Sigmund Freud (1856-1939: Moravia (Czech Republic)/Austria)
If Darwin, Marx and Freud are the “great minds that shaped the 20th century”—Darwin creating doubt that humans were created in God’s image, and Marx raising arguments concerning traditional economic certainties—then Freud caused humans to question whether they even know what they think, since the subconscious, he argued, may be deviously operating on its own, independent of the conscious.
Freud’s influence is such that phrases of his psychological theories are today so familiar it is difficult even to imagine when “repression,” “free association,” “delayed gratification” and “Freudian slip” were not commonly used.
Born in Freiberg, Moravia, Freud grew up in Vienna, Austria, and in many ways his work is seen as reflecting the cultural and political environment of that city. He was graduated from the Sperl Gymnasium and began his career in medicine, working as a clinical assistant in psychiatry. Later he also studied in Paris, then returned to Vienna to establish a consulting office where he worked for almost 50 years.
Initially in collaboration with Joseph Breuer, Freud elaborated the theory that the tri-partite mind (id, ego, superego) is a complex energy-system, fueled in large part by sexual desire (the libido), and treatable by psychoanalytical therapy. In his masterwork Interpretation of Dreams, Freud argued that dreams are the indirect expression of both wish fulfillments and the compromises of the psyche between desires and prohibitions.
Later in life he extended his theories to consider anthropological and social systems, in such texts as Civilization and Its Discontents (1930) and Moses and Monotheism (1939), published soon after Hitler invaded Austria. Freud, a Jew, fled to England after the invasion, and died there shortly after the start of World War II.
The Interpretation of Dreams, Chapter II: “The Method of Interpreting Dreams: An Analysis of a Specimen Dream,” Sigmund Freud
(3rd edition), translated by A. A. Brill (1911)
© Bibliomania.com Ltd 2000
“Freud in Our Midst,” Jerry Adler
Newsweek, March 27, 2006
© 2006 Newsweek, Inc. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission.
Freud: A Life for Our Time, Peter Gay, pp. 267-274.
Copyright © 1988 by Peter Gay. Used by permission of W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Sigmund Freud
Photo: IRC. (2005). Retrieved May 18, 2006, from unitedstreaming.
Freud believed that repression of certain drives was necessary for civilization, but at the same time repression was the source of neurosis and psychosis. He challenged the assumption that the mind was purely rational.
Freud’s Couch, Sigmund Freud Museum, London
Photo: Copyright © Hyde Flippo/About.com - Used by permission
The famous Sigmund Freud couch in London.
Freud's desk also can be seen on the left.
Gustav Klimt Artwork – Four Paintings
Scan by Mark Harden; Used with permission
Klimt, a contemporary of Freud’s, was one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Art Nouveau (Vienna Secession) movement. A frequent subject of Klimt’s work was the female body, portrayed erotically. Like Freud, Klimt was seen as overly sensual and corrupting. His vivid colors and luxuriance of form correspond with the roccoco style of Freud’s Vienna.
Mermaids (Whitefish)
c. 1899
Zentralsparkasse, Vienna
Danae
1907-08
Private collection, Graz
The Kiss
1907-08
Osterreichische Galerie, Vienna
Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer*
1907
Neue Galerie, New York
* recently sold at auction for $135 million, the highest amount ever paid for a painting
Great Books: Freud's Interpretation of Dreams
Video: 27 minutes
Discovery Channel School (1997). Retrieved May 18, 2006, from unitedstreaming
Using a unique series of dream sequence reenactments based on Freud’s revolutionary book, experts and artists escort viewers down the road of the unconscious and into a deeper understanding of the inner life of humans.
