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60 of 64 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wisdom of the very wise, April 25, 2006
This review is from: Follies of the Wise: Dissenting Essays (Hardcover)
According to its opening words, "not everyone will like this book", and probably that is true. In particular, people who still believe in psychoanalysis, or just that Sigmund Freud was a great thinker who advanced our understanding of human psychology, will hate this book. Others who have espoused more recent sets of irrational beliefs, such as "intelligent design", will find much to dislike. All of these may well constitute a majority of the reading public, but they should still leave a substantial minority who will appreciate Frederick Crews's surgical skill in dissecting much of the nonsense that passes for science. Much of the early part of the book is devoted to Freud, not only to his ideas, but also to his character as a person and his lack of concern for the well-being of his patients. As a former believer in Freudian analysis, Crews uses his expert knowledge to demolish it thoroughly, noting Freud's inconsistencies, his failure to cure his patients, his lack of interest in subjecting his theories to tests and so on. Karl Popper long ago concluded that what distinguished psychoanalysis from real science was that real science is "falsifiable" -- it is subject to tests that are potentially devastating -- whereas pseudoscientific theories can accommodate absolutely any observation. Rather surprisingly, Popper is not mentioned in the book, though lesser philosophers of science like Thomas Kuhn and Paul Feyerabend do make brief appearances. Nonetheless, it is clear that Crews has absorbed the essential idea of falsifiability. A more recent abuse of science is to be found in claims that repressed memories of childhood abuse can be "recovered" by appropriate therapy, and even that the supposed abusers themselves can be induced to "remember" their past crimes. All of this provides an eerie reminder of 17th century witch-hunting, but Crews shows that its theoretical basis can be found in Freud's early writing, when he thought that the mental problems of his patients were due to repressed memories of traumatic childhood events. A particularly impressive part of the book comes when Crews discusses "intelligent design" as a supposed competitor to natural selection for explaining why the biological world is the way it is -- impressive because it is rare to find a professor of English literature with as complete a command of the essential ideas of modern Darwinism as Crews displays. So far as compromises with religion go, he shows a surer grasp of the issues than some who should know better. In summary, therefore, although it is true that not everyone will like this book, there should be many who will like it very much.
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Freud's frauds, countering creationists, demolished dogmas, November 25, 2006
This review is from: Follies of the Wise: Dissenting Essays (Hardcover)
Nobody, it seems, can argue more vigorously than a convert. Even, as in this case, a convert away from a belief. In this collection of delicious critiques, Crews opens with an assault on a belief he once held - the value of psychoanalysis. Crews had been enamoured of Freud's explanations of the mind until he looked more closely at the evidence. "Looking more closely at the evidence" forms the theme of this collection. The "wise" here, are those who have promoted several academically-based causes without considering the evidence underlying them. The "evidence" in the Freud segment of the book comes in the form of the Viennese doctor's own statements, in letter or book form. Crews discovered Freud to be more concerned with his own grandeur than in the well-being of his "patients". Even during "therapeutic" sessions, Freud paid little or no attention to his patients - a fundamental in the "free association" process. As the doctor developed his notions of the ego, superego and id, he began manoeuvring his patients into fitting his notions. This pernicious tactic was furthered by Freud's followers, particularly in the United States. "Therapists" became adept at formulating scenarios and badgering their subjects until those unfortunates accepted roles they'd never experienced. This practice became prevalent in the "repressed memory" movement that saw families destroyed and innocents jailed for acts never committed. The essayist's most expressive prose takes full flight in the chapters on the US phenomenon of "creationism". For this topic, Crews leaves few writers unscarred. It's easy, of course, to unravel the inconsistencies and convoluted propositions of the current wave of creationist writers. There are no scholars among them - at least none researching the topic, a point Crews makes clear as he easily dismisses them. The real problem is in coping with such professionals as the late Stephen J. Gould, Kenneth Miller and Michael Ruse. Gould's attempt to provide safe, but separate, havens for religion and science was an utter flop. Michael Ruse, who tries to make peace with everybody, only stumbles and renders himself ineffectual according to Crews. Kenneth Miller on the other hand, produced a book that devastated the claims of "intelligent design" - which is neither - then nearly binned his success by trying to wrap the universe in a lightly woven supernatural cloak. Crews sees through the Emperor's garb to perceive what's really there. The final segment of the book brings Crews full circle to his long career as a literary critic. The essay on Melville deserves the widest reading. If nothing else, it prepares the reader for his scathing attack on "post-structuralism". Aimed at readers who have been through the academic courses in the humanities over the last generation or two, the dissection of Lacan and Foucault ideas of what constitutes "truth" and how it is to be discerned would be gut-wrenching, were it not so hilarious. It's all very reminiscent of "Doctor Strangelove" where the decision to laugh or weep becomes increasingly difficult. Those who teach or have attended humanities courses in recent years will find Crews assessment jolting. Still, like any therapy that cures a serious illness, a period of pain is worth the cure. If the cure "takes", that is. The medicine may be difficult for some to swallow, but it's necessary to stem the current epidemic, which is less virulent, but remains a threat to thinking. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Advocate of Critical Thinking, January 6, 2009
Let's be clear about this: "Follies of the Wise" is one sharp book. Comprised of essays written from 1993 and onwards, it includes `The Unknown Freud' and `The Revenge of the Repressed'. Even though Frederick Crews is widely regarded as the fiercest Freud-basher around, these essays by no means deal exclusively with his perception of psychoanalysis as being largely unscientific and the dangers of the recovered memory movement. Writing extensively on UFO's, theosophy and creationism as well as post-structuralism, he dissects anything unscientific, superstitious and snobbish. The last two essays beautifully conveys his love for Kafka and Melville. Furthermore there are two appendixes containing interviews with the author. To be critical is sometimes equated with being offensive. Granted, his style can perhaps hardly be characterized as being mild-mannered, but there is nothing rancorous in it either. There is a difference between being acute and being acrimonious. To me, Frederick Crews is an intrepid advocate of critical thinking and he just happens to be a gifted writer as well. Highly recommended.
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