Thefigure presents two versions of the graphical model from 1932 and from 1923.

Freud's production

291

1. The id is the biologically determined (inherited, innate) structure, whose function is unconscious and consists of transforming corporeal needs into psychical drives. The id is the psychical system's most important energy reservoir. 2. The ego is a structure which is developed fi-om the id. The ego's function is to control the individual's actions by means of conscious and unconscious cognitive processes in such a way that the individual survives and acquires optimum satisfaction of his needs. 3. The super-ego is a structure which is developed under the influence of the environment (especially the parents). Its function is to pass conscious and unconscious moral evaluation and judgement, and it causes the ego to repress or regulate the drives with the help of defence mechanisms. Popularly speaking, the three subsystems may be defined thus: 1. Id = 'drives' 2. Ego = 'reason' 3. Super-ego = 'conscience' Continuing these reformulations we are now able to reformulate the overrid-

ing hypothesis in the structural theory: Human behaviour (which includes normal actions and psychopathological symptoms) is the result of the interplay between the more or less conflicting subsystems ofthe psychical system, during which the ego steers behaviour, at the same time paying attention to the id's drives, the super-ego's moral demands and the concrete situation.

Through lack of space we shall refrain from systematically reconstructing the structural theory, because it does not appear in such a short and precise form as the topographical theory.

3. COMPARISON. Superficially speaking it might appear as if the difference between the two structural theories were purely terminological, since they both operate with three systems. Thus the 'id' would be a substitute for the 'unconscious' system, the 'ego' for the 'pre-conscious' and 'conscious' systems, while the 'super-ego' would correspond to the 'censor', which Freud later introduced into the topographical system between the unconscious and pre-conscious systems. However, it is not quite as simple as that. A very clearly set out comparison between the two structural ('topic') theories is to be found in Andkjzr Olsen and Kgppe (1981), who have summarized the comparisons in a diagram reproduced here as Fig. 7.5.

The physical-biological level

The level of the psychical quantities

m The Somatic

The repressed

The repressing

Word-representations

The level of the psychical qualities

The Conscious

m

u

Tabel 7.5.Comparison of Freud's two topographic (structural) theories (adapted after A n d h r Olsen and Simo K@ppe (1988) by permission).

Freud's production

293

The diagram indicates that the structural theory differs from the topographical theory in introducing the super-ego. This has a repressive function and thus constitutes the direct cause of the conflict between the ego and the id. Both repressed representations and object-representations are localized in the id, and both of them have difficulty in becoming conscious. The same applies to the repressing representations which, together with the repressed representations and the object-representations constitute the 'dynamic unconscious'. As opposed to these three groups of dynamic unconscious 'representations', wordrepresentations can easily become conscious. All these groups of 'representations' ought really to be called memory traces (brain traces, engrams), because the word 'representation' (German = Vorstellungen) normally implies something conscious. But Freud was not consistent in his use of terminology in this field. A more comprehensive comparison is to be found in Arlow and Brenner: ,,Psychoanalytic Concepts and the Structural Theory" from 1964. Here the following likenesses between the two structural theories are listed. 1. Both theories deal with the structure of the psychical system. 2. Therefore both theories need to be supplemented with other theories about the function (in metapsychological terminology, 'dynamics' and 'economy') of the psychical system. 3. Unconsciousprocesses appear in both theories. 4. Conflicts play a big part in both theories. Arlov and Brenner indicate the following differences between the structural theory ('S.T.') from 1923 and the topographical theory ('T.T.') from 1900: 1.

The classflcation principle: a) In 'T.T.' the principle of classification is 'conscious versus unconscious', and the psychical 'apparatus' therefore comes to include three systems: an unconscious system, a conscious system as well as a 'partially conscious' or pre-conscious system. b) In 'S.T.' the principle of classification is the possibilities for conflict, and the psychical system therefore comes to include three systems: two conflict-creating systems - the id and the super-ego as well as a conflict-reducing system - the ego.

294

Psychoanalysis

Freud realized that the latter principle of classification (the possibilities for conflict) had greater importance for explanation than the former (conscious versus unconscious). 2. The genetic view: The development of the psychical systems plays a greater role in 'S.T.' than in 'T.T.'. The genetic view becomes just as important in the end as the three other metapsychological views (structural, economic and dynamic). The two comparisons referred to have been especially concerned with the psychological content of the theories. We shall therefore supplement them with a metatheoretical comparison of the theories'form. Both theories explain with the help of analogy models presented in the form of graphic models. In the first theory ('T.T.' from 1900) the psychical system (or 'apparatus', as it is significantly called at that time) is regarded as analogous to a physical system (a lens system). In the second theory ('S.T.' from 1923) the psychical system is regarded as analogous to a biological system. The latter is particularly noticeable in the first introduction in ,,Beyond the Pleasure Principle" (1920), where Freud compares the psychical system with a ,,vesicle of a substance that is susceptible to stimulation"~3. From the following pages in Freud' account it appears that the abovementioned 'vesicle' is compared with a foetus in its very first stage or with a monocellular organism. But Freud makes no attempt to discuss the further differentiation of this 'vesicle' in ,,Beyond the Pleasure Principle". This appears in ,,The Ego and the Id" (from 1923) in connection with the presentation of the graphic modell4. This presentation clearly indicates that Freud has conceived of a biological analogy to the psychical system, as even the graphic model shows - especially the version from 1923. Common to both of Freud's structural theories is his deliberately intended instrumentalist metatheory regarding analogy explanations with the aid of models. This is manifest in several places in his production - especially in connection with his presentation of graphic models. Freud's instrumentalist metatheory implies a conscious use of analogies in explanations,together with a deliberate differentiation between the analogy itselfand the graphic model. (Moreover, Freud used many analogies apart from

Freud's production

295

the two formulated in graphic models). Finally, Freud's instrumentalist metatheory becomes manifest in his undogmatic, tolerant attitude to the models. They are not viewed as absolutely true representations of a field of reality ('the mind'), but as conscious schematizations of the psychical system. Therefore the two structural models can be used side by side, each having its own advantage. The lens model is more suitable for explaining dreams, whereas the structural model is better for explaining the development and function of the personality. This comparison of the two structural theories should really have included Freud's neuro-psychological model in ,,The Project", since many psychologists maintain that this model contains the 'hidden model' which Freud himself had constantly in mind when formulating the other models. Moreover, Karl Pribram, a modem neuropsychologist, has maintained that it is Freud's most valuable and testable theory (see Pribram and Gill, 1976). But, for lack of space, we must refrain from dealing with ,,The Project" here. As previously mentioned, a complete psychoanalytical explanation demands not only a structural but an 'economic'and dynamic explanation. This is to be found in the next level of abstraction in Freud's theories, where we shall first of all deal with the drive theory. THE DRIVE-THEORY. This theory contains a combination of economic and dy-

namic views, the 'economic' aspect in the psychoanalytical theories being the energy concept that became associated with the drive concept. Previously the energy concept was directly associated with other concepts. Therefore we shall start by accounting briefly for the energy-concept and then deal with the drive concept, the drive classifications and the drive hypotheses. 1. The concept of energy. Here we shall give a brief survey of the development of the energy concept in FreudS theories: 1.1. 'Psychical energy' = 'affective energy': In the period up till 1895, during his collaboration with Breuer, 'psychical energy' was identified with affective energy. This energy arose especially as the result of external stimulation. If this was very violent, an accumulation of energy could take place which had to be abreacted in the interests of psychical health. If the accumulation of affective energy was so great that it could not be abreacted, the situation be-

