In The Psychology of Revolution, Gustave Le Bon says that belief is unconscious and uninfluenced by reason. The revolution is the work of believers. It is hated by some and praised by others, and is a dogma that is either accepted or rejected as a whole, without the use of logic. Reason may spark a … Read more
The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind by Gustave La Bon explains the psychology of crowds, their vulnerabilities, and their greatest virtues. It is easy to be infected with the enthusiasm and the emotions that crowds evoke, which is why it is necessary to apply critical thinking, and not to yield every impulse you … Read more
The Discovery of the Unconscious is a book that explores the history of the dynamic psychiatry. It starts with an introduction to Mesmer (responsible for Hypnotism), and then transitions to Janet, who’s main contribution was explaining neuroses and hysteria by deviations in mental energy. Then we are introduced to Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic revolution – his … Read more
Romanticism heavily influenced the schools of psychoanalysis. This can be seen through the teachings of Freud and Jung. Janet was a representative of Enlightenment thought, and to some extent, so was Adler. The dynamic psychiatrist was also like an artist or a writer in that he draws from personal experiences to inform his ideas about … Read more
Psychoanalysis had many followers and many detractors. One of these detractors was Dr. Max Kesserling, a specialist in nervous diseases in Zurich. He accused Freud of being convinced of the truth of his teachings, and when attending one of Freud’s lectures, he noticed that while Freud encouraged questions, his answers were vague and unconvincing. Kesselring … Read more
Carl Gustav Jung, like Adler, broke off his relationship with Freud. But he was also like Freud in that his philosophical ideas are influenced by Romanticism. Jung proclaimed that he discovered an objective truth about human nature that is between science and religion, and this is the most distinguishing feature of his perspective. His family … Read more
Alfred Adler and Carl Jung both had independent ideas and were not psychoanalytic deviants, as is commonly believed. They collaborated with Freud, but maintained their independence, and after their break, they developed their own systems of psychoanalysis. Freud’s goal was to incorporate into scientific psychology the insights alluded to by Shakespeare, the Greek tragedians, Goethe, … Read more
The Life of Freud Sigmund Freud broke with official medicine and was the first in the history of dynamic psychiatry to do so. The result was a cultural revolution that can be compared to what Darwin had unleashed. Freud’s personality was strongly shaped by the Jewish tradition, he kept the patriarchal ideology, which included man’s … Read more
The 19th century gave birth to a new dynamic psychiatry. At the time, Europe was a society that was dominated by men. It was a world for men by men, and women had no say in politics and were not admitted into universities. Male values were celebrated. Among the aristocracy, women and men who had … Read more
The background of dynamic psychiatry can be traced to two centuries back. The 1800’s was a time that is difficult for us to imagine. People were much tougher, since they had no access to the luxuries and comforts of today. Sedatives and narcotics were almost unheard of and public hygiene was at a primitive stage. … Read more