Chapter 7 Freud’s Epistemological Breaks

In order to have an exact idea of Freudian theory, it is indispensable to recognize several epistemological breaks – to use the now consecrated expression – in its evolution. In general, psychoanalysts know their history quite well, but they are often content to advance facts without justifying the arguments which induced Freud to modify his opinion. I shall retrace the principal stages of this evolution, laying particular emphasis on the well-known and decisive mutation called the ‘turning-point’ of 1920. It is necessary to show how this turning-point was prepared and how it plays the role of an essential cornerstone for understanding Freud’s thought once the latter had reached its term. It can be said, in a general manner, that the ground covered by Freud constitutes in itself a summary of the ground covered by psychoanalysis as a whole.

At the outset, as we know, Freud tried to apply the hypnocathartic method. The justifications for doing so are familiar to us: the role of trauma, strangled affects, the removal of the obstacle by means of hypnotic suggestion and the resolution of the trauma through catharsis. This introductory and relatively brief phase was followed in 1897 by the abandonment of the theory of seduction. As I have already pointed out, Freud’s positions apropos of seduction are not always as clear as they might be. Until the end, Freud continued to refer to trauma. Moreover, trauma was to reappear in a modified form in Ferenczi’s writings, enriched with new traits. Be that as it may, if the theory of phantasy supplanted the theory of seduction, it was because of its general value – that is to say, though not all patients have been seduced by a perverse parent or adult, all of them, whether they have actually been seduced or not, have set up a conscious and unconscious phantasy organization whose presence can be found in all of them. If the analyst cannot demonstrate this, it means he is in the presence of an exceptionally powerful repression, or eve