296

Psychoanalysis

came what was called traumatic, and this could result in the development of a neurosis. 1.2. 'Psychical energy' = 'nervous energy': In the ,,Project" from 1895 'psychical energy' was identified with nervous energy, which was envisaged almost as quanta of excitation (by analogy with electrical charges). 1.3. 'Psychical energy' = 'drive energy'. From 1900-1926 'psychical energy' was identified with drive energy. 1.4. 'Psychical energy' = drive energy + 'bound energy'. From 1926 'psychical energy' was subdivided into mobile energy (= 'drive energy') and bound energy (= 'Besetzung' or 'cathexis', i.e. energy bound to 'representations' (or memory traces) as well as defensive and controlling structuresl5. In addition, the use of the energy concept has been widely discussed among psychoanalytical theoreticians. Peterfreund (197 1) entirely dismisses the concept as vitalist. Rapaport, on the other hand, is less negative, comparing psychical energy (in Rapaport, 1959, p. 52) with the energy in a computer controlling a fully automaticized factory. This analogy with information theory appears fruitful and quite in keeping with the 'system thinking' associated with both of Freud's structural theories. We shall hereby turn from the energy-economicaspects to the dynamic aspects, which are dealt with together with the drive theory as well as in other theories about psychical processes. 2. Definition of the drive concept. The concept of drive was not introduced explicitly into Freud's theories until 1905, when it appeared in ,,Three Essays on Sexuality". Later (in 1915) it was further amplified in ,,Instincts and their Vicissitudes". Finally, the drive theory was thoroughly revised in 1920 in ,,Beyond the Pleasure Principle". In 1915 Freud defines 'drives' (or 'instincts') thus:

,,...'instinct' appears to us a concept on the frontier between the mental and the somatic, as the psychical representative of the stimuli originating from within the organism and reaching the mind" (S.E., Vol 14, p.121) ,,By the pressure [Drang] of an instinct we understand its motor factor, its amount of force or the measure of the demand for work which it represents" (S.E., Vol. 14, p.122).

Freud's production

297

,,The aim [Ziel] of an instinct is in every instance satisfaction, which can only be obtained by removing the state of stimulation at the source of the instinct." (S.E., Vol. 14, p. 122) ,,The object [Objekt] of an instinct is the thing in regard to which or through which the instinct is able to achieve its aim" (S.E., Vol, 14, p. 122). ,,By the source [Quelle] of an instinct is meant the somatic process which occurs in an organ or part of the body and whose stimulus is represented in mental life by an instinct " (S.E., Vol. 14, p. 123). On the basis of these definitions we can undertake a metatheoretical comparison between Freud's drive concept and the drive concept used in American neo-behaviorist motivational psychology, especially as formulated in Hull's theory (cf. Chapter 6). The first thing to be stressed is the similarity: Both Freud's and Hull's drive concepts are hypothetical variables, a distinction being made between the empirical, independent variable - 'need' - and the 'intervening', hypothetical variable - 'drive'. Even though Freud does not use terminology with hypothetical variables, etc. he makes it quite clear that drives are not directly observable. In the (private) conscious drives are solely manifest as feelings of pleasure and displeasure. In Hull, drive is one of the explicitly defined hypothetical terms ('theoretical constructs'). The diference between the two drive concepts is especially the following: whereas in the systematological taxonomy Hull's 'drive' is a process-variable with a purely dynamic function, Freud's 'trieb' is also a process-variable, but with a combined dynamic and directive function, i.e. a 'vector-variable'. This may be derived from the fact that the object of the drive enters as a component into the definition of drives, which are thus - per definition - directed towards a goal. Furthermore, one has to bear in mind that the German word 'Trieb', used by Freud, was unfortunately translated into English as 'instinct' right from the start, whereas 'drive' would have been a better translation. With the advent of ethology (Lorenz and Tinbergen) the concept of instinct has completely changed its meaning to that of innate 'steering mechanisms' typical of the species, so it has become especially misleading to use 'instinct' instead of 'drive'. American psychoanalytical theoreticians have been clear about this unfortunate usage of the word 'instinct' for a long time, and it is now common for 'Trieb to be translated as 'drive' in American psychoanalytical works. In some cases (e.g. Rapaport) 'instinctual drive' is used in order to distinguish be-

298

Psychoanalysis

tween the psychoanalytical and the neo-behaviorist concept of 'drive', which we have already discussed. But the English ,,Standard Edition" of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud still employs the term 'instinct'. After this discussion of Freud's definitions of the drive concept we shall deal with the various classifications of drives. 3. Drive class@cations. Freud made use of various classifications of the drives. In thefirst period of the drive theory (c. 1900-1915) Freud used the following classification:

1) Ego-drives (or 'self-preservation drives'); 2) Sexual drives (or 'libido'). With ,,Beyond the Pleasure Principle" in 1920 Freud introduced a new classification: 1) 'Life drives' or 'Eros' (= libido + ego-drives); 2) 'Death drives' or 'Thanatos' (the destructive part of the previous sexual drives and ego-drives). Freud's introduction of the death drive (Thanatos) was the result of both philosophical and theoretical deliberations and clinical observations. The philosophical deliberations consist of a speculative philosophy about the origin, development and destruction of life as the result of a complicated interplay of conflicting life drives and death drives. The theoretical deliberations consist of a new explanation of masochism and sadism, which, according to Freud, is better explained on the basis of an assumed destructive drive combined with the sexual drive. The clinical observations consist especially of the discovery of the repetition-compulsion, i.e. the compulsive repetition of unpleasant representations and/or actions, which are found in normal as well as neurotic persons. Many of Freud's disciples, however, have never been able to accept the philosophical speculation about the origin of life, and have not therefore been able to accept the concept of the 'death drive'. They maintain that the theoretical demands and clinical observations are together only sufficient to justify a less speculative concept - the 'destructive drive' or 'aggressive drive'.

Freud's production

299

We have thereby reached the last point in the drive theory:

4.Drive hypotheses. The overriding hypothesis in Freud's (biological) drive

theory is a so-called 'constancy' or 'homeostasis hypothesis'. Freud describes this most concisely in ,,Beyond the Pleasure Principle" from 1920 (S.E., Vol. 18, p. 57): ,,For it traces the origin of an instinct to a need to restore an earlier state of things". This hypothesis also applies to the death drive, whose goal is to re-establish the 'earlier state' existing before life - i.e. a return to the inanimate, 'dead' nature. But Freud propounded this homeostasis-hypothesisin ,,Instincts and their Vicissitudes" already in 1915 (incidentally, the same year as it was propounded and named by the American physiologist W.B. Cannon). Thus Freud writes in ,,Instincts and their Vicissitudes" (Metapsychology, 1, p. 125) that the nervous system is an apparatus whose function is to maintain excitation at the lowest possible levell6. In these writings from 1915 and 1920, without applying the term 'homeostasis' or 'constancy', Freud clearly formulated an ovemding homeostasishypothesis in his drive theory. This hypothesis was also the overriding hypothesis in most of the theories of motivation in the period from c. 1930 to c. 1950. Later, other overriding motivation hypotheses have been produced as possible alternative explanations (see Madsen, 1959, 1973, 1974, 1975). Apart from this hypothesis we must suffice here by drawing attention to the hypothesis about the dominating role of the sexual drive in the development of personality. Freud himself has stressed this hypothesis as being central to psychoanalytical theory - so central that it is vital for the psychoanalytical 'theory- paradigm', and thereby determinant for whether a theory belongs to the Freudian 'microschool' within the depth psychological macroschool. Interested readers are referred to the voluminous literature on this subject (e.g. with point of departure in Andkjar Olsen and Koppe, 1988). We shall now return to a theory which is closely related to the drive theory in Freud's total system of theories.

a new anxiety-theory in ,,Inhibitions, Symptoms and Anxiety" in 1926. With this theory the concept of 'anxiety' acquired a status within the psychology of motivation, which places 'anxiety' side by side with the drives.

THE THEORY OF ANXIETY. Freud put forward

300

Psychoanalysis

Before 1926 'anxiety' was explained as an affect which arises as the result of an unsuccessful repression of the sexual drive. One can also express it thus: 'anxiety' is caused by defence mechanisms,which are aimed at the sexual drives but do not achieve their (complete) repression. In other words: 'anxiety = f (failed defence). In this new theory the causal relation between anxiety and defence becomes reversed, anxiety being the cause of defence. 'Anxiety' is now defined as an affective state consisting of an increase in excitation which is experienced as unpleasant,and which results in motor impulses as well as physiological processesll. We shall undertake a systematic reconstruction of the anxiety theory's hypotheses, which cannot - for lack of space - be documented here with quotations (see also Fig. 7.6.) Anxiety is caused by situations characterized by excessive stimulation, the so-called traumatic situations, the prototype of which is birth; but it can also be caused by other situations of infantile helplessness. Later on, anxiety is caused by dangerous situations, including signals (i.e. threats) of a coming situation. Examples of danger signals are: absence of the mother, loss of love, threat of castration, super-ego threats, etc. As the examples show, the 'threats' change according to age. The effects of anxiety are primarily physiological reactions like rapid breathing and crying, which is able to attract the mother. Later, anxiety manifests itself by way of flight, safety precautions and defence. We have now described the causes of anxiety (independent S-variables) and its effects (dependent variables), to which latter 'experience' also belongs, because it has to be verbalized in order to be made 'public'. We shall now turn to 'anxiety itself as an internal hypothetical process-variable (see Fig. 7.6). The model shows that anxiety is a state that is localized in the ego. This affective state is either caused directly by stimuli from traumatic situations or indirectly by the anticipation of perceived threats. Moreover, anxiety may also be caused by strong drive-impulses from the id. This is called 'neurotic anxiety'. But anxiety can also, as the model shows, be caused by 'punitive' impulsesfrom the super-ego. It is then called 'conscience anxiety' or 'guilt'. Anxiety caused by external stimuli from traumatic or threatening situations is called 'real anxiety' (or 'fear').

