Article ID: CBB001200595

James's Critiques of the Freudian Unconscious---25 Years Earlier (2012)

unapi

In The Principles of Psychology, William James addressed ten justifications for the concept of the unconscious mind, each of which he refuted. Twenty-five years later in The Unconscious, Freud presented many of the same, original arguments to justify the unconscious, without any acknowledgement of James's refutations. Some scholars in the last few decades have claimed that James was in fact a supporter of a Freudian unconscious, contrary to expectations. In this essay, I first summarize Freud's justification for the unconscious to highlight the arguments he used in 1915, before then demonstrating how clearly James had undercut these same argument in the Principles, published in 1890. Interpreters of James's thought should resist the claim that he would or did support Freud's idea of the unconscious, even if he at times spoke generously about other scholars. We also have reason to wonder about Freud's inattention to James's remarkable

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Authors & Contributors
Ferreri, Antonio M.
Croce, Paul J.
Sarin Marchetti
Trochu, Thibaud
John J. Stuhr
Kamerbeek, Christopher
Concepts
Psychology
Unconscious (psychology)
Philosophy
Pragmatism; instrumentalism
Experiments on self
Cinematography
Time Periods
19th century
20th century, early
20th century
Places
United States
Germany
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