A General Introduction to PsychoanalysisFreud, Sigmund
Science
A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis
Freud, Sigmund
Psychoanalysis
Now you will surely judge that so to reject the discussion of literature
must evidence stubborness, a very special obtuseness against objections,
or, as the kindly colloquialisms of science have it, "a complete
personal bias." In answer, I would say that should you attain to a
conviction by such hard labor, you would thereby derive a certain right
to sustain it with some tenacity. Furthermore, I should like to
emphasize the fact that I have modified my views on certain important
points in the course of my researches, changed them and replaced them by
new ones, and that I naturally made a public statement of that fact each
time. What has been the result of this frankness? Some paid no attention
at all to my self-corrections and even to-day criticize me for
assertions which have long since ceased to have the same meaning for me.
Others reproach me for just this deviation, and on account of it declare
me unreliable. For is anyone who has changed his opinions several times
still trustworthy; is not his latest assertion, as well, open to error?
At the same time he who holds unswervingly to what he has once said, or
cannot be made to give it up quickly enough, is called stubborn and
biased. In the face of these contradictory criticisms, what else can one
do but be himself and act according to his own dictates? That is what I
have decided to do, and I will not allow myself to be restrained from
modifying and adapting my theories as the progress of my experience
demands. In the basic ideas I have hitherto found nothing to change, and
I hope that such will continue to be the case.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account