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Freud, Adler, and Jung: Discovering the Mind (Discovering the Mind, Volume 3)

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Kaufmann continues his examination of the development of depth psychology, primarily (over the whole series) from Goethe and Hegel to Nietzsche, and from Nietzsche to Freud. All Jungians should read and carefully digest this text. Kaufmann gives compelling examples of Jungs ideas and methodology, revealing sloppy thinking and scholarship. (E.g., the meanings of Jung's terms, especially the "Shadow", change from one book to the next.)

This book takes an interesting perspective on three very influential men in the counseling and psychology fields. The author seems to have a bit of an affinity for Freud, and therefore seems slightly protective of his memory; willing to find any inconsistencies the the stories of Adler and Jung to support the integrity of Freud. However, the stories he reports about all of the men and their lives are very enthralling, if not somewhat incomplete. This book provides a good introduction to these men and their work.

Walter A. Kaufmann has produced an outstanding text. His research is meticulous and his prose style highly readable. Freud, Adler and Jung are presented accurately, and the reader is given fresh insights into tested psychoanalytical theory. This is a scholarly work of international significance, made even more profound by the incident detailed in Chapter 4. During his research at the Smithsonian Institution, Kaufmann discovered some hitherto unpublished correspondence relating to the sensational rift between Adler and Freud in 1912. The initial letter, dated May 12 of that year, read:

`Freud,
I have discovered the secret of the Unconscious. It does not repose in your Libido Theory. Resulting from Birth Trauma, all actions, reactions, thoughts and motivations derive from a desire for strudel - strudel with and without cinnamon, lightly dusted strudel with a piquant cheese platter to follow and strudel from Room Service.
Our association is henceforth terminated.
Yours, Adler.'

Freud replied by return post:

`My Dear Addled (Oops! Pardon the Slip),
After analyzing your letter, I am of the firm belief that you are quite a few granny smiths short of the full bushel. And one more thing - may I act as your agent regarding the paperback rights to any future cookbook?
Yours, for only 10% of net receipts,
Siggie.'

There is no record of Adler replying, but his book, `The Psychodynamics of Desserts', was released for the 1913 Christmas rush. It was dedicated to Freud, with the defiantly insulting inscription, `To Fraud: Jung accepted 5%.''

Kaufmann is as brilliant as his subjects, and rarely has a singular work exercised such plethoric influence.

This book clearly deals with its topic like a case study of three people involved in the active pursuit of a science. As might be expected from someone aware of the intellectual climate in which they worked, a great deal of attention is devoted to the sorry state of their relationships with each other, ambition being an obstacle to agreement in this field. The scholarly view offered by the college professor who put this collection of observations together is most daring when it offers a challenge to the individual attempt to make sense of a truly ominous situation, as when Walter Kaufmann tackles Jung's "Answer to Job."

Listen, football fans: when the ball gets loose like this, people start to think about the last opportunity that they had to drop back and punt. According to my Concordance to the King James Version of the Bible, in Job 31:33, Job admitted, in his attempts to justify himself, that he would have sinned if he hid his transgressions like Adam. This is followed by a speech by Elihu in which his anger burst out. The key to his anger is contained in Job 34:17, "Could an enemy of justice ever govern?"

In the strange world that we actually live in, people would be well advised to get used to this kind of thing when they are young, so that, later in life, if they ever encounter anyone who has a more outrageous theory about what is really going on, their contact with the intellectual upper crust will remind them of how goofy this kind of thing usually turns out to be. For some people, this book might make more sense than starting their day with a breakfast cereal that tells them, "Check bottom of box to see if you are a winner."