And yet there are some magnificent things from Freud, profound insights into the nature of man.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
And these two elements are at odds with one another because Freud is utterly adversary to almost all the ways of structuring the human experience found in Western religions. No Western religion can countenance Freud's view of man.
Freud was just a novelist.
I've never gone into analysis. But Freud opened a door, I know.
Since Freud, the center of man is not where we thought it was; one has to go on from there.
The knowledge that there is a part of the psychic functions that are out of conscious reach, we did not need to wait for Freud to know this!
I don't admire Freud as much as some people do. Imagine Shakespeare being aware of the Oedipal complex when he wrote Hamlet. It would have been a disaster.
There is a great deal of human nature in man.
Freud was a hero. He descended to the Underworld and met there stark terrors. He carried with him his theory as a Medusa's head which turned these terrors to stone.
Between the ages of 24 and 27, I read Freud's complete works, everything that had been translated into English. It was very stimulating intellectually. But I did not accept his view of neurosis or of human nature.
I'm not that taken with Freudian perspectives. They seem to be overcomplicated.