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Three Contributions to the Theory of Sex

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This book was published in German in 1905, and contains statements of his famous (or infamous, depending on one's view) theories such as "penis envy," "castration complex," and the "Oedipus complex."

Here are some representative quotations from the book:

"The fact of sexual need in man and animal is expressed in biology by the assumption of a 'sexual instinct.' ... The sexual expression corresponding to hunger not being found colloquially, science uses the expression, 'libido.'"
"The sexual instinct is probably entirely independent of its object and is not originated by the stimuli proceeding from the object."
"Now we are forced to the conclusion that there is indeed something congenital at the basis of perversions, but it is someting which is congenital in all persons; which as a predisposition may fluctuate in intensity, and that it is brought into prominence by influences of life."
"The historians of civilization seem to be unanimous in the opinion that such deflection of sexual powers from sexual aims to new aims, a process which merits the name of sublimation, has furnished powerful components for all cultural accomplishments."
"One of the first of such pregenital sexual organizations is the oral, or if one will, the cannibalistic. Here the sexual activity is not yet separated from the taking of nourishment and the contrasts within it are not yet differentiated... A second pregenital stage is the sadistic-anal organization."
"The infantile manifestations of sexuality not only condition the deviations from the normal sexual life, but also the normal formations of the same."
"(I)t is my belief that without taking into account the factor of bisexuality, it will hardly be possible to understand the sexual manifestations of man and woman, which must actually be observed."
"One may perhaps hesitate to identify the tender feelings and esteem of the child for his foster-parents with sexual love; I believe, however, that a more thorough psychological investigation will establish this identity beyond all doubt."

This book was very informative and had very interesting theories. You have to remember it is by Freud, so there are a few parts that you may have to read over more than once to get the theory. For the most part I thought it was a very interesting and informative book. A lot of the theories that he talked about were very very briefly noted and I feel that he could have gone into a lot more detail than he did.

Frued's approach to sex and psychoanalytic interpretations can be tricky. They are Id-based theories, but interesting nevertheless. Freud's "principles" like libidinous sexual urges that operate without benefit of developmental growth a' la Erik Erikson, permeate modern thinking and language ("the Freudian slip") even though they fell out of favor to some more modern interpreters like Carl Jung, Eric Erickson, and Object Relations experts like Donald Winnicott. But Freud is ALWAYS interesting. If you'd like some lighter Freudian reading, you might try Freud's Revenge. It's a mystery by a modern Freudian psychotherapist. Plenty of Id, Ego, and Superego angst to keep you going at night! --PJ Adams

Three Contributions to the Theory of Sex by Sigmund Freud. Published by MobileReference (mobi)

The father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud was one of the most influential and authoritative thinkers of the twentieth century. Very interesting reading. Great book!