Decline and Fall of the Freudian Empire

by Hans Eysenck

Overview

Hans Eysenck was one of the best-known research psychologists of the twentieth century. Respected as a prolific author, he was unafraid to address controversial topics. In Decline and Fall of the Freudian Empire, he places himself at the center of the debate on psychoanalytic theory, challenging the state of Freudian theory and modern-day psychoanalytic practice and questioning the premises on which psychoanalysis is based. In so doing, Eysenck illustrates the shortcomings of both psychoanalysis as a method of curing neurotic and psychotic behaviors, and of the theory of dreams and their interpretation. He also analyzes Freud's influence on anthropology and his alleged contributions to science.While books about Sigmund Freud and psychoanalysis abound, most have been written by followers and acolytes and are therefore uncritical, unaware of alternative theories, or written as weapons in a war of propaganda. Others are long and highly technical, and therefore valuable only to students and professionals. Decline and Fall of the Freudian Empire, on the other hand, was written with the non-professional in mind, and is for those who wish to know what modern scholarship has discovered about the truth or falsity of Freudian doctrines.Graced with an incisive new preface by Sybil Eysenck exploring her husband's motivation for writing the book, Decline and Fall of the Freudian Empire is an authoritative and convincing work that exposes the underlying contradictions in Freudian theory, as well as the limitations and errors of psychoanalysis.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780765809452
Publisher:	Transaction Publishers
Publication date:	12/31/2002
Edition description:	REV
Pages:	226
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Hans J. Eysenck (1916-1997) was professor of psychology at the University of London and the director of its psychological department at the Institute of Psychiatry. He was best known for his experimental research in the field of personality. Among his many books are Rebel with a Cause, Dimensions of Personality, The Dynamics of Anxiety and Hysteria, Intelligence, and Decline and Fall of the Freudian Empire.

Sybil B. G. Eysenck, wife of the late author Hans Eysenck, is co-director of Personality Investigations, Publications and Services (PIPS), an organization devoted to the promotion of the writings and research of Hans J. Eysenck. She is the co-author, with Hans Eysenck, of Psychoticism as a Dimension of Personality and Personality Structure and Measurement and the co-editor, with Donald Saklofske, of Individual Differences in Children and Adolescents.

Table of Contents

Freud the Man; Psychoanalysis as a Method of Treatment; Psychoanalytic Treatment and its Alternatives; Freud and the Development of the Child; The Interpretation of Dreams and the Psychopathology of Everyday Life; The Experimental Study of Freudian Concepts; Psycho-Babble and Pseudo-History; Rest in Peace: An Evaluation