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13 June 1912, Vienna, IX. Berggasse 19
Dear friend,
About the libido question, we shall see. The nature of the change you have made is not quite clear to me and I know nothing of its motivation. Once I am better informed, I shall surely be able to switch to objectivity, precisely because I am well aware of my bias. Even if we cannot come to terms immediately, there is no reason to suppose that this scientific difference will detract from our personal relations. I can recall that there were profounder differences between us at the beginning of our relationship. In 1908 it was reported to me from various quarters that a “negative fluctuation” had occurred in Burghölzli, that my views had been superseded. This did not deter me from visiting you in Zürich, in fact it was my reason for doing so, and I found everything quite different from what I had been led to expect. Consequently I cannot agree with you when you say that my failure to go to Zürich from Constance1 was motivated by my displeasure at your libido theory. A few months earlier you would probably have spared me this interpretation, all the more so because the circumstances do not warrant it. They are as follows: Because of illness in my family my visit to Binswanger was definitely decided on only a few days in advance. When I saw it would be possible, I wrote to you, so that you must have known at the time of my arrival that I would be in Constance. I then spent two nights and one day on the train, so as to be able to spend two nights and two days in one place. After a period of gruelling work that was just about enough travelling. To go to Zürich I should have had to sacrifice one of the two days and so deprive my host of half the time allotted to him. I had a special reason, unknown to you, for wanting to talk with Binswanger at that time.2 But if you had come and spent half a day in Constance, it would have been a great pleasure for us all. I did not ask you to come, because it is an imposition to ask a