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What is the bearing of the historical record of the origins of psychoanalysis on our understanding of psychoanalysis as a discipline? More particularly, does an account of the life of Sigmund Freud alter our understanding of psychoanalysis? These questions are growing in significance as the historical record unfolds, and controversy envelops our understanding of Freud's version of psychoanalysis. John Kerr's new book promises to significantly accelerate this process, and will have to be taken into account in all subsequent commentary on Freud and the history of psychoanalysis.
Regardless of one's predisposition toward psychoanalysis, it is vital that the nature of the debate surrounding Freud be grasped in its most fundamental form. There are essentially three lines of argument pursued against Freud: First, there are a variety of philosophical arguments that have largely to do with the nature of Freud's scientific claims. Second, there is an increasingly critical view of Freud's texts, particularly the classic cases such as the Wolf Man and Rat Man cases, not to mention Dora. What the critics now allege is that many of the cases lack coherence, are directly at variance with other evidence available on the subjects treated in the cases, and that Freud's case material relies heavily on literary sources and compositional strategies to carry their argumentative force. Third, and, I believe, most important, is the historical unpacking of Freud's life itself. This last area alerts us to a vital aspect of psychoanalysis, for unlike any other scientific undertaking, psychoanalysis is uniquely contingent on the life of the founder. The reason for this lies in the claims made by Freud for the normative status of his own self-analysis. Absent a thorough and accurate account of Freud's life, it is ultimately impossible to assess the self-analysis. And since the self-analysis guides the analytic process in Freud's major cases, the critical arguments now being