Freud and the Question of Pseudoscience

Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.: Open Court Pub Co. New. 1998. Paperback. 081269385X .*** FREE UPGRADE to Courier/Priority Shipping Upon Request *** - *** IN STOCK AND IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE FOR SHIPMENT - BRAND NEW, FLAWLESS COPY, NEVER OPENED -- 313 pages -- TABLE OF CONTENTS: Preface * 1 Why Are We Still Arguing about Freud? 1 * 2 Wittgenstein's Freud 93 * 3 Freud and the Idea of a Pseudoscience 115 * 4 Wollheim on Freud 143 * 5 The Myth of Freud's Hostile Reception 161 * 6 Symptoms, Wishes, and Actions 182 * 7 Was Freud a Liar? 199 * 8 From Freud's 'Scientific Fairy Tale' to Masson's Politically Correct One 205 * 9 Psychoanalysis, Pseudoscience, and Testability 210 * 10 'Exegetical Myth-Making' in Grunbaum's Indictment of Popper and Exoneration of Freud 240 * 11 Explanation and Biography: A Conversation 265 * 12 Through the Psychoanalytoscope: Bouveresse on Wittgenstein's Freud 280 * 13 A Final Accounting 288 * Index 301. -- REVIEW: Booknews: "Charging that Freudian theory functions "as a set of non-negotiable dogmas supported by corrupt reporting practices," Cioffi (philosophy, U. Of Kent at Canterbury) examines the tenets and defenses of the theory and attempts to debunk them in science and in the assumptions they have brought to wider society. Thirteen essays (12 of which were previously published in journals) touch upon: testability, how Freud brought sexuality into his view of neuroses, the story of an initial hostile reaction to Freud as myth, the unconscious as an explanation for dreams, and other topics" -- Frederick Crews, author of The Memory Wars: "Frank Cioffi stands preeminent among the philosophers and historians who in the early 1970s began teaching us to scrutinize Freud without employing the rosy lens of hero worship. Exercising logical clarity and occasionally mischievous wit, Cioffi has retained his place as the most trenchant and provocative critic of psychoanalysis. Does the Freudian tradition deserve to survive? Some readers who are inclined to answer yes may change their minds after pondering this important book." -- Allen Esterson, author of Seductive Mirage: "Cioffi brings to Freud criticism an individual voice and enviable acquaintanceship with the literature on Freud stretching back to the early years of psychoanalysis. This is a book which should be read by anyone interested in the issues which lie at the heart of the century-long debate about Freud and psychoanalysis." -- with a bonus offer-- .