Freud's production

301

Fig. 7.6,A graphical reconstruction of Freud's theory of anxieryfrom 1926.

Finally, the graphic model shows that anxiety causes internal 'defence mechanisms'.Like anxiety itself, these are hypothetical variables which result in a blocking of the stimuli or a distortion of perception (for defence mechanisms, see Sjoback, 1973 and 1984).

302

Psychoanalysis

The model also shows that anxiety functions as a form of motivation, and here the theory greatly ressembles the neo-behaviorist theory of anxiety, especially that of N . E . Miller and John Dollard (see Miller and Dollard, 1950). Finally, we shall summarize the theory of anxiety by way of some symbolic reformulations which, togeher with the graphic model, constitute the systematic reconstruction. 1. Hypothesis: S (trauma) + H (anxiety) 2. Hypothesis: S (threat) + H (perception) 3. Hypothesis: H (perception) + H (anticipation) 4. Hypothesis: H (anticipation) + H (anxiety) 5. Hypothesis: H (anxiety) + H (defence) 6. Hypothesis: H (defence) + H (distortion of perception) 7. Hypothesis: H (drives) + H (perception) 8. Hypothesis: H (S.E. aggression) + H (perception) 9. Hypothesis: H (anxiety) + R (flight) 10. Hypothesis: H (anxiety) 4R (verbal expressions of anxiety) 11. Hypothesis: H (anxiety) + R (organic processes).

After this reconstruction of Freud's theory of anxiety we shall now return to his third theory in the 'intermediate level of abstraction'. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY PROCESSES. Drives and anxiety belong to that category of processes which in the systematological taxonomy is (largely) termed dynamic processes. They may in some cases possess an element of directive effect and thus be termed 'vector-variables'.We shall now turn to the second main category which in the systematological taxonomy is termed directive processes and in psychology, often 'cognitive processes'. Of these, only secondary processes are purely directive, cognitive processes, whereas primary processes are a combination of dynamic processes and primitive directive processes containing also drives and aflects as well as more primitive cognitive processes like recollection andfantasy. We shall deal first with the processes and then with the 'principles' (the 'pleasure principle' and the 'reality principle') Freud posits as applying to these processes.

Freud's production

303

1. Primary and secondary processes. Freud introduced the concepts 'primary processes' and 'secondary processes' already in his ,,Project for a Scientific Psychology" from 1895. Here, these concepts played a central part in the structure of the theory, whereas the remaining theoretical concepts - the structural (topographical)concepts as well as drives and affects - played a subordinate part in the same ,,Project". Later (in ,,Formulations Regarding the Two Principles in Mental Functioning", 191l), Freud writes that the unconscious psychical processes are primary processes and ruled by the pleasure principle. Dreams at night are examples of primary processes18. From this it appears that Freud identifies primary processes with unconscious processes. But also dreams - which are not, after all, solely unconscious appear to be primary processes. Finally, Freud says later in the same work that fantasy in the form of 'daydreams' is a primary process. As a typical example of secondary processes Freud mentions the process of thinking. In the same paper he writes that the process of thinking arises when the overt motor action is delayed. The thinking process is an 'experimental kind of action' which demands less energy than an overt action. The thinking process takes place especially with the help of word-representationslg. (See Henle, 1984). On the basis of the above quotations we are now able to reformulate Freud's theory about primary and secondary processes as follows:

1st Hypothesis: External stimuli and impulses due to internal needs cause primary dynamic processes, affects and drives, which pass directly through the

psychical system to the motor system, where they instigate movement. These primary processes may be unconscious.

2nd Hypothesis: Later in development the primary processes may be supplemented with memory representations, which direct the dynamic processes in such a way that the movements become organized into purposeful actions directed at the drive-object. If a drive-object cannot be found, the dynamic processes may result in substitute satisfactionfantasies. 3rd Hypothesis. Still later in development the dynamic processes may precipitate secondary thinking processes, which are psychical 'experimental actions' carried out with small amounts of bound, psychical energy. These think-

304

Psychoanaly sis

ing processes may cause a change in reality in a direction which is more satisfying as regards needs. Using the customary symbolic reformulation, the three hypotheses appear in the following form: 1st Hypothesis: S (external and internal) + H (dynamic processes) + R (reaction) 2nd Hypothesis: S (external and internal) + H (dynamic processes) + H (representations)-+ R (goal-directed) 3rd Hypothesis: S (external and internal) + H (dynamic processes) + H (thinking processes) + R (problem-solving). 2. PLEASURE AND REALITY PRINCIPLES. In the first quotation about primary

processes Freud mentioned the so-called 'pleasure principle'. Later in the same paper he mentions the so-called 'reality Principle'. These principles apply to respectively primary and secondary processes. Later he are also maintained they were applicable to respectively the id, where the primary processes take place, and the ego, where the secondary processes take place. Like Freud's other concepts, the principles have a history: During his collaboration with Breuer, Freud took over the principle of constancy as formulated by G.T. Fechner. viz., the organism, the nervous system and the psychical system endeavour to maintain a constant level of tension. In ,,The Project" from 1895, Freud reformulated the principle and called it the 'principle of neuronal inertia', which maintains that the neurones endeavour to get rid of nervous energyzo. The two principles mentioned were replaced in ,,The Interpretation of Dreams" in 1900 by slightly new principles designated the 'unpleasure principle' and the 'reality principle'. Later the 'unpleasure principle' was re-named the 'pleasure principle' (cf. the paper from 1911 on ,,Formulations Regarding the Two Principles in Mental Functioning"). Finally, in 1920 in ,,Beyond the Pleasure Principle", Freud added a third principle ' the 'Nirvana principle', because it is applied to the death drive's endeavour to re-establish the inorganic state via death. Thus, all three principles are to be found in ,,Beyond the Pleasure Principle"21.

Freud's production

305

As this quotation illustrates, Freud applies two of the principles to the drives and the third one to the influence of the external world on the psychical system. Thus, since Freud applies these principles to primary and secondary processes, only to apply them thereafter to the ego-drives, the id-drives and the 'external world', they may be summarized as follows: The principles are overriding, general hypotheses about the function of the psychical system. We can reformulate them on this basis as follows: 1. 'The pleasure principle': The primary processes of the psychical system, which take place in the id and are set in action by the life drives, have a tendency to strive to obtain pleasure (satisfaction) and to avoid pain. 2. 'TheNirvana principle'. The primary processes of the psychical system, which take place in the id and are set in action by the death drives, have a tendency to destroy life (the individual's own and/or others' lives). 3. 'The reality principle'. The secondary processes of the psychical system, which take place in the ego and are set in action by stimuli from external reality, have a tendency in the long run to achieve optimum pleasure (satisfaction) by way of adaption to the surroundings. We can undertake the customary systematological reformulation of the hypotheses as follows:

1. 'Pleasure principle': H (life drive) + H (primary processes) + H (maximum pleasure) 2. 'Nirvana principle': H (death drive) + H (primary processes) + R (destructive) 3. 'Reality principle': S (surroundings) + H (secondary processes) 3 H (optimum pleasure) It may be seen from this reconstruction that the 'principles' are mainly theoretical hypotheses. But despite their metatheoretical status as the most general, abstract, overriding hypotheses in Freud's system, the three principles do not lack empirical foundation. Thus, the latest arrival, the Nirvana principle, is based on numerous observations of repetition-compulsion, partly in children's play and partly in dreams, in which the individual seems to repeat unpleasant experiences tinged with anxiety. Repetition-compulsion can therefore be formulated as a general data-thesis.

