Customer Reviews

Freud's Paranoid Quest: Psychoanalysis and Modern Suspicion

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John Farrell's book, FREUD'S PARANOID QUEST, is a brilliantly written and clearly reasoned study of Freud's psychological theories. Farrell places Freud firmly in the traditions of Romantic paranoia (with Rousseau and many others) and enlightened satire. He adds a most important (perhaps the most important) chapter to the recent revaluation of Freud's thought. Without malice or exaggeration he shows the madness and egotism of Freud's "sytem" both in its theoretical and clinical manifestations. He points to the mammoth distortions in Freud's use of evidence derived from his patients and his tyrannical and irrational relationships with his famous colleagues. Though this volume is likely to be misunderstood by those dedicated to pychoanalysis, it is written for those who have serious questions about the scientific, philosophical, and literary value of Freud. In short, this is without question the best single volume to read for those interested in the problems of Freud's thought, and for those who wish to place it in the context of modern intellectual culture.

Were the reviewer from St. Louis to actually meet John Farrell, he would find laughable the proposition that such an unassuming man could be engaged in a "paranoid quest for fame." I should know--I am one of Prof. Farrell's students. Yet despite his humility, Farrell has written a brilliant exploration of the darker side of Freudian thought, and the effect its widespread influence has had on contemporary society. Since all psychology ultimately stems from Freudian assumptions about the psyche, Farrell's book is one which helps to shatter the glass dome we live in, the dome built of Freudian constructs that threatens to forever eliminate meaningful human interaction by reducing all actions and all discourse to the mere product of latent desires. This is much more than just another Freud-bashing book. It is a systematic dismantling of the fantasy world--built by a certifiably insane cocaine addict named Sigmund Freud--in which many of us choose to spend our lives.

To be sure, Farrell is passionate about his subject . . . but in his zeal to discredit Freud he ignores essentially the entire corpus of medical research into psychoanalysis and psychiatry more generally. As a result, this is really an indictment of Freud's personality--not his theories of the mind. And the efficacy of psychoanalytic theory rests of a careful evaluation and comparison of results, not merely a screed against the theory's ultimate author.

The previous reviewer seems to be excessively concerned about this book's immortality. I'd have much sympathy for him were it not for the fact that Farrel's work is a piece of trash, his own paranoid quest for fame amidst the ongoing wave of Freud bashing. Substitute moral cowardice/superficiality for "moral seriousness", and you will understand Farrel very well