Continental Philosophy

A review of The Freud Wars: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Psychoanalysis

This book is about some very important heuristic consequences of (Freud’s) psychoanalytic theory. How psychoanalytic thinking can be justified? Is it possible (or is even it necessary) to justify psychoanalytic theory within the framework of the natural sciences? Or do we need some other (interpretative, hermeneutic) framework?

The subject matter of this book is more fundamental than either psychoanalysis itself or any particular branch of philosophy. Its concern is with the common ground of all psychoanalytic approaches, and the focus is on the divergent principles which different philosophers (Adolph Grunbaum, Thomas Nagel and Jurgen Habermas) have used to justify or to reject psychoanalytic thinking. The aim is to work towards an understanding of psychoanalysis thought its central concepts, the unconscious, which recognizes and makes some of the entrenched disagreement about what its foundational principles are.

This book could be seen as an introduction to the philosophy of psychoanalysis, for those with an interest or engagement in philosophy, psychotherapy, or both, as well as anyone wanting to explore the profound and overlapping field. Although this is a complex subject, no prior knowledge or experience of either philosophy or psychoanalysis is required.

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