Lecture Notes: Sigmund Freud

Early Life

• Born: Sigismund Schlomo Freud on May 6, 1856, in Freiberg, Moravia, Austrian Empire (now Czech Republic)
• Parents: Galician Jewish descent; father Jakob Freud, mother Amalia Nathansohn
• Education: Attended University of Vienna, studied medicine, influenced by Franz Brentano (philosophy), Ernst Brücke (physiology), Carl Claus (zoology)
• Graduated: MD in 1881

Career Development

• Initial Research: Specialized in neurology, worked at Vienna General Hospital, studied under Jean-Martin Charcot in Paris
• Psychoanalysis Development: Founded psychoanalysis; pioneering techniques like free association, dream analysis
• Key Concepts: Id, ego, superego, Oedipus complex, repression, defense mechanisms
• Significant Works:
  • The Interpretation of Dreams (1899)
  • Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality (1905)
  • Beyond the Pleasure Principle (1920)

Personal Life

• Marriage: Martha Bernays in 1886, six children
• Relationships: Long-term correspondence with Wilhelm Fliess, collaboration with Josef Breuer

Later Life & Exile

• Political Influence: Escaped Nazi annexation of Austria in 1938, moved to London
• Death: September 23, 1939, in London

Psychoanalytic Movement

• Founding of IPA: International Psychoanalytical Association in 1910, expansion with societies and institutes across Europe and America
• Key Figures: Collaborated with Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, Anna Freud
• Conflicts and Splits: Disagreements with Adler, Jung, leading to splits and formation of new psychoanalytic schools

Legacy and Influence

• Cultural Impact: Freud's work influenced psychology, psychiatry, literature, and popular culture
• Controversies: Criticized for scientific validity, methodology, especially seduction theory
• Awards: Goethe Prize (1930)

Critiques and Interpretations

• Contemporaries: Criticized and supported by figures like Karen Horney, Melanie Klein, Erich Fromm
• Feminist Critique: Views on female sexuality, criticized by feminists like Simone de Beauvoir, Betty Friedan
• Psychoanalysis and Religion: Explored in works like Totem and Taboo, Moses and Monotheism

Key Terms and Concepts

• Unconscious Mind: Central to Freudian theory, containing repressed memories and desires
• Psychosexual Development Stages: Oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital stages
• Life and Death Drives: Eros and Thanatos

Freud in Popular Culture

• Film and Literature: Inspired works such as A Dangerous Method, Freud's Last Session

Important Publications

• Books:
  • The Ego and the Id (1923)
  • Civilization and Its Discontents (1930)
  • Moses and Monotheism (1939)

Additional Resources

• Freud Museum: Located in London, dedicated to his life and work
• Online Archives: Works available at Project Gutenberg, Internet Archive