To appreciate the recent debate as to whether Freud's case histories should still be taught to analysts, it is fruitful first of all to look at the wider context of other disciplines. Indeed, there is a contemporary movement at large which challenges the notion of canon or any authoritative list of classics.

Three attitudes towards teaching Freud's works are worth spelling out. There is, first, the dismissive attitude represented recently by Jacob Arlow. A second approach is that Freud's works should be retained in the teaching curriculum merely for the purpose of subverting them. A final approach is that, in spite of the undeniable advances in theoretical and clinical psychoanalysis, Freud's case histories remain indispensable and even unsurpassed.