Freud, Jung, and Hall the king-maker

Description

"From the vantage point of a dramatic moment in U.S. cultural history, this book examines the role of psychoanalysis, in particular, and the behavioral sciences, in general, in present-day psychological democracy. The intellectual pioneers Sigmund Freud, C.G. Jung, G. Stanley Hall and William James came together at one unique time in 1909 and engendered a climate that still endures." "The work is a product of fifty years of research that began when the author was in his first teaching post at Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts. This was the scene in 1909, twenty-five years earlier, of the only visit of Freud to this country. He came with C.G. Jung, both invited by Clark's President G. Stanley Hall who was planning the 20th anniversary celebration of his University. Twenty-seven other leading world scientists were also invited to lecture. William James, the father of American psychology, came from Harvard "to see what Freud was like" and to stay with Freud and Jung at Hall's house. Thus the scions of psychoanalysis and of American psychology interacted on this special occasion." "Sources not hitherto available have been utilized, e.g., Freud's Travel Diary, on deposit in the restricted portion of the Freud archives of the Library of Congress. Similar sources have been utilized for the contributions of Jung, Hall and James. Through the approach of idiodynamics, unknown facts about the participants have also been discovered. By, examining the impact of Freud on James, an unrecognized romantic friendship during the last fifteen years of James's life has been disclosed." "Part One is written in a readable style for the general reader and is supplemented by a separate Commentary for the interested scholar. Part Two comprises the complete correspondence of Freud and Hall, made available here for the first time. Part Three presents a new translation of Freud's five lectures at Clark on the origin and development of psychoanalysis. These lectures are still the best introduction (or summary) to Freud's influential theories. The translation has been faithfully executed to reflect Freud's brilliant literary style."--Jacket.

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