Freud as Philosopher: Metapsychology After Lacan [Paperback]

Richard Boothby (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 28, 2001 | ISBN-10: 0415925908 | ISBN-13: 978-0415925907 | Edition: 1

Using Jacques Lacan's work as a key, Boothby reassesses Freud's most ambitious-and misunderstood-attempt at a general theory of mental functioning: metapsychology

Editorial Reviews

Review

...provides an extensive discussion of Freud's Nachtraglichkeit, deferred action, whereby an event becomes meaningful or traumatic as a result of subsequent associations. Boothby explains Freud's theory by comparing it to the views of James, Bergson, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty and of Gestalt psychology. This volume succeeds as an explication of Freud and Lacan...Large public collections and upper-division undergraduates through faculty. Choice June 2002.
Many have tried to uncover the philosophical underpinnings of Freudian psychoanalysis, but none has succeeded so convincingly as does Richard Boothby in Freud as Philosopher. Boothby finds in the concept of the dispositional field--discovered and refined by such diverse figures as Monet, Husserl, and Merleau-Ponty--a way of redeeming Freudian energetics by placing it on a secure philosophical basis that is equally relevant to perception, image, and word. This remarkably insightful thesis is brilliantly and lucidly argued in a book that will make a permanent difference in all future readings of Freud and Lacan. -- Edward Casey, State University of New York at Stony Brook
A book all those seriously interested in Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan were waiting for-- rejecting the usual mixture of Cultural Studies pseudo-critical variations which lack the elementary conceptual stringency, Boothby reads Freud and Lacan through Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, and other key modern philosophers, restoring the Freudian metapsychology to its philosophical dignity. It is in books like this that we should look for the renaissance of the American thought! If the term 'classic' has any meaning today, Freud as Philosopher is it! -- Slavoj Zizek
Richard Boothby's evident mastery of both the Freudian and Lacanian corpora is incredibly impressive. The weaving together of various published and unpublished texts by original as well as secondary sources with Boothby's own insights makes this an exciting, indeed brilliant work that will have a definitive impact on how psychoanalysis is conceived in relationship to philosophy. -- Gail Weiss, author of Body Images: Embodiment as Incorporeality
A book all those seriously interested in Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan were waiting for-- rejecting the usual mixture of Cultural Studies pseudo-critical variations which lack the elementary conceptual stringency, Boothby reads Freud and Lacan through Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, and other key modern philosophers, restoring the Freudian metapsychology to its philosophical dignity. It is in books like this that we should look for the renaissance of American thought! If the term 'classic' has any meaning today, Freud as Philosopher is it! -- Slavoj Zizek
Boothby does deserve credit for making Lacan more accessible and helping non-Lacanians to appreciate his philosophical contribution... Boothby's book will be useful for anyone who has interests in the intersection between philosophy and psychoanalysis. -- Elliot Jurist, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, May 7, 2002
Boothby generates not only a fresh undersanding of psychoanalytic theory, but also his own original contribution to the philosophy of psychoanalysis. Scholar of religion will find this book important for its acute review of theories of religious sacrifice from Tylor tto Bataille and its original and compelling revision of these theories. -- Religious Studies Review
Boothby generates not only a fresh undersanding of psychoanalytic theory, but also his own original contribution to the philosophy of psychoanalysis. Scholars of religion will find this book important for its acute review of theories of religious sacrifice from Tylor tto Bataille and its original and compelling revision of these theories. -- Religious Studies Review

About the Author

Richard Boothby is Professor and Chair of the Department of Philosophy at Loyola College in Baltimore, Maryland. He is author of Death and Desire: Psychoanalytic Theory in Lacan's Return to Freud (Routledge 1991).

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (September 28, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415925908
• ISBN-13: 978-0415925907
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,205,214 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Written with exemplary clarity, July 12, 2007

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German Reader (Germany) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Freud as Philosopher: Metapsychology After Lacan (Paperback)

Boothby does two things: he interprets Freud (through Lacan) and clarifies at the same time key-concepts of Lacan's philosophy. The book is lucidly argued and shows a pedagogical skill of the author.
I have read several introductions to Lacan but this one is by far the best and will hopefully be called a "classic" one day.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Most reccomended book on psychoanalysis, December 17, 2011

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Beehaz - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Freud as Philosopher: Metapsychology After Lacan (Paperback)

It is hard to describe this as an introductory text to the concepts of Freud and Lacan, or as its own exposition of new ideas, probably more of the former, but it serves both purposes equally well. For the beginner like me, it was great to understand the philosophical underpinnings of Freud, gradually showing how Lacan elucidated certain controversial Freudian concepts and thus fully appreciating their impacts on subjectivity. Like Lacan once said, "I'm a Freudian, I leave it up to you to be Lacanians," this book's primary focus is showing the full depth of Freud, with Lacan chiming in. To do this, Boothby sticks to his strong background in phenomenology where Freud and Lacan-oustide of the introduction-are hardly even mentioned until about 30-40 pages in. This is what makes the book interesting and unlike any other intro text on Lacan (if that's what you want to call it), because the big Lacanian terminology (imaginary, symbolic, real) are not merely thrown around from the beginning assuming reader understanding. Rather, by the time Boothby approaches the term 'imaginary,' you've had many pages before explaining all of it's perceptual underpinnings, philosophic origins in Freud, as well as interwoven clinical examples. Definitely worth a read.