306

Psychoanalysis

Presumably the pleasure principle could also be reformulated as a general data-thesis, since it has been compared with the law of effect (see Miller and Dollard, 1950). As mentioned in Chapter 6, the law of effect can be reformulated as the 'empirical law of effect' or the 'principle of reinforcement': 'Reinforcement (= rewards) increases the frequency of the reinforced behaviour'. We shall now return to the least abstract level in the hypothetical stratum: ERRONEOUS ACTIONS, DREAMS AND NEUROSES. The least abstract level in the

hypothetical stratum contains the theories with the most empirical hypotheses. These are the theories about erroneous actions, dreams and neuroses, which we shall deal with collectively on the basis of Freud's ,Jntroductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis" from 1917. For pedagogical reasons Freud chooses to proceed in the reverse historical order. Erroneous actions and slips of the tongue are the easiest to 'see through, and so are dealt with first. Thereafter he deals with dreams, which are more complicated and, finally, with neuroses, which were his initial objects of investigation,but which prove to be the most difficult phenomena to explain. Freud bases his account of all three sets of phenomena on clinical observations and largely proceeds inductively. Many examples of slips of the tongue, dreams and neurotic symptoms are given, and a great many classifications of the phenomena are undertaken. This all belongs to the datastratum. But already when providing an explanation of erroneous actions Freud introduces his conflict model, which is elaborated in conjunction with the explanations of dreams and, later, of neuroses. The conflict model constitutes a transitionalform between the topographical and the structural theories. This may be seen from the fact that Freud uses the hypothetical terms from the topographical theory (amongst others, the 'unconscious system', the pre-conscious system' and the 'conscious system', etc.) But in constructing the explanations Freud anticipates the structural theory, in which conflict is the ovemding principle of classification. The 'id' and the 'super-ego' are the conflict-creating systems, whereas the 'ego' is the conflict-reducing system, and causes the conflict- reducing hypotheticalprocesses and behaviour. To these belong erroneous actions and slips of the tongue as well as dream and neurotic symptom. In the following we shall illustrate the use of the conflict model with point of

307

Freud's production

Motive

Reaction

Erroneous

Unconscious Motive

-------------

Reaction

Fig. 7.7. Diagram of the occurence of erroneous actions.

departure in C. Lesche's and E. Stjernholm Madsen's account (Lesche and Madsen, 1976). 1 . Erroneous actions. The use of the conflict model in explaining bingled actions and slips of the tongue appears from the following model (see Fig. 7.7). One of Freud's own cases may be used as an example: An Austrian president is to open Parliament and makes the following remark: ,,Honored Sirs! I announce the presence of so and so many gentlemen, and therefore declare the session as 'closed"'! This slip of the tongue is a conflict-reducing resultant, which may be regarded as a compromise between the intended outcome of the conscious motive - to declare the meeting open - and the unintended outcome of the unconscious motive - to prevent the meeting from taking place. The President became very quickly conscious of this unconscious motive, because, when asked, he admitted that he had never wished the meeting to take place because some extremely unpleasant negotiations were pending. In other cases it is not quite so easy to render the unconscious motive conscious, because it has been repressed by the ego's defence mechanisms. But Freud maintains that in principle all slips of the tongue and other erroneous actions (incl. those concerned with reading, writing and lapses of memory) can be explained on the basis of the conflict model.

2. Dreams. The conflict model can also be applied to dreams. Here, however, it is only a simple wish-ful'lling dream which can be explained with the help of the same simple model, as appears from the diagram (see Fig. 7.8)

Psychoanulysis

308

-t Disturbing lmpuls

-------------

Simple b Wish-fulfilling Dream I

I

Arouse to Action

Fig. 7.8.Diagram of simple wish-fulfilling dream.

An example of a simple wish-fulfilling dream is the famous 'alarum-clock dream'. In a dream the ring of the alarum-clock is turned into the chime of church bells, the sound of sleigh-bells or other sounds which fail to wake the sleeping person. Thus, a simple wish-fulfilling dream is the conflict-reducing resultant of two conflict-creating motives: the sleep motive, which solely wishes to preserve undisturbed sleep, and the disturbing impulse, whch solely wishes to rouse the sleeper to action. The conflict between the two motives results in a compromise: the person dreams that he is carrying out the action. Thus the dream provides a replacement satisfaction in hallucinatory form and thereby preserves sleep. This is Freud's principal explanation of dreams, which has to be further elaborated in the case of more complicated dreams. In the example given the disturbing impulse was an external stimulus (the ring of the alarum-clock), but it can equally well be an internaZ stimulation (e.g. from a full bladder). But disturbance of sleep can also result from an unconscious motive, which stems from a drive like the sexual or the destructive drives. This drive has come into conflict with the moral demands of the superego, and therefore the motive of the action has become unconscious through repression. In this case censorship has been applied to the simple wish-fulfilling dream, which remains latent (unconscious),where 'censorship' is the activity of the super-ego'. (Freud used the term 'censor' in the 'transitional model', but not yet the term 'super-ego'). The censor influences the conflict-reducing process so that it does not stop at a simple wish-fulfilling dream. It is subjected

Freud's production

309

Motive to Sleep

z

q z G Conflict

Disturbing

Undisturbed Sleep

o

r

Simple kDream

4-60.

Censorship Dream

Disguised Dream

Censorship Dream

4 7 1 Anxiety Dream

Arouse to

Fig. 7.9.Diagram of the occurrence of more complicated dreams as a conversion of simple wish-fuljilling dreams.

to 'dream-work, which is converted by way of various forms of distortion and symbolic 'disguise' into a disguised wish-fulfilling dream. If this disguised wish is morally acceptable to the super-ego, it turns into the manifest dream, i.e. the dream the person is conscious of on waking and which can be told, for example, to the psychoanalyst (see Fig. 7.9) But the latent wish may have contained uconscious motives which are so much in conflict with the super-ego's moral demands that the super-ego 'punishes' the ego with anxiety (cf. the theory of anxiety). The dream-work continues by converting the disguised wish into a nightmare (see Fig. 7.9)

Super-Ego

Super-Ego

1. Conflict

ID

Solution Unstable Balance

2. Conflict

ID

Fig. 7.10.Diagram of the development of neurosis.

Neurotic Symptoms

310

Psychoanalysis

3. Neuroses. The development of neuroses and neurotic symptoms can also be explained with the help of the simplified conflict model (see Fig. 7.10). It appears from the figure that we are now using the terms from the structural theory: the id, the ego and the super-ego, the reason being that these permanent structures now enter into the explanation of neurotic symptoms. Unlike erroneous actions and dreams it is not sufficient to incorporate concrete processes, but also necessary to incorporate the development of the personality. Pycho-neurotic development starts in the first year of life with a traumatic conflict between the id and the super-ego. According to Freud's theory of the neuroses, the original neurosis-creating conflict is always a conflict between the sexual drive (localized in the id) and the repressive processes of the superego. The repression of the sexual drie in the first years of a child's life is caused by the fact that its first sexual drive impulses are directed towards its parents, whose moral prohibitions and injunctions are incorporated in the personality as the super-egoprecisely during these childhood years. It would be going too far here to reproduce Freud's theory about normal sexual development, which traverses the familiar stages: the oral, the anal and the phallic (which overlaps the 'Oedipal development') as well as the latent period and the genital stage. Each stage has its sexual objects and special circumstances regarding the sexual drive. But a traumatic conflict canfix development at a specific stage. This fixed psycho-sexual development may result in that the person finding it difficult to resolve subsequent conflicts. The person is in a relatively unstable balance because of having to use a relatively great deal of energy on repression after the initial conflict. If he or she encounters similar conflicts between the id and the super-ego at a later date there is not sufficient energy to solve the new conflicts in the normal fashion. Part of the conflict-creating energy is abreacted in the form of neurotic symptoms, which can thus be regarded as substitute satisfactory reactions 22. Neurotic symptoms function as a substitute satisfaction like dreams and erroneous actions. So neurotic symptoms can also be said to have a 'meaning' or 'purpose' - like slips of the tongue and dreams. This meaning can be found by way of an interpretation which corresponds to dream-interpretation. The 'meaning' ('purpose') expresses the unconscious motive, which stems from the depression of a drive.

