You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
My approach to this book began with positive expectations since I was very interested in the theoretical task implied by the title and also in the challenging teaching task outlined in the Preface where it was stated that the book grew out of a series of lectures intended to help undergraduate students comprehend the basic aspects of psychoanalytic theory. With this general set I
approached each of the 13 chapters of the book which is divided into two parts: I–'Basic Concepts of Psychoanalysis' and II–'The Context of Psychoanalysis'.
At first, my expectation from the Preface seemed appropriate for most of the contributions in Part I, even though some chapters seemed more like professional review articles than introductory lectures. However, as I delved more and more into the second part of the book I felt an uncanny puzzlement and disappointment in the direction I had been led to expect from the title. The chapters put me in the midst of philosophical criticisms, historical and literary analyses of Viennese culture, and a sociological analysis of Lacan. My annoyance was akin to that of a student who came to hear a lecture on psychoanalysis, but instead found himself in an interesting but mis-labelled lecture given by another department. Possibly I am judging too much from my perspective as a practising analyst, but gradually I came to the conclusion that the Editor of the book had made some kind of idiosyncratic error in his conception, selection and structuring of the book.
Chapter 1 on 'The Basic Propositions of Psychoanalytic Theory' by Robert Michaels exceeded all my expectations for an introductory lecture and set a standard that was difficult to maintain. It read like a first-rate spoken lecture aimed at university students, and yet it is a very sophisticated summary of modern classical theory. Not only are basic concepts presented in simple but accurate ways, but also there is a knowledgeable review of the historical developments in Freud's thinking.