The Interpretation of Dreams (Oxford World's Classics)
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By: Sigmund Freud
Format: Paperback
From: Oxford University Press, USA
Pub. Date: 15th September 2008
From: Oxford University Press, USA
Pub. Date: 15th September 2008
Product Details:
Catalog: Book
Release Date: 2008-09-15
Media: Paperback
Number Of Pages: 514
Ean: 9780199537587
Isbn: 0199537585
Catalog: Book
Release Date: 2008-09-15
Media: Paperback
Number Of Pages: 514
Ean: 9780199537587
Isbn: 0199537585
ABOUT THE BOOK
USER REVIEWS
"Freud was one of the first, and one of the most brilliant, psychologists to attempt a `scientific' study of the mind. Freud attempted to explain and understand the dynamics of the psyche, not through mere casual observation or personal introspection, but through clinical experience. There are many scientists and philosophers, Karl Popper being the most famous, who have attacked Freud for being `unscientific' in method and for failing the test of falsifiability in his conclusions.
It must be admitted that any attempt to study the mind using the methods of objective science is going to run into some serious epistemological hurdles; hurdles that still have not been entirely overcome to this day. These epistemological questions are important questions and should be taken seriously. But in my opinion the people who are busy picking apart Freud's theories to see whether they are `scientific', or whether they measure up to some preconceived notion of what a scientific theory should be, are asking the wrong questions. The question that should be asked is: have Freud's theories and writings increased our understanding of the nature and the dynamics of the human mind? The obvious answer to that question, in my opinion, is yes.
The Interpretation of Dreams is Freud's attempt to understand the nature and dynamics of dreaming. We all take for granted the fact that we dream, but few of us ever truly begin to wonder at how strange a fact that is; and even of those of us who do only a few will go on and attempt to understand why we dream in any serious way. There were people who attempted to understand dreaming before Freud but Freud has come to tower above them in the same way that Adam Smith has come to tower above all the economists who came before him and probably for good reason.
Freud puts forward some fairly counter-intuitive thesis in regard to dreaming. The first is that all dreaming is wish-fulfillment. This is the kind of claim that seems to fly in the face of empirical evidence, as well as our everyday understanding of the nature of dreams. I am not going to attempt to enter the debate in regard to whether Freud was right in this conclusion but it should be pointed out that this was a conclusion Freud was led to in his clinical experience, and the obvious objections to this theory (the existence of anxiety dreams for instance) were objections that Freud was well aware of and Freud deals with them directly in this book.
The real meat of the book, in my opinion, is Freud's attempt to analyze the psychological processes that give rise to dreams. The fact that Freud begins with a counter-intuitive hypothesis, namely, that all dreams are wish-fulfillments, requires him to undertake the task of explaining how (and why) these wishes take the form of dreams as we know them. Dreams certainly do not appear to us to be wish-fulfillments. Freud has to explain why dreams do not appear on the surface to be wish-fulfillments and this requires him to work out a theory of psychic functioning which will adequately explain how dreams are formed.
This ultimately is the reason why I say that Freud was one of the first to attempt a scientific study of the mind whether his theories measure up to the philosopher of science's standards or not. Freud's method is entirely different from the person who simply attempts to describe the nature of dreams by describing their pictorial form, their logical incongruities, etc. Freud puts forward an hypothesis and this hypothesis leads him to some new and startling conclusions about psychic functioning which would not be immediately obvious to a person merely engaged in casual introspection.
In order to explain the form dreams take Freud first makes a distinction between the manifest and latent content of a dream. This is probably the central notion behind the whole book, and the reason, in Freud's opinion, that no one had succeeded in understanding dreams before him was because no one was able to make this distinction. Attempts to understand dreams before Freud focused all of their attention on a dream's manifest content. The latent content of a dream can only be discovered in the analytic situation by allowing the patient to free-associate in regard to different elements of the dream. Through this method one is able to discover the latent thoughts behind the creation of the dream.
The dream is formed by a number of processes operating on these latent thoughts. One of the processes is condensation in which elements from the dream-thoughts are combined and condensed into a single manifest content. Another process is that of displacement in which psychic values are transferred between contents. The dream also has to deal with the problem of representability which Freud deals with extensively.
There are a number of aspects of Freud's work which seem slightly primitive when reading him today. Freud was well aware that he was heading out into new territory and that many of his theories would have to be revised in the future as we learned more. But a person can still learn a great deal about the functioning of the psyche from reading this book, and not just about the formation of dreams. Freud's theory of dreams (as well as his theories on neurosis which are not dealt with directly in this book) required Freud to re-evaluate the nature of the human mind. He presents a new schematic of the mind and how it functions in the final chapter of the book. While some of this does seem slightly primitive today it cannot be denied that Freud's theories have profoundly altered our understanding of what it means to be human. No one who is interested in that question should skip this book (or Freud's other works).
