The Paradoxical Legacy of Sigmund Freud

This book introduces a new reading of Sigmund Freud, and exposes the paradox that lies at the kernel of his life's endeavour. It highlights the persistence and continuity of major postulates: the split psyche, the aetiology of the neuroses, and the psychical mechanisms of splitting.

By way of a new reading of The Complete Works of Sigmund Freud, this book introduces the notion of a theory of practice to the psychoanalytic endeavour. Spelled out in terms of interdependent components, namely; aim, technique and theoretical premises, the author takes the reader through Freud’s oeuvre so that he emerges as a relentless, theoretically grounded, practitioner. Moran argues that the nub of the Freudian inheritance is the concept of human subjectivity. In the light of this finding and her reading of Freud, she presents the work of Paul Verhaeghe (On Being Normal and Other Disorders), anew and calls on Marie Cardinal, (The Words to Say It), to provide telling evidence of what it means to be a Freudian subject. Given the objectifying processes at work in the contemporary culture, the relevance of Freud for our times becomes compelling. Here practitioners will find a clearly presented framework within which to operate and a way of organizing the material that informs their clinical pursuits. The exploration of an underpinning structure to The Complete Works will be of the utmost assistance to those who wish to embark upon a search for knowledge of the human condition through the highways and byways of the legacy of Sigmund Freud.