Philippe Van Haute

Herman Westerink

Deconstructing Normativity? brings together a unique collection of chapters in which an international selection of contributors reflect on the fundamental and often very radical ideas present in Freud’s original 1905 edition of the Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality. The book has three aims: the contextualization of the text, the reconstruction of its central ideas and the further philosophical reflection of the contemporary relevance and critical potential of the 1905 edition. The authors challenge mainstream interpretations of the Three Essays, generally based on readings of the final 1924 edition of the text, and of the development of Freudian thought: including, most importantly, the centrality of the Oedipus complex and the developmental approach relative to a tendency towards heteronormativity. Deconstructing Normativity? makes an important contribution in rethinking Freudian psychoanalysis and reopening the discussion on its central paradigms, and in so doing it connects with queer and gender theories and philosophical approaches. This book will be essential reading for psychoanalysts in practice and training, as well as academics and students of psychoanalysis, philosophical anthropology, continental philosophy, sex, gender and sexualities.

Re-reading Freud’s 1905 Three Essays

Deconstructing Normativity?

Sigmund Freud’s 1905 Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality is a founding text of psychoanalysis and yet it remains to a large extent an "unknown" text. In this book Freud’s 1905 theory of sexuality is reconstructed in its historical context, its systematic outline, and its actual relevance. This reconstruction reveals a non-oedipal theory of sexuality defined in terms of autoerotic, non-objectal, physical-pleasurable activities originating from the "drive" and the excitability of erogenous zones. This book, consequently, not only calls for a reconsideration of the development of Freudian thinking and of the status of the Oedipus complex in psychoanalysis but also has a strong potential for supporting contemporary non-heteronormative theories of sexuality. It is as such that the 1905 edition of Three Essays becomes a highly relevant document in contemporary philosophical discussions of sexuality. This book also explores the inconsistencies and problems in the original theory of sexuality, notably the unresolved question of the transition from autoerotic infantile sexuality to objectal adult sexuality, as well as the theoretical and methodological shifts present in later editions of Three Essays. It will be of great interest to psychoanalysts and those with an academic interest in the history of psychoanalysis and sexuality.

From Pleasure to the Object

Reading Freud’s Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality

One of the major trends in the psychology of religion is the growing interest in religious and spiritual meaning making in relation to religious and spiritual transformation processes, notably as the aftermath of traumatic experiences and in situations of crisis, stress or disease when personal well-being is at stake and coping activities and skills are enhanced. This volume covers this broad and complex area of interrelated issues. The contributions focus on religious and spiritual meaning making and transformation. They do not compose an integrated perspective on religious meaning making and transformation processes. Rather, this volume assembles and presents the current state of research on this complex of issues. Thus it not only provides an excellent overview of the psychological study of constructs of meaning and religious transformation, but also contributes to our knowledge of contemporary religious life in the context of socio-cultural transformation processes (pluralisation, globalization).

Current Issues in the Psychology of Religion

Constructs of Meaning and Religious Transformation

In this study the engagement of scholars in theology and religious studies with Freudian psychoanalysis is examined. The book focuses on the explicit or implicit theological ideas and aims that have determined its reception. The analysis includes a review of Freud's theories as suggestions for reconfigurations of psychoanalysis are made in order to further theorize on concepts or fields of attention that are important in theology and religious studies. The aim of this double critical review is to establish what the theoretical potential of Freud's psychoanalysis might be.

The Reception of Sigmund Freud's Psychoanalysis in German and Dutch-speaking Theology and Religious Studies

Controversy and Challenge

Figures of the Unconscious, No. 8Sigmund Freud, in his search for the origins of the sense of guilt in individual life and culture, regularly speaks of "reading a dark trace," thus referring to the Oedipus myth as a myth about the problem of human guilt. In Freud's view, this sense of guilt is a trace, a path, that leads deep into the individual's mental state, into childhood memories, and into the prehistory of culture and religion. Herman Westerink follows this trace and analyzes Freud's thought on the sense of guilt as a central issue in his work, from the earliest studies on the moral and "guilty" characters of the hysterics, via later complex differentiations within the concept of the sense of guilt, and finally to Freud's conception of civilization's discontents and Jewish sense of guilt. The sense of guilt is a key issue in Freudian psychoanalysis, not only in relation to other key concepts in psychoanalytic theory but also in relation to Freud's debates with other psychoanalysts, including Carl Jung and Melanie Klein.

Sigmund Freud on the Sense of Guilt

A Dark Trace

Daniela Finzi

Freud’s Dora case and contemporary debates on gender, sexuality and queer theory ‘Dora’ is one the most important and interesting case studies Sigmund Freud conducted and later described. It constitutes a key text in his oeuvre and finds itself at the crossroads of his studies in hysteria, the theory of sexuality and dream interpretation. The Dora case is both a literary and theoretically ground-breaking text and an account of a ‘failed’ treatment. In Dora, Hysteria and Gender renowned Freud scholars reflect on the Dora case, presenting various innovative and controversial perspectives and elaborating the significance of the text for contemporary debates on gender, sexuality and queer theory. This volume is of interest for psychoanalysts and scholars working on psychoanalysis, sexuality, gender, queer theory, philosophical anthropology and literary studies. Contributors: Rachel B. Blass (Heythrop College, University of London), Daniela Finzi (Sigmund Freud Foundation), Esther Hutfless (University of Vienna), Ulrike Kadi (Medical University of Vienna), Ilka Quindeau (Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences), Beatriz Santos (University Paris VII Diderot), Philippe Van Haute (Radboud University Nijmegen), Herman Westerink (Radboud University Nijmegen), Jeanne Wolff-Bernstein (Sigmund Freud University in Vienna)

Herman Westerink

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