Freud's production

311

Thus the interpretation of neurotic symptoms as well as that of dreams and erroneous actions constitutes a methodological precondition for finding the causes of the neurotic development, dreams and erroneous actions - and then formulating an explanation of these phenomena. This dialectical interplay between hermeneutic intepretation and nomothetic explanation is precisely the synthesis peculiar to psychoanalysis that was discussed when analysing the meta-stratum of Freud's production. We shall conclude here by summarizing this section on slips of the tongue, dreams and neurotic synptoms by reformulating the implicit hypotheses of the conflict model: Erroneous actions: 1. Hypothesis: S (external) + H (conscious motive) 2. Hypothesis: S (external + internal) + H (unconscious motive) 3. Hypothesis: H (conscious motive) t)H (unconscious motive) 4. Hypothesis: H (internal conflict) -) R (erroneous actions) Dream theory: 1. Hypothesis: S (internal) +H (sleep motive) 2. Hypothesis: S (internal + external) + H (disturbing motive) 3. Hypothesis: H (sleep motive) w H (disturbing motive) 4. Hypothesis: H (internal conflict) + R (manifest wish-fulfilling dream) 5 . Hypothesis: H (latent wish-fulfilling dream) tj H (censor) 6. Hypothesis: H (internal conflict) -+ R (manifest, disguised dream) 7. Hypothesis: H (latent, disguised dream) +j H (censor) 8. Hypothesis: H (internal conflict) +R (manifest nightmare) Neurosis theory: 1. Hypothesis: S (internal, ti) 3 H (Id) 2. Hypothesis: S (external, ti) + H (Ego) 3. Hypothesis: S (external, ti) +H (Super-ego) 4. Hypothesis: H (S.E.) tjH (Id) 5. Hypothesis: H (Id x S.E.) + H (Ego) 6. Hypothesis: H (ego affected by conflict) -+ H ('fixed' Ego) 7. Hypothesis: S (internal, t2)+ H (Id) 8. Hypothesis: S (external, t2)+ H (fixed Ego) 9. Hypothesis: S (external, t2) + H (S.E.) 10. Hypothesis: H (S.E.) t)H (Id)

312

Psychoanalysis

11. Hypothesis: H (S.E. x Id) t)H (fixed Ego) 12. Hypothesis: H (fixed ego, affected by conflict) -) R (neurotic reactions) Times of the two conflicts associated with the external and internal stimuli are indicated above by 'ti' and 't2'.

FREUD'S HYPOTHETICAL TERMS. Before proceeding with the data-stratum we shall conclude the account of the hypothetical stratum with the classification of Freud's use of hypothetical terms in accordance with the systematological taxonomy (cf. Appendix). 1. Ontological reference. All Freud's hypothetical terms refer to hypothetical constructs, and should therefore be termed He-terms in the systematological taxonomy. The only exceptions are the hypothetical terms used in ,,The Project for a Scientific Psychology" (1893, where these are hypothetical terms with a physiological ('organismic') reference, i.e. Ho-terms. Against classifying Freud's hyothetical terms as Hc-terms it could be argued that some of the words used - like 'representation', 'wishes' and 'affect' refer to mental processes, and are therefore Hm-terms. But it is quite clear that in Freud's production from ,,The Interpretation of Dreams" in 1900 to his final work ,,An Outline" in 1939 he uses hypothetical terms with reference to a 'neutral' construction - and not with reference to conscious experiences or neurophysiological processes. So we must conclude that according to their ontological reference ('surplus meaning') it would be most correct to classify Freud's H-terms as Hc-terms.

2. Form and function. We shall combine the two classifications of hypothetical variables according to existential form and function (effect) in one classification schema. The reason why both id and drives are classified as 'vectorvariables' is that drives have a 'built-in goal', a 'drive' incorporating per definition its object (cf. the section on drive theory) as one of its constituent components. Thus, in Freud's theory, 'drive' is a vector-variable, whereas in neo-behaviorist motivational psychology 'drive' is a purely dynamic variable.

Freud's production

313

Since the id is the structure in which the drives are initially localized, it must be consistent also to place the id under vector-variable. The primary processes contain, as mentioned, both drive and affect components apart from primitive cognitive processes. Therefore they too are vector-variables. On the other hand, the secondary processes - especially the thinking processes - are purely directive variables. Finally, energy (in the systematoogical taxonomy) is a clear example of a dynamic variable, whereas in metapsychological terminology energy is an 'economic' concept.

Freud's Dat a-stratum THE ABSTRACT DATA-STRATUM. Freud's production contains very few gen-

eral data-theses. We have previously mentioned the 'principle of repetitioncompulsion', which constitutes a general formulation of clinical observations. This underlies the formulation of the N i r v a ~ p r ~ n c i p lwhich e, in the systematological taxonomy is a hypothesis. We have also mentioned that the pleasure principle was classified as a hypothesis, but it was possible to convert it into a genera datathesis (like the corresponding principle in behaviorist psychology, the law of effect, which can be formulated as a hypothesis as well as a general data-thesis.

314

Psychoanalysis

Apart from these few general data-theses Freud's production contains many classifications of, for example, erroneous actions, dreams and neurotic symptoms. Such classifications contain definitions of abstract, descriptive terms (e.g. 'wish-fulfilling dreams', 'disguised dreams', 'nightmares', 'hysterical symptoms', 'obsessional symptoms', etc.). According to the systematological taxonomy, such descriptive terms also belong to the abstract datastratum. It would be going too far here to reproduce these classifications in detail. On the other hand, we shall discuss other types of sentences, which also belong to the abstract data-stratum, i.e. the so-called 'pragmu-theses'. This is a common denominator for both prescripts and descriptions of praxis, which was introduced in ,,Systematology" in 1975. Since psychoanalysis also includes psychotherapy, in Freud's production there are quite a number of papers, passages and scattered sentences which describe psychoanalytical praxis, or prescribe how psychoanalytical therapy ought to be be conducted. (Thus, among the eleven volumes in the German ,,Studienausgabe" of Freud's texts there is one volume entitled ,,Schriften zur Behandlungstechnik"). It is customary in philosophy to distinguish sharply between 'descriptions' and 'prescripts'. Thus, there are sentences which are respectively descriptive and prescriptive. Linguistically speaking, the difference is clear to see, because in descriptive sentences the verb 'is' is used, whereas in prescriptive sentences the verb 'ought' is used. Whereas descriptive language is used in scientific discourse and in some philosophical - especially ontological - discourse,prescriptive language is used particularly in ethical, some epistemological, metatheoretical and methodological discourse. Finally, prescriptive language is used also in technological as well as prescripts for daily practice (for craftsmen, etc.). Kuhn (Kuhn, 1973) has stressed that the traditional difference between descriptions and prescripts is undefinable and not a question of principle. It is possible to describe methods - e.g. scientific or technological methods - in such a way that the effectivity of the methodist appears explicit. Such explicit descriptions of effective methods will thereafter function as implicit prescripts ('norms' or 'rules'). Therefore in ,,Sytematology" (1975) the term 'pragmathesis' has been introduced as a common denominator for both descriptions of praxis and prescripts for praxis.

