After our discussion on Thursday I found myself considering Freud.  I will preface this post by saying that I have never been a very big fan the man.  Even if you look past the misogyny and cocaine, his theories seem as if they were deliberately written in such a convoluted way so as to cover all potential possibilities and thereby prevent all criticism.  Yet somehow he has managed to remain a staple in popular consciousness, infiltrating every literature and philosophy class I’ve taken since middle school.  As such I kind of wonder if he hasn’t become the punchline of most psych class discussions simply because psychology majors are tired of being asked if it was all the mother’s fault, I for one certainly am.

Anyway with all of this in mind, I was kind of surprised at the number of recent publications I found detailing the latest discoveries in neuropsychoanalysis.   That’s right there is an entire subset of psychology devoted to neuropsychoanalysis.  This subset is not limited to research into possible overlaps between the fields, but even includes reviews outlining various perspectives on the subject and diatribes against such an unholy union (written by both neuroscientists and psychoanalysts mind you). While I tried to avoid the blatant Freud sympathizers when choosing articles  to present in class, I have to say that I think that a fresh perspective on his work, one that considers legitimate contributions while ignoring the crazy penis envy stuff, is probably a step on the right direction in terms of acknowledging a man who like it or not, continues to exert an incredible influence over psychology.