Van Haute’s presentation provides a critical examination of the evolution of Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, with a focus on the Oedipus complex. He begins by exploring Freud’s early work, where psychopathology was understood as emerging from psychosexual dynamics between parents and children, without the explicit reference to the Oedipus complex. He highlights Freud’s 1897 self-analysis as pivotal in developing the insights that would later underpin the Oedipus complex, yet he notes its absence in Freud’s initial texts.
Van Haute scrutinizes the shift in Freud’s work around 1909, when the Oedipus complex and the law of the father began to shape psychoanalysis into what Van Haute describes as a “sophisticated defense” of societal norms regarding sexuality—norms that psychoanalysis was originally intended to deconstruct. This shift marked a turning point in Freud’s work, leading to an orthodoxy that Van Haute critically examines.
Through a close reading of Freud’s later writings, he observes that explicit mentions of the Oedipus complex appear only in footnotes of texts published after 1920. He argues that Freud’s earlier silence on the Oedipus complex—particularly in the 1905 edition of Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality—reflects an evolving theoretical stance rather than a doctrine fully formed from the outset. Van Haute suggests that this evolution represents a departure from the radical critique of conventional views on sexuality that psychoanalysis initially promised.
Central to Van Haute’s analysis is Freud’s interpretation of dreams, particularly in the Dora case. He uses this case to explore Freud’s shifting views on childhood psychosexuality, demonstrating how Freud’s later interpretations, filled with references to repressed desires and ambivalence towards parental figures, retroactively impose the Oedipal framework onto earlier cases. This suggests that the Oedipus complex was not an inherent aspect of Freud’s psychoanalytic vision but a later construct that shaped the trajectory of psychoanalysis in unexpected ways.
Van Haute contends that Freudian psychoanalysis, in its essence, is not inherently Oedipal. He posits that Freud’s work is fundamentally a “pathoanalysis”—a study of the human condition through psychopathology. For Freud, psychopathology, as seen in hysteria and obsession, reveals in exaggerated form the fundamental conflicts that define human existence. Van Haute suggests that this original focus on broader human issues offers a potential “Freudian escape” from the limitations imposed by the later emphasis on the Oedipus complex. This escape does not aim to return to Freudian orthodoxy but to revive the radical spirit that initially inspired Freud’s work.
By challenging conventional readings of Freud’s work, Van Haute presents a nuanced critique of the place and significance of the Oedipus complex within the Freudian canon. He advocates for a return to the foundational aspects of Freud’s psychoanalytic project that focus on the existential issues at the heart of human psychopathology.
This presentation was part of the Freud and Philosophy series organized by the Centre for Research in Modern European Philosophy (CRMEP) in collaboration with the Departments of Psychosocial Studies and Law at Birkbeck College, University of London, delivered on 12 June 2014.
Philippe Van Haute, is an author of philosophical anthropology and psychoanalytic theory, whose contributions provide profound insights into the existential dilemmas that define the human condition, making him a central figure in contemporary philosophical and psychoanalytic thought. He is Professor of Philosophical Anthropology at Radboud University Nijmegen and a former president of the Belgian School of Psychoanalysis. His research interrogates the intersection between Freudian psychoanalysis and contemporary philosophical thought, focusing on existential and ontological dimensions of human life. His engagement with the works of Freud, Lacan, and Laplanche displays his commitment to exploring the structures of human desire, sexuality, and the unconscious, central to understanding the human condition.
He is Fellow at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study, and has published extensively on topics related to the intersection of psychoanalysis and philosophical anthropology. His key works include ‘Towards a Non-Oedipal Psychoanalysis?’ (2012), ,’From Death Drive to Attachment Theory’ (2007), ‘Confusion of Tongues: The Primacy of Sexuality in Freud, Ferenczi, and Laplanche’ (2004) and ‘Against Adaptation’ (2002). Influenced by Heidegger, Levinas, and Foucault, Van Haute’s philosophy delves into subjectivity, embodiment, and the complexities of human existence. His interdisciplinary approach bridges literature and psychotherapy, offering a comprehensive perspective on human experience.
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