Freud's production

315

Pragma-theses, as mentioned, may appear in both practical prescripts and technological prescripts. Practical and technological prescripts are similar in that they both contain a reference to using a specific method (or means) according to a specific point of departure (U) in order to achieve a specific goal (M) (see Fig. 7.1 1). The difference between a 'craft' and 'technology' is chiefly that the justifications for prescripts are different: in a craft prescripts are referred to and justified according to practical experience, whereas in technology prescripts are justified by referring to a scientific theory whose hypotheses are able to explain the situation the pragmatheses are dealing with (see Fig. 7.1 1). Moreover, the figure shows that it is also possible to justify the goal by referring to the scientific theory's meta-stratum, which contains evaluative suppositions (see Fig. 7.1 1). According to this account there is no doubt that psychoanalytical therapy is a technology, psychoanalytical prescripts being justified by reference to psychoanalytical theory. For a more detailed discussion of psychotherapeutic problems, readers may be referred to Band 1 1 in Freud's ,,Studienausgabe", Lesche and Madsen (1976), Andkjax Olsen and KGppe, 1981 and other@. To sum up, the most important psychoanalytical pragma-theses can be reformulated as follows: 1. The goal ofpsychoanalytical therapy is to develop (strengthen) the client's ego. 2. Psychoanalytical therapy can be used for neurotics (though at present not for psychotics). 3. The psychoanalytical, therapeutic method consists chiefly of making use of 'free associations', which, when interpreted, increase the client's self-insight. 4. In addition, the transference situation is used for 're-educating' the client's ego. Following this reconstruction of psychoanalytical pragma-theses we can conclude this metatheoretical analysis of the abstract part of the data-stratum by stressing that psychoanalysis is unique among psychological theories in that its main method is both observational and therapeutic. In other words, the data which form both the point of departure and the testable basis of the theory are derived from the clinical observations connected with psychotherapy. We have thereby arrived at the concrete data-stratum.

316

Psychoanalysis

Fig. 7.1I . Graphical model of the dialectical relationship between theory andpraxis. The theory influences the execution of that praxis, which results again will adjust the theory.

THE CONCRETE DATA-STRATUM. In Freud's production the concrete

datastratum consists chiefly of the many clinical case-histories that are scattered throughout Freud's production. Some of these consist of long essays in which the life-history and treatment of the clients is described very

Freud's production

317

thoroughly. Thus the famous ,,Zwei Kinderneurosen", ,,Der kleine Hans" (from 1919) and ,,Der Wolfsmann" (from 1918), together constitute a volume (Bd VIII) of about 250 pages in the German Studienausgabe. Case-histories have also been gathered in two other volumes (Bd. VI and Bd. VII). Apart from the latter there are many other partially described cases in ,,Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis" (1917) and other general accounts. Apart from case-histories, the concrete data-stratum also consists of a number of examples of dreams in ,,The Interpretations of Dreams" (1900) and ,,Lectures" (1917), and examples of erroneous actions and slips ofthe tongue in ,,Lectures" and ,,The Psychopathology of Everyday Life" (1901). Thus Freud's production contains ample empirical material (= concrete descriptions = specific data-theses). But this material contains no experimental reports. This was probably one of the reasons why Freud encountered so much skepsis among classical experimental psychologists and, later, among behavioral psychologists and Gestalt psychologists, who all have a nomothetic ideal of science with the experiment as the chosen method. Perhaps it is precisely for this reason that there have been many attempts to test Freud's theory experimentally. Thus, tests of this type have been reviewed in books by Paul Kline (see Kline, 1981, 1984) in which about 1000 experimental tests of Freud's theory have been examined, and S . Fisher and R . Greenberg (see Fisher and Greenberg, 1977, 1985) in which 1900 such tests have been examined. The conclusions drawn in these two books are that most psychoanalytical theory has been confirmed by way of such critical empirical tests (see Contemporary Psychology, 1982, Vol. 27, p. 680). See also publications from the 'percept-genetic-personality'- especially Westerlund and Smith (1983), Hentschel, Smith and Draguns (1986).

The Text as a Whole THE COMPLETENESS OF THE DISCOURSE. It appears from the above that

Freud's production contains all three levels of discourse and is thus, according to the systematological taxonomy (see Appendix), a 'complete scientific discourse'. It is difficult to calculate the respective proportions of meta-, hypothetical and data-strata on account of the magnitude of the production (24 volumes) and its organization, the three levels of discourse being represented in almost all of Freud's texts. But it is possible to make a rough estimate of thc relative distribution of the three levels of discourse with the help of the German Studienausgabe (which was published by S . Fischers Verlag in

318

P~ch~a~lysis

Frankfurt 1969-1975). This edition consists of 11 volumes in which the contents are arranged systematically - in contrast with the English Standard Edition, in which the contents are arranged chronologically. It is possible from the title to gain an impression of the distribution of the contents: Vorlesungen (1917 and 1933). Band I: Band 11: Die Traumdeutung (1900). Band 111: Psychologie des Unbewussten (contains various metapsychological writings from 191 1-1938. Band IV: Psychologische Schriften (contains various psychological writings, among which ,,Der Witz und seine Beziehung zum Unbewussten" (from 1905) is the most well-known. Band V: Sexualleben (includes various writings on the psychology of sexuality, among which ,,Three Essays on Sexuality" (from 1905) is the most well-known. Band VI: Hysterie und Angst. Band VII: Zwang, Paranoia und Perversion. Band VIII: Zwei Kinderneurosen. The contents of the three latter volumes have already been discussed. They consist of case-histories and special studies of various types of neuroses. Band IX: Fragen der GesellschaftKJrsprunge der Religion (contains essays on the use of psychoanalysis in eplaining social and cultural phenomena, including ,,Mass Psychology and Ego-analysis" (1921), ,,Totem and Taboo" (1912-13), ,,Civilization and its Discontents" (1930) and ,,Moses and Monotheism" (1939) etc. BandX: Bildende Kunst und Litteratur (contains essays on the use of psychoanalysis in explaining art and literature, including essays on Leonard0 da Vinci (1910), Michelangelo (1914) and Dostoyevsky (1928). Band XI: Erganzungsband: Schriften zur Behandlungstecknik, which has already been mentioned. On the basis of this list of contents it is possible to distribute Freud's production roughly into three levels of discourse as follows:

Freud's production

319

The meta-stratum is contained in texts in volumes I, I1 and especially 111, but naturally also in scattered remarks in the other volumes. The hypothetical stratum is contained especially in volumes IV, V, IX and X as well as in the three volumes already mentioned, but naturally also in scattered remarks in the other volumes. The data-stratum is contained especially in volumes VI, VII, VIII and the Ergannzungsband, but naturally also in many remarks in the other volumes. If we accept this rough estimate, we may conclude that Freud's total production is more or less equally distributed between the three levels of discourse. THE TESTABILITY OF FREUD'S THEORIES. We shall conclude this

metatheoretical analysis of Freud's production by calculating the hypothesis quotient (H.Q.) for some of Freud's theories on the basis of the systematic reconstructions already undertaken. Unfortunately it is necessary for practical reasons to concentrate on only a few of the theories, but the reconstruction covers theories from all the three levels of abstraction into which Freud's production has been divided. Thus, in our opinion the H. Q. may be regarded as a quantitative estimate of the testability of Freud's theories.

1. The topographical theory. The reconstructed hypotheses (see p. 291) can be classified as follows:

Theoretical hypotheses (H-H): Hypotheses 2 , 3 , 5 , 6 , 7 and 8. In all: 6 hypotheses. Empirical hypotheses: S-H-hypotheses: Nos. 1 and 4. In all: 2. H-R-hypotheses: No. 9. In all: 1 . On the basis of this classification the H.Q. may be calculated as follows:

This is a high H.Q. - the highest we have encountered so far (see table in Chapter 2). Since a high H.Q. means a low testability, we must conclude that the testability of the topographical theory is relatively low (though is nevertheless testable), But we must remember that the topographical theory - together with the structural theory - is the most abstract of Freud's theories. And its testabi-

320

Psychoanalysis

lity must be seen in relation to the remaining theories, which are subordinate to it. We have not (yet) reconstructed the structural theory, but shall proceed to the next level of abstraction, from which we have also reconstructed a theory. 2. The anxiety theory. We have also undertaken a systematologicalreconstruction of Freud's theory of anxiety from 1926. In this case we have not been able to document the hypotheses chosen with the help of quotations from the text, but on the basis of the reformulated hypotheses (see p. 304) we can undertake the following classification:

Theoretical hypotheses (H-H): Hypotheses 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 and 8. In all: 6. Empirical hypotheses: S-H-hypotheses:Nos. 1 and 2. In all: 2 H-R-hypotheses:Nos. 9, 10 and 11. In all: 3

On the basis of this classification we can calculate the H.Q. as follows: 6

H.Q=--2 + 3 - 1.2 It may be seen that the H.Q. for the anxiety theory is slightly less than the H.Q. for the topographical theory. This is in accordance with the fact that the anxiety theory belongs to a lower theoretical layer of abstraction in Freud's total production, And one would therefore expect the anxiety theory to be more testable than the topographical theory. We shall now turn to the lowest level of abstraction containing the most empirical theories (we shall refrain from calculating the H.Q. for the theories about primary and secondary processes, because the number of reconstructed hypotheses is so small that the degree of uncertainty in the calculation itself would be too great). 3. The erroneous actions theory. We undertook a systematic reconstruction of Freud's theory about erroneous actions and slips of the tongue as presented in ,,Lectures". On the basis of the reconstruction (see p. 313) we can undertake the following classification:

Freud's production

32 1

Theoretical hypotheses (H-H): Hypothesis No. 3. In all: 1 Empirical hypotheses: S-H-hypotheses:Nos. 1 and 2. In all: 2 H-R-hypotheses: No. 4.In all: 1. On the basis of this classification we can calculate the H.Q. for the erroneous action theory as follows: 1 H.Q =-2 + 1 -- 0.33

This H. Q. is relatively low (cf. table in Chapter 2). There are, indeed, very few hypotheses in the reconstruction, but we nevertheless believe that this low H.Q. shows that the erroneous action theory has a high degree of testability.

