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This paper presents a comparative analysis of the concepts of Freud and Adler in terms of five levels of abstraction. This type of study can help in understanding the distinctive systems with which these men are identified and in recognizing the personality differences that governed each man's central concerns in the area of personality theory.
Typically, when we examine differing systems within psychology, we are concerned with the content, development, and application of the central ideas. The classic survey text in personality theory (Hall & Lindzey, 1976) has been an important model in the literature for this type of presentation. Another approach to the treatment of different theories of personality is to perform a conceptual analysis on the terms, theories, and basic philosophical commitments underlying each system. The analysis attempted here will focus on the processes of induction, whereby relations, theories, and systems are developed from selected empirical observations. Two unique features of this method are, that it exposes the logical interrelatedness of the elements within a theoretical system, while it highlights the individual personality differences of Freud and Adler.
The cardinal difference between the psychologies of Freud and Adler is expressed by the dichotomy between objective and subjective. The basic method of labeling and explaining phenomena in psychoanalysis is rooted in a scientific world view, according to which the mind of man is reducible to objective subentities, which themselves are impelled