The life and work of Sigmund Freud continue to fascinate general and professional readers alike. Joel Whitebook here presents the first major biography of Freud since the last century, taking into account recent developments in psychoanalytic theory and practice, gender studies, philosophy, cultural theory, and more. Offering a radically new portrait of the creator of psychoanalysis, this book explores the man in all his complexity alongside an interpretation of his theories that cuts through the stereotypes that surround him. The development of Freud's thinking is addressed not only in the context of his personal life, but also in that of society and culture at large, while the impact of his thinking on subsequent issues of psychoanalysis, philosophy, and social theory is fully examined. Whitebook demonstrates that declarations of Freud's obsolescence are premature, and, with his clear and engaging style, brings this vivid figure to life in compelling and readable fashion. (amazon)
see also
https://www.psychologytoday.com/sites/default/files/Against%20Interiority.pdf
Chap 11 - Against Interiority: Foucault’s Struggle with
Psychoanalysis (in The Cambridge Companion to Foucault (Cambridge Companions to
Philosophy, 2nd Edition, ed. by Garry
Gutting, CUP, 2005)
I had been mad enough to study reason.
I was reasonable enough to study madness.
Michel Foucault, Technologies of the Self
Unreason becomes the reason of reason.
Michel Foucault, Histoire de la folie
And how comfortless is the thought that the sickness of the normal does not necessarily imply as its opposite the health of the sick.
Theodor Adorno, Minima Moralia
In The History of Sexuality, Volume I, Foucault claimed to have definitively refuted the basic claims of psychoanalysis. However, a year after its publication, when a young acquaintance asked him to recommend a form of therapy, Foucault gave rather unexpected advice. Instead of suggesting something avant garde, like Deleuze and Guattari's schizoanalysis, he replied, “Freudian will be fine.” This incident - as well as a consideration of his oeuvre - indicates the intensely conflicted and complex nature of Foucault's relation to analysis. Just as Moses haunted Freud “like an unlaid ghost,” so Foucault could never successfully exorcise the specter of Freud. He kept returning to Freud throughout his career. Indeed, the persistence of Foucault's comings and goings with respect to the Freud led Derrida to remark sardonically that he was engaged in an “interminable and inexhaustible” fort-da game with the founder of psychoanalysis.