4.The dream theory. Likewise, on the basis of ,,Lectures" - i.e. and not ,,The

Interpretation of Dreams" - we undertook a systematic reconstruction of the dream theory (see p. 313) On this basis we can undertake the following classification:

Theoretical hypotheses (H-H): Hypotheses Nos. 3 , 5 and 7. In all: 3. Empirical hypotheses: S-H-hypotheses:Nos. 1 and 2. In all: 2. H-R-hypotheses: Nos. 4 , 6 and 8. In all: 3. On the basis of this classification we can calculate the H.Q. for the dream theory as follows: 3 H.Q = 2 + 3 -- 0.60

It appears that the H.Q. for the dream theory (in ,,Lectures") is slightly higher than the H.Q. for the erroneous actions theory. But had we calculated the H.Q. for the theory about the wish-fulfilling dream separately the figure would have been exactly the same as for the theory about erroneous actions, since it is the same simple conflict model that is used. But even with a H.Q. of 0.60 the dream theory may be said to have a fairly high degree of testability.

5 . The neurose theory. The neurose theory, as presented in ,,Lectures", hm also been reconstructed (see p. 313), and on this basis we can reconstruct the following classification:

322

Psychoanalysis

Theoretical hypotheses (H-H): Hypotheses Nos. 4,5,6, 10 and 11. In all: 5. Empirical hypotheses: S-H-hypotheses:Nos. 1,2,3,7,8 and 9. In all: 6. H-R-hypotheses: Hypothesis No. 12. In all: 1. On the basis of this classification we can calculate the H.Q. for the neurose theory (in ,,L,ectures") as follows: 5

H.Q = - 0.71 6 + 1-

It appears that the H.Q. for the neurose theory is slightly higher than the H.Q. for the dream theory, but both H.Q.'s are nevertheless of the same magnitude as many other psychological theories (see table in Chapter 2). Thus the neurose theory may also be said to have a relatively high degree of testability. 6. To sum up: The calculation of Hypothesis Quotients confirms our division of Freud's production into three levels of abstraction: The extremely abstract, structural ('metapsychological') theories, of which the topographical theory has an H.Q. of 2.00. The less abstract, economic-dynamic theories, of which the new anxiety theory has an H.Q. of 1.20. The most concrete, empirically applicable theories, of which the erroneous action theory has an H.Q. of 0.33, the dream theory, an H.Q. of 0.60 and the neurose theory, an H.Q. of 0.7 1. These three H.Q.'s are of the same magnitude as most psychological theories. Thus, we may conclude that Freud's theories as a whole are testable, and on this basis we can reject Popper's well-known assertion that Freud's theories are not 'scientific' (= testable) theories. Thus, the conclusion of this metatheoretical analysis of the theories' testability can be compared with the previously mentioned empirical testing of Freud's theories, which largely turned out positively. CONCLUSION AS REGARDS FREUD. The previous section has dealt with the estimated testability of Freud's theories (expressed in terms of their H.Q.) and their truth value (measured by means of empirical investigations). In both cases we concluded that both the testability and the truth value are of the same

Freud's production

323

magnitude as other psychological theories largely built on an experimental

foundation. We still lack a quantitative estimate (or measure of) Freud's theories' heuristic value, i.e. of their [fruitfulness' as regards stimulating research both

within and outside psychology as well as their practical application. But, given a quantitative estimate of the heuristic value of scientific theories, Freud's theories would doubtless rank the higest among psychological theories.

Notes All quotations are from ,,The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud" (abbr. S.E.), The Hogarth Press, London.

*

,,I am going to ask you seriously whether I should use the term 'meta-psychology' for my psychology which leads behind consciousness" (S.E., Vol 1, p. 274).

2

,,I propose that when we have succeeded in describing a psychical process in its dynamic, topographical and economic aspects, we should speak of it as a metapsychological presentation" (S.E., Vol. 14, p. 181).

3

,, ... then we shall be compelled to say that 'the aim of all life is death' and, looking backwards, that 'inanimate things existed before living ones"' (S.E., Vol. 18, p. 38).

4

,,I shall entirely disregard the fact that the mental apparatus with which we are here concerned is also known to us in the form of an anatomical preparation, and I shall carefully avoid the temptation to determine psychical locality in any anatomical fashion. I shall remain upon psychological

324

Psychoanalysis

ground, and I propose simply to follow the suggestion that we should picture the instrument which carries out our mental functions as resembling a compound microscope or photographic apparatus, or something of the kind. On that basis, psychical locality will correspond to a point inside the apparatus at which one of the preliminary stages of an image comes into being. In the microscope and telescope, as we know, these occur in part on ideal points, regions in which no tangible component of the apparatus is situated." (S.E., Vol5, p. 536). 5

,,The general conclusion that emerges from the previous individual discussions may be stated in the following terms. Certain shortcomings in our psychical functioning - whose common characteristics will in a moment be defined more closely - and certain seemingly unintentional performances prove, if psychoanalytic methods of investigation are applied to them, to have valid motives and to be determined by motives unknown to consciousness." (S.E., Vol. 6, p. 239).

6

,,In our science, as in the others, the problem is the same: behind the attributes (i.e. qualities) of the object under investigation which are directly given to our perception, we have to discover something which is more independent of the particular receptive capacities of our sense organs and which approximates more closely to what may be supposed to be the real state of affairs. We have no hope of our being able to reach the latter itself, ... " (S.E., Vol. 23, p. 196). ,,Reality will always remain 'unknowable'. The yield brought to light by scientific work from our primary sense perceptions will consist in an insight into connections and interdependencies which are present in the external world, which can somehow or other be reliably reproduced or reflected in the internal world of our thought, and the knowledge of which enables us to 'understand' something in the external world, to foresee it and possibly to alter it. Our procedure in psychoanalysis is exactly similar." (S.E., Vol. 23, p. 196).

7

,.So far as I know, the experiment has not hitherto been made of using this method of dissection in order to investigate the way in which the mental instrument is put together, and I can see no harm in it. We are justified, in

Freud's production

325

my view, in giving free rein to our speculations so long as we retain the coolness of our judgement and do not mistake the scaffolding for the building." (S.E., Vol. 5, p. 536). 8

,,We assume, as the other natural sciences have taught us to expect, that in mental life some kind of energy is at work ... " (S.E., Vol. 23, p. 163). ,,The phenomena with which we have to deal do not belong to psychology alone, they have an organic and biological side as well, and accordingly in the course of our efforts at building up psychoanalysis we have also made some important biological discoveries and have not been able to avoid framing new biological hypotheses." (S.E., Vol. 23, p. 195).

9

,,The data of conscious self-perception, which were alone at its disposal, have proved themselves in every respect inadequate to fathom the profusion and complexity of the processes of the mind ... " (S.E., Vol. 23, p. 196). ,,The unconscious is the true psychical reality; in its innermost nature it is as much unknown to us as the reality of the external world, and it is as incompletely presented by data of consciousness as is the external world by the communications of our sense organs." (S.E., Vol. 5 , p. 163).