-Brian
"
~ Written on 2010-07-09
It must be admitted that any attempt to study the mind using the methods of objective science is going to run into some serious epistemological hurdles; hurdles that still have not been entirely overcome to this day. These epistemological questions are important questions and should be taken seriously. But in my opinion the people who are busy picking apart Freud's theories to see whether they are `scientific', or whether they measure up to some preconceived notion of what a scientific theory should be, are asking the wrong questions. The question that should be asked is: have Freud's theories and writings increased our understanding of the nature and the dynamics of the human mind? The obvious answer to that question, in my opinion, is yes.
The Interpretation of Dreams is Freud's attempt to understand the nature and dynamics of dreaming. We all take for granted the fact that we dream, but few of us ever truly begin to wonder at how strange a fact that is; and even of those of us who do only a few will go on and attempt to understand why we dream in any serious way. There were people who attempted to understand dreaming before Freud but Freud has come to tower above them in the same way that Adam Smith has come to tower above all the economists who came before him and probably for good reason.
Freud puts forward some fairly counter-intuitive thesis in regard to dreaming. The first is that all dreaming is wish-fulfillment. This is the kind of claim that seems to fly in the face of empirical evidence, as well as our everyday understanding of the nature of dreams. I am not going to attempt to enter the debate in regard to whether Freud was right in this conclusion but it should be pointed out that this was a conclusion Freud was led to in his clinical experience, and the obvious objections to this theory (the existence of anxiety dreams for instance) were objections that Freud was well aware of and Freud deals with them directly in this book.
The real meat of the book, in my opinion, is Freud's attempt to analyze the psychological processes that give rise to dreams. The fact that Freud begins with a counter-intuitive hypothesis, namely, that all dreams are wish-fulfillments, requires him to undertake the task of explaining how (and why) these wishes take the form of dreams as we know them. Dreams certainly do not appear to us to be wish-fulfillments. Freud has to explain why dreams do not appear on the surface to be wish-fulfillments and this requires him to work out a theory of psychic functioning which will adequately explain how dreams are formed.
This ultimately is the reason why I say that Freud was one of the first to attempt a scientific study of the mind whether his theories measure up to the philosopher of science's standards or not. Freud's method is entirely different from the person who simply attempts to describe the nature of dreams by describing their pictorial form, their logical incongruities, etc. Freud puts forward an hypothesis and this hypothesis leads him to some new and startling conclusions about psychic functioning which would not be immediately obvious to a person merely engaged in casual introspection.
In order to explain the form dreams take Freud first makes a distinction between the manifest and latent content of a dream. This is probably the central notion behind the whole book, and the reason, in Freud's opinion, that no one had succeeded in understanding dreams before him was because no one was able to make this distinction. Attempts to understand dreams before Freud focused all of their attention on a dream's manifest content. The latent content of a dream can only be discovered in the analytic situation by allowing the patient to free-associate in regard to different elements of the dream. Through this method one is able to discover the latent thoughts behind the creation of the dream.
The dream is formed by a number of processes operating on these latent thoughts. One of the processes is condensation in which elements from the dream-thoughts are combined and condensed into a single manifest content. Another process is that of displacement in which psychic values are transferred between contents. The dream also has to deal with the problem of representability which Freud deals with extensively.
There are a number of aspects of Freud's work which seem slightly primitive when reading him today. Freud was well aware that he was heading out into new territory and that many of his theories would have to be revised in the future as we learned more. But a person can still learn a great deal about the functioning of the psyche from reading this book, and not just about the formation of dreams. Freud's theory of dreams (as well as his theories on neurosis which are not dealt with directly in this book) required Freud to re-evaluate the nature of the human mind. He presents a new schematic of the mind and how it functions in the final chapter of the book. While some of this does seem slightly primitive today it cannot be denied that Freud's theories have profoundly altered our understanding of what it means to be human. No one who is interested in that question should skip this book (or Freud's other works).
-Brian
"
~ Written on 2010-07-09
"it humored me how Freud could twist anything and everything to fit his presupposition that ALL dreams are wish fulfillment, he is very skilled at cramming every square, round or oblong peg given him into his triangle hole. But it is all assumption and speculation, maybe he is right, but it is not provable. If you are 'smart' enough you make a case for any absurdity and anyone in their right mind who challenge you, look like a fool. Its hard to reason with a mad man, especially when the madman is a genius. Though he was a genius, I think he started off in the wrong direction and created quite a highway and built a huge castle on top speculative foundation."
~ Written on 2010-05-08
~ Written on 2010-05-08
"Such a hard read for a non-psychology student - never to the point, ineptly organised, more 'jargon' type language than really necessary. Not worth it if you're not actually studying the subject or have advanced interest in psycho-analysis."
~ Written on 2010-04-13
~ Written on 2010-04-13
"My professor was not happy with this rendition of the book.
He felt it was interpreted poorly and wanted me to buy another book."
~ Written on 2009-11-17
He felt it was interpreted poorly and wanted me to buy another book."
~ Written on 2009-11-17
"This is a revised edition of A. Brill translation adapted into American English. This is a widely accepted translation and the reader should trust the translation. I did not see any typo. The book is great as Freud's geniality and ideas are. I love Freud, he is greater than Einstein and many others. His coutribute to humankind is priceless.
"
~ Written on 2009-11-03
"
~ Written on 2009-11-03