 Cover of the German edition | |
| Author | Sigmund Freud |
|---|---|
| Original title | Zur Psychopathologie des Alltagslebens |
| Translator | A. A. Brill (first version) |
| Language | German |
| Subject | Freudian slip |
| Publication place | Germany |
| Part ofa series of articles on |
| Psychoanalysis |
|---|
.jpeg) Sigmund Freud's couch |
Important figures |
Important works Core psychoanalytic texts
Influential works applying psychoanalysis
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Psychopathology of Everyday Life (German:Zur Psychopathologie des Alltagslebens) is a 1901 work bySigmund Freud, the founder ofpsychoanalysis. Based on Freud's researches intoslips andparapraxes from 1897 onwards,[1] it became perhaps the best-known of all Freud's writings.[2]
ThePsychopathology was originally published in theMonograph for Psychiatry and Neurology in 1901,[3] before appearing in book form in 1904. It would receive twelve foreign translations during Freud's lifetime, as well as numerous new German editions,[4] with fresh material being added in almost every one.James Strachey objected that "Almost the whole of the basic explanations and theories were already present in the earliest edition...the wealth of new examples interrupts and even confuses the mainstream of the underlying argument".[5] However, in such a popular and theory-light text, the sheer wealth of examples helped make Freud's point for him in an accessible way.[6] A new English-language translation byAnthea Bell was published in 2003.
Among the most overtly autobiographical of Freud's works,[7] thePsychopathology was strongly linked by Freud to his relationship withWilhelm Fliess.[8]
Studying the various deviations from the stereotypes of everyday behavior, strange defects and malfunctions, as well as seemingly random errors, the author concludes that they indicate the underlying pathology of the psyche, the symptoms ofpsychoneurosis.
Freud writes in his introduction:
Freud believed that various deviations from the stereotypes of everyday conduct - seemingly unintended reservation, forgetting words, random movements and actions - are a manifestation of unconscious thoughts and impulses. Explaining "wrong actions" with the help of psychoanalysis, just as theinterpretation of dreams, can be effectively used for diagnosis and therapy.
Considering the numerous cases of such deviations, he concludes that the boundary between the normal and abnormal human psyche is unstable and that we are all a bit neurotic. Such symptoms are able to disrupt eating, sexual relations, regular work, and communication with others.
In the last chapter of his book, Freud deals with the problem ofpsychic determinism, for which he makes a case. He argues that "If one investigates, let us say, this seeming voluntary formation, for example, of a number of many digits uttered in unrestrained mirth, it always proves to be so strictly determined that the determination seems impossible". He then discusses a famous case of a name "arbitrarily chosen", theDora's one. Analysing the motivation of his choice, it occurred to him that the nurse of his sister's children was named Dora. Then a slight recent event soon flashed into his mind which brought the looked-for determination. On his sister's dining-room he noticed a letter with the address "Miss Rosa W.". Flabbergasted, he was informed that the real name of Dora was in fact Rose, and that she had agreed to have her name changed in order to get the job, because Rosa would also refer to his sister".[9]
Freud's conclusion is that:
Sometimes called the Mistake Book (to go with theDream Book and theJoke Book),[10]The Psychopathology of Everyday Life became one of the scientific classics of the 20th century.[11] Freud realised he was becoming acelebrity when he found his cabin-steward reading the Mistake Book on his 1909 visit to the States.[12] TheRat Man came to Freud for analysis as a result of reading thePsychopathology of Everyday Life.[13] The psychoanalystJacques Lacan consideredThe Psychopathology of Everyday Life one of the three key texts for an understanding of theunconscious, alongsideThe Interpretation of Dreams (1900), andJokes and their Relation to the Unconscious (1905).[14] Through its stress on what Freud called "switch words" and "verbal bridges",[15]The Psychopathology of Everyday Life is considered important forpsychopathology.
Strachey's English translation is criticized by the psychologistLouis Breger, who writes that Strachey translates the word for slips or mistakes as "parapraxis" when the English "blunder" or "faulty action" would have been more appropriate, and uses the Latinisms "id" and "ego" where "it" and "I" would have better captured Freud's language.[16] The philosopherMichel Onfray argues thatThe Psychopathology of Everyday Life is not scientific.[17] Jacques Bénesteau writes that Freud added lies in each edition.[18] The philosopherMikkel Borch-Jacobsen and the psychologistSonu Shamdasani write that Freud's coupling of an analysis of his dreams and childhood memories had a precedent in Belgian psychologistJoseph Delboeuf'sSleep and Dreams, one of the major themes of which is the capacity of dreams to recall forgotten memories.[19]
Psychopathology of Everyday Life public domain audiobook atLibriVox
