A Commentary on the Freud-Jung Letters

Seldom has a relationship between two men had more impact on the history of ideas than that between Freud and Jung, and few sagas are more interesting than the chronicle of their partnership. The friendship itself spanned only 7 years, but its effect on each man would last a lifetime. Even though the intimate correspondence did not begin until 1906 and it was not until a year later that they would meet personally, the fateful events that would decree their encounter had begun as early as 1900, when Jung discovered The Interpretation of Dreams and embarked on his long psychiatric odyssey. To appreciate fully the importance of each man to the other, we must know something of their developments prior to 1906.

Both had strong humanistic interests in youth (including a shared passion for archaeology) but nevertheless opted for scientific careers (although the tension between these two elements would persist and contributed to the nature of each man's genius). Only at the end of medical school did Jung realize his psychiatric calling and, in Freud's career, it was even later. But by the time Jung entered psychiatry (1900-1901) Freud had been hacking out pioneer trails in the area for over 10 years. The dogged following up of his psychiatric insights had contributed to the loss of two friendships—Breuer and Fliess. Fliess had formed the sounding board for Freud's early theories and a transferencelike object for Freud in his self-analysis. Their relationship spanned 15 years (1887-1902) and was to take on a father-son quality (with Freud more often the son). Their letters4 are of no less interest than the Freud-Jung letters, and both relationships (heavily determined by each man's father conflict) invite comparison12 After the loss of Fliess, Freud felt very much alone, on the one hand sequestered from society because he sought to apply scientific methodology to hitherto forbidden areas of the psyche and, on the other, isolated