Freud 

"A concise, pointed historical inquiry into Freud's atheism and Jewish cultural identity and their role in his development of psychoanalysis."-Library Journal "A lucid, occasionally provocative close-up of Freud-as-nonbeliever, enhanced by Gay's suave, broadly allusive handling of the historical and theological contexts."-Kirkus Reviews "In this valuable essay, Gay . . . brings great sensitivity and insight to a debate that still persists in some quarters."-Publishers Weekly "Freud . . . would have enjoyed Peter Gay's book."-John C. Marshall, New York Times Book Review "Freud himself asked why psychoanalysis had to be created by a 'completely godless Jew.' Gay elegantly and convincingly answers his question."-Choice "It is an important and welcome contribution to the vast literature that already exists on Freud and the movement that he founded."-Lee Dembart, Los Angeles Times Published in association with the Hebrew Union College Press Editorial Reviews From Publishers Weekly The notion that psychoanalysis is somehow a "Jewish science" has brought together strange bedfellows: gentiles eager to disparage Sigmund Freud, Jews eager to claim him and his daughter, Anna Freud. Gay (The Bourgeois Experience) reviews the various claims for the Jewishness of psychoanalysis and finds them to be wholly without merit. Paradoxically, he argues that Freud's position as an outsideran atheist and Jewenabled him to pierce the taboo topics of sexuality and the unconscious which led to his momentous discoveries. In this valuable essay, Gay, a professor of history at Yale, brings great sensitivity and insight to a debate that still persists in some quarters. He disputes the idea that psychoanalysis is a form of religion, tracing Freud's roots back to Enlightenment thinkers such as Locke and Newton. Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From Library Journal This is a concise, pointed historical inquiry into Freud's atheism and Jewish cultural identity and their role in his development of psychoanalysis. A fair-minded, careful scholar, Gay does not engage in the kind of "wild analysis" often associated with studies of Freud's personal psychology and motives in developing his theories. Unfortunately, though, the book is rather thin and unexciting in its conclusion. Essentially, Gay emphasizes Freud's identification with the scientific attitude and with scientist predecessors such as Darwin. While Freud's Jewishness was clearly very much a part of his personal identity, his firmly rooted skepticism and critical scrutiny of religion (his atheism) seems more central to the development of psychoanalysis. Paul Hymowitz, Cornell Medical Ctr., New York Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.