Seductive Mirage: An Exploration of the Work of Sigmund Freud [Hardcover]

Allen Esterson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1993

Whereas many critics of psychoanalysis have attacked Freud's arguments and the scientific basis of his theories, Esterson's critique is more radical and startling in that he calls into question the alleged factual evidence which supposedly formed the basis of Freud's conclusions. Beginning with the celebrated "child seduction" stories that formed the origin of psychoanalysis, Esterson demonstrates by historical detective work and especially by comparing the variations in Freud's own accounts, that Freud's reports of what his clients told him cannot be relied upon and were shaped by Freud to support his own conclusions. Esterson claims that Freud's patients did not report their seduction in childhood - instead, he argues, Freud posits childhood seductions which the patients could not "remember". Time amd again, Esterson claims, supposed "facts" turn out to be nothing of the kind, owing much to misconceptions or faulty recollections on Freud's part, or to Freud's habit of describing his own inferences as if the patient had explicitly voiced them. There is even, claims Esterson, evidence of deliberate manipulation or outright invention of alleged data. Such evidence undermines not only Freud's clinical claims but also his reputation as an inquirer of unspotted integrity. By a close dissection of Freud's writing, Esterson claims to lay bare the dearth of empirical support for psychoanalysis, the weaknesses in Freud's arguments, and the specious tissue of persuasive rhetoric which has seduced so many intelligent people into supposing that Freud is a thinker of major stature.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Open Court Pub Co; 1St Edition edition (June 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812692306
• ISBN-13: 978-0812692303
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.8 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,223,019 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Penetrating Analysis, February 16, 2006

By 

Dr. Michael R. Edelstein (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Seductive Mirage: An Exploration of the Work of Sigmund Freud (Paperback)

Sigmund Freud was a man of integrity. His theories were scientifically arrived at, based on a large sample. He dispassionately observed his patients, reporting in his books and articles their deepest fears and hopes. He significantly helped many of them overcome their psychological problems.

All of the above statements would likely be endorsed by most thoughtful individuals having a cursory acquaintance with Freud's profound impact on 20th-century thought. Unless they have read Seductive Mirage.

In an engrossing, meticulous, penetrating analysis, Allen Esterson convincingly puts the lie to each of the above statements. He leaves no shadow of doubt that Freud was a charlatan and was a genius at it.

After briefly being enamored with Freud in college, over the years I have come to be quite skeptical of the veracity of psychoanalysis. However, reading Esterson's scholarly tome has led me to appreciate the breadth and depth to which Freudianism is a fraud perpetrated on Western civilization.

Reading Seductive Mirage was a wonderful education, one which I highly recommend to anyone with the slightest curiosity about the intellectual forces shaping our world.