10

The following quotations are all taken from ,,The Interpretation of Dreams" (S.E., Vol. 5): 1) ,,The first thing that strikes us is that this apparatus, compounded of Psi-systems, has a sense of direction. All our psychical activity starts from stimuli (whether internal or external) and ends in innervations" (p. 537). 2) ,,We shall suppose that a system in the very front of the apparatus receives the perceptual stimuli but retains no trace of them and thus has no memory, while behind it lies a second system which transforms the momentary excitations of the first system into permanent traces" (p. 538). 3) ,,The first of these Mnem, systems will naturally contain the record of association in respect of simultaneity in time; while the same perceptual material will be arranged in the later systems in respect to other kinds of coincidence, so that one of these later systems, for instance, will record relations of similarity, and so on with the others" (p. 539).

326

Psychoanalysis

4) ,,But when we consider the dreamwish, we shall find that the motive force for producing dreams is supplied by the Ucs; and owing to this latter factor we shall take the unconscious system as the starting point of dream formation" (pp. 541-42). 5 ) ,,The only way in which we can describe what happens in hallucinatory dreams is by saying that the excitation moves in a backward direction. Instead of being transmitted towards the motor end of the apparatus it moves towards the sensory end and finally reaches the perceptual system" (p. 542). 6) ,,According to our schematic picture, these relations are contained not in thefirst Mnem. systems but in later ones; and in case of regression they would necessarily lose any means of expression except in perceptual images. In regression the fabric of the dream-thought is resolved into its raw material" (p. 543). 11

These 9 explicit hypotheses are reformulated on the basis of the implicit hypotheses in the 6 quotations as follows: the 1st quotation contains hypotheses 1.4 and 9; the 2nd quotation contains hypothesis 2; the 3rd quotation contains hypothesis 3; the 4th quotation contains hypothesis 5 , the 5th quotation contains hypotheses 6 and 7; the 6th quotation contains hypothesis 8.

12

,,To the oldest of these mental processes or agencies we give the name of Id. It contains everything that is inherited, that is present at birth, that is laid down in the constitution - above all, therefore, the instincts, which originate in the somatic organization and which find their first mental exVol. 23, p. 145). pression in the id in forms unknown to us." (S.E., ,,The other agency of the mind, which we appear to know the best and in which we recognize ourselves the most easily - what is known as the ego - was developed out of the cortical layer of the id, which, being adapted for the reception and exclusion of stimuli, is in direct contact with the external world ... Its psychological function consists in raising th processes in the id to a higher dynamic level (perhaps by transforming freely mobile into bound energy, such as correspond to the pre-conscious condition), its constructive fuction consists in interpolating, between the demand made by an

Freud's production

32 7

instinct and the action that satisfies it, the activity of thought which, after taking its bearings in the present and assessing earlier experiences, endeavours by means of experimental actions to calculate the consequences of the course of action proposed." (S.E., Vol. 23, pp. 198-99). ,,The long period of childhood, during which the growing human being lived in dependence upon his parents, leaves behind it a precipitate, which forms within his ego a special agency in which this parental influence is prolonged. It has received the name of super-ego. In so far as the super-ego is differentiated from the ego or opposed to it, it constitutes a third force which the ego must take into account. An action by the ego is as it should be if it satisfies simultaneously the demands of the id, of the super-ego and of reality, that is to say if it is able to reconcile their demands with one another." (S.E., Vol. 23, p. 146). 13 ,,Let us picture a living organism in its most simplified possible form as an

undifferentiated vesicle of a substance that is susceptible to stimulation. Then the surface turned towards the external world will from its very situation be differentiated and will serve as an organ for receiving stimuli.'' (S.E., Vol. 18, p. 26).

14

,,We shall now look upon an individual as a psychical id, unknown and unconscious, upon whose surface rests the ego, developed from its nucleus, the Pcpt. system. If we make an effort to represent this pictorially, we may add that the ego does not completely envelop the id, but only does so to the extent to which the system Pcpt. forms its [the Ego's] surface, more or less as the germinal disc rests upon the ovum." (S.E., Vol. 19, p. 24).

15

,,We assume, as the other natural sciences have led up to expect, that in mental life some kind of energy is at work; .... We seem to recognize that nervous or psychical energy exists in two forms, one freely mobile and the other, by contrast, bound ... " (S.E., Vol. 23, pp. 163-64).

16 ,,The nervous system is an apparatus which has the function of getting rid

of the stimuli that reach it or reducing them to the lowest possible level; or which, if it were feasible, would maintain itself in an altogether unstimulated condition." (S.E., Vol. 14, p. 120).

17

,,Inhibitions, Symptoms, and Anxiety" (1926) (S.E., Vol. 20): ,,Anxiety, that is in the fHst place something felt. We call it an affective state, al-

though we are equally ignorant of what an affect is. As a feeling, anxiety has a very marked character of unpleasure." (p. 132). ,,The analysis of the anxiety state therefore reveals the existence of: (1) a specific unpleasurable quality, (2) efferent or discharge phenomena, and (3) the perception of these." (pp. 132-33). ,,In the psychology which is founded on psycho-analysis we have become accustomed to taking as our starting-point the unconscious mental processes, with the peculiarities of which we have become acquainted through analysis. We consider these to be older, primary processes, the residues of a phase of development in which they were the only kind of mental processes. The governing purpose obeyed by these primary processes is easy to recognize; it is described as the pleasure-unpleasure [Lust-Unlust] principle, or more shortly, the pleasure principle. These processes strive towards gaining pleasure; psychical activity draws back from any event which might arouse unpleasure. (Here we have repression). Our dreams at night and our waking tendency to tear ourselves away from distressing impressions are remnants of the dominance of this principle and proofs of its power." (S.E., Vol. 12, pp. 218-19). 19 ,,Restraint upon motor discharge (upon action), which then became necessary, was provided by means of the processes of thinking, which was developed from the presentation of ideas. Thinking was endowed with characteristics which made it possible for the mental apparatus to tolerate an increased tension of stimulus while the process of discharge was postponed. It is essentially an experimental kind of acting, accompanied by displacement of relatively small quantities of cathexis together with less expenditure (discharge) of them. For this purpose the conversion of freely displaceable cathexes into 'bound' cathexes was necessary, and this was brought about by means of raising the level of the whole cathetic process. It is probable that thinking was orginally unconscious in so far as it went beyond mere ideational presentations and was directed to the relations between impressions of objects, and that it did not acquire further qualities, perceptible to consciousness, until it became connected with verbal residues." (S.E., Vol. 12, p. 221).

18

Freud's production

329

20

,,Starting from this consideration, it was possible to lay down a basic principle of neuronal activity in relation to Q, which promised to be highly enlightening, since it appeared to compromise the entire function. This is the principle of neuronal inertia: that neurones tend to divest themselves of Q. On this basis the structure and development as well as the function [of neurones] are to be understood." (S.E., Vol. 1, p. 296).

21

In ,,The Economic Problem of Masochism" Freud formulates this as follows: ,,In this way we obtain a small but interesting set of connections. The Nirvana principle expresses the trend of the death instinct; a e pleasure principle represents the demands of the libido; and the modification of the latter principle, the reality principle, represents the influence of the external world." (S.E., Vol. 19, p. 160).

22

,,We might extend our thesis and say that symptoms aim either at a sexual satisfaction or at fending it off, and that on the whole the positive, wishfulfilling character prevails in hysteria and the negative, ascetic one in obsessional neurosis." (S.E., Vol, 16, p. 301).

23

,,According to our hypothesis it is the ego's task to meet the demands of the three dependent relations - to reality, to the id and to the super-ego - and nevertheless at the same time to preserve its own organization and maintain its own autonomy. The necessary conditions for the pathological states under discussion can only be a relative or absolute weakening of the ego which makes the fulfilment of its tasks impossible." (S.E., Vol. 23, p. ,,Our plan of cure is based upon these discoveries. The ego is weakened by the internal conflict; we must go to its help." (S.E., Vol, 23, p. 173). ,,Thus we discover that we must renounce the idea of trying our plan of cure upon psychotics - renounce it for ever, perhaps, or only for the time being, till we have found some other plan better adapted for them. There is, however, another class of psychological patients who clearly resemble the psychotics very closely, the immense numbers of sufferers from severe neuroses. ... Their ego, however, has proved more resistant and has become less disorganized. ... We will confine our interest to them and see how far and by what means we are able to 'cure' them." (S.E., Vol. 23, p. 173-74).