Jeffrey Masson and Freud's seduction theory: a new fable based on old myths
@article{Esterson1998JeffreyMA,
title={Jeffrey Masson and Freud's seduction theory: a new fable based on old myths},
author={Allen Esterson},
journal={History of the Human Sciences},
year={1998},
volume={11},
pages={1 - 21}
}Jeffrey Masson's version of the seduction theory episode in Freud's early career, as presented in The Assault on Truth (1984), is very plaus ible as a revised account of the traditional story. However, close examination of the seduction theory papers and of other contemporary documents reveals that Freud's later reports of the episode, the foun dation on which Masson builds his case, are false. Some purported his torical events that Masson uses to buttress his case are also shown to be without…
28 Citations
The myth of Freud's ostracism by the medical community in 1896-1905: Jeffrey Masson's assault on the truth.
- PsychologyHistory of psychology
- 2002
It is concluded that there is abundant evidence that refutes Masson's version of events, and that he has ignored the historical research that demonstrates that the notion that Freud's early psychoanalytic writings received an irrationally hostile reception is a myth.
The mythologizing of psychoanalytic history: deception and self-deception in Freud's accounts of the seduction theory episode
- PsychologyHistory of psychiatry
- 2001
The retrospective accounts are analyzed in considerable detail to illuminate the means by which Freud succeeded in obscuring what actually happened with his patients in the period in question, and the reasons for his doing so.
Misconceptions about Freud's seduction theory: comment on Gleaves and Hernandez (1999).
- PsychologyHistory of psychology
- 2002
In this article an outline of the case that Freud had no adequate grounds for his 1896 claims of having uncovered infantile "sexual scenes" is given.
Did Freud Mislead Patients to Confabulate Memories of Abuse? A Reply to Gleaves and Hernandez (1999)
- PsychologyPsychological reports
- 2004
The weight of the available evidence indicates that false memories of traumatic events probably can be implanted, and that Freud's original evidence for the validity of his patients' recovered memories remains lacking in several respects—particularly in view of the extremely suggestive procedures he often used to elicit such memories.
Freud's Seduction Theory and its Rehabilitation: A Saga of one Mistake after Another
- Psychology
- 2001
It is argued that Freud's seduction theory was so manifestly false that it was unlikely that his contemporaries would accept it or that he would retain it for very long. It is further argued that the…
Wethinks the author doth protest too much: a reply to Esterson (2002).
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- 2002
A Esterson (2002) responded to the authors' analysis of recent reformulations of Freud's seduction theory and alleged sexual abuse discoveries. Esterson gave several additional examples of the same…
Refitting fantasy: psychoanalysis, subjectivity, and talking to the dead
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- 2004
This essay works toward an integration of psychoanalysis and rhetorical theory in response to the poststructural critique of mediation. I argue that the concept of communication, usually understood…
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- PsychologyFrontiers of neurology and neuroscience
- 2014
Sigmund Freud developed with Breuer a theory of hysteria which encompassed a mixture of Janet's 'fixed subconscious ideas' with the 'pathological secret' concept of Moriz Benedikt and developed the concept of conversion of psychological problems into somatic manifestations, with a strong 'sexualization' of hysteria.
The unified theory of repression
- PsychologyBehavioral and Brain Sciences
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It has now become clear, as clinicians had claimed, that the inaccessible materials are often available and emerge indirectly (e.g., procedurally, implicitly).
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