01:830:338 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Bodymind, Personal Unconscious, Mother Goddess
22 Jul 2018
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Lecture 4: Neo-Analysis // Psychoanalysis
— Continuation of Lecture 3: Freud —
I. Limitations of Freudian Theory
A. Victorians: “Filthy!”
1. Dirty and vulgar
B. Modern Empiricists: “Unscientific”
1. Not disconfirmable
a) Should be able to disprove; cant do very well with psychoanalytic ideas
2. Based on (confidential) case studies
3. Not generalizable
a) Was only conducted on a few people
4. No control group
C. Feminists: “sexist!”
1. Males are normal
2. All theories based on males
D. Too Complicated
1. Simplest is the best
a) i.e. Why do sons often take
(1) Normal: Wants to be like father
(2) Freud: sexually desire their mothers, fathers will be jealous, sons are afraid of
being castrated, imitate father to avoid castration
E. Concepts: too muddy
1. Poorly defined
2. What are the units of Psychic Energy? Is it real? Tangible?
F. Too pessimistic, oriented to pathology
1. Very worried about things going wrong; fixation, etc.
II. Major Contributions
A. Important Ideas:
1. The Unconscious
a) Idea that a lot of mental life: thoughts, feelings are in the head
b) Cannot fully understand
2. Defenses
a) Defense mechanisms, analogous to modern ideas of moping
b) We all have a repertoire of mechanisms to cope with experiences; usually not
aware we are using them
3. Past as Prologue
a) Events from our childhoods help shape how we are today especially social
relationships
4. Mental conflict
a) Common to want to do things or many different things even if they contradict
each other
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B. Support from modern research
1. Some support for modern research
C. Questions still researched today
III. Contributions to Psychotherapy (theoretical in nature)
A. The “talking cure”
1. Talking about something helps solve problem
B. Build rapport with a client
1. Establishing a good relationship will allow for change and healing in the future
C. Mental illness: like physical illness
1. Can be studied and is analogous to physical illness
2. Its not that you are immoral or that the devil is taking over your body/mind but that
mental illness is equivalent to physical illness
— Lecture 4: Neo-Analytic & Ego Approaches to Personality —
I. Life After Freud
A. Orthodox/literal reading of Freud
B. Interpretive reading of Freud
1. Protecting psychoanalytic dogma
2. People who want to reinterpret psychoanalytic theory for modern society
3. Challenging to hear what Freud wrote, and interpreting his words
a) Interpret his theory in a way that makes sense now (based on Victorian times)
C. Refinement, extension, replacement of Freud
1. Neo-Analytic (“New Analysis”) (Neo-Freudians)
II. Neo-Analysts
A. Jung, Adler, Horney, Erikson
B. Similar research methods as Freud
1. Saw patients, looked into themselves, read literature, conducted dream analysis,
never divide ways of measuring theories
C. Important deviations from Freud
1. Less emphasis on sexual libido
a) More general motivation towards life and creativity
2. More emphasis on interpersonal relations
a) Source of psychological difficulties
b) Less emphasis on childhood history
c) Less emphasis on social lives (Psycho-Social approach vs. Freud’s Psycho-
Sexual approach)
(1) Typical day, spouse (Freud would talk about parents and early childhood)
3. More emphasis on conscious thought
a) Less emphasis on unconscious
b) More emphasis on conscious
c) More like psychology we know today
4. Modern “ego psychology”
Document Summary
Tangible: too pessimistic, oriented to pathology, very worried about things going wrong; fixation, etc. 2: support from modern research, some support for modern research, questions still researched today. Lecture 4: neo-analytic & ego approaches to personality : life after freud, orthodox/literal reading of freud. Interpretive reading of freud: protecting psychoanalytic dogma, people who want to reinterpret psychoanalytic theory for modern society, challenging to hear what freud wrote, and interpreting his words. Interpret his theory in a way that makes sense now (based on victorian times: refinement, extension, replacement of freud, neo-analytic ( new analysis ) (neo-freudians) Neo-analysts: jung, adler, horney, erikson, similar research methods as freud, saw patients, looked into themselves, read literature, conducted dream analysis, never divide ways of measuring theories. Sexual approach) (1) typical day, spouse (freud would talk about parents and early childhood: more emphasis on conscious thought, less emphasis on unconscious, more emphasis on conscious, more like psychology we know today, modern ego psychology .
