Review
"Wittgenstein is a severe critic of Freud's scientific claims, but he is not in the company of those who disparage his achievement. His remarks about Freud are scattered through his writing. Bouveresse has artfully brought them together to reveal a coherently ambivalent view of Freud."---Eugene Goodheart, Boston Book Review
"The grand Baroque architecture of Freud's thought still stands after Wittgenstein's, and Bouveresse's, peppering critique, but it no longer looks habitable."---Kenneth Baker, San Francisco Chronicle
"Bouveresse's perceptive and illuminating study of Wittgenstein on Freud ... is very welcome not just as an immensely readable account of two of the century's most important thinkers, but because it throws light also on the intellectual debate in France, where there has been a lively quarrel between psychoanalysis and philosophy."---A. C. Grayling, The London Financial Times
"In drawing together most of the remarks made by Wittgenstein on Freud, many of the relevant passages from Freud's work, and a good deal of quotation from the secondary literature on the subject, Bouveresse has performed a valuable service for Wittgenstein scholars."---Ray Monk, Nature
"This small book is a treasure for those of us who want to understand and better articulate our own ambivalent attitudes toward Freud." ― Psychoanalytic Books
From the Publisher
Did Freud present a scientific hypothesis about the unconscious, as he always maintained and as many of his disciples keep repeating? This question has long prompted debates concerning the legitimacy and usefulness of psychoanalysis, and it is of utmost importance to Lacanian analysts, whose main project has been to stress Freud's scientific grounding. Here Jacques Bouveresse contributes to the debate by turning to this Austrianborn philosopher and contemporary of Freud for a candid assessment of the early issues surrounding psychoanalysis.
From the Back Cover
"`It will take a long time,' said Wittgenstein, `before we lose our subservience' to Freudian psychoanalysis. By casting the philosopher's scattered reflections into the form of a sustained and powerful critique, Jacques Bouveresse brings that day considerably nearer."--Frederick Crews
About the Author
Jacques Bouveresse is Professor of Philosophy at the Collège de France and the author of numerous works on Wittgenstein. Vincent Descombes is Director of Studies at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris.
