Table Of ContentFREUD'S PHILOSOPHY OF THE UNCONSCIOUS
STUDIES IN COGNITIVE SYSTEMS
VOLUME 23
EDITOR
James H. Fetzer, University of Minnesota, Duluth
ADVISORY EDITORIAL BOARD
Fred Dretske, Stanford University
Charles E. M. Dunlop, University of Michigan, Flint
Ellery Eells, Univeristy of Wisconsin, Madison
Alick Elithom, Royal Free Hospital, London
Jerry Fodor, Rutgers University
Alvin Goldman, University ofA rizona
Jaakko Hintikka, Boston University
Frank Keil, Cornell University
William Rapaport, State University of New York at Buffalo
Barry Richards, Imperial College, London
Stephen Stich, Rutgers University
Lucia Vaina, Boston University
Terry Winograd, Stanford University
FREUD'S PHILOSOPHY
OF THE UNCONSCIOUS
by
DAVID LIVINGSTONE SMITH
SPRINGER-SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, B.V.
A c.I.P. Catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-90-481-5289-6 ISBN 978-94-017-1611-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-1611-6
Printed on acid-free paper
AII Rights Reserved
© 1999 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
Originally published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 1999
No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and
retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner.
To my wife Subrena for the blessing of her love. The sweetness of the
present, the vitality of the future.
Although psycho-analysis is in no sense itself a philosophy, an inter
pretation of life, it does bring to the solution of philosophical questions a
wealth of new and suggestive data.
Israel Levine, The Unconscious
TABIE OF CONTENTS
Series Preface IX
Adolf GrUnbaumlPreface Xl
Acknowledgements Xl11
Introduction: Freud and Philosophy 1
Chapter 1: Freud's Contact with Brentano 9
Chapter 2: Freud, Lipps and Nietzsche 16
Chapter 3: Freud and the Mind-Body Problem 20
Chapter 4: Other Views of Freud's Position on the Mind-Body
Problem 33
Chapter 5: The Unconscious 48
Chapter 6: Justification: The Continuity Argument. 59
Chapter 7: Freud and Jackson: Dualism and Anti-
Localizationism 71
Chapter 8: Freud's Theory of Consciousness 81
Chapter 9: Animism, Realism and Anti-Realism 102
Chapter 10: Freudian Functionalism 112
Chapter 11: Characteristics of Unconscious Thinking 120
Chapter 12: Wittgenstein and MacIntyre: The Unconscious
as Fa(:on de Parler 132
Chapter 13: John Searle: The Dispositional Unconscious 137
Chapter 14: Freud versus Searle 151
Chapter 15: Donald Davidson: The Rational Unconscious 156
Chapter 16: Freud versus Davidson 159
Chapter 17: Conclusions 177
Notes 179
References 198
Index 213
SERIES PREFACE
This series will include monographs and collections of studies devoted to the
investigation and exploration of knowledge, information, and data-processing systems of all
kinds, no matter whether human, (other) animal, or machine. Its scope is intended to span the
full range of interests from classical problems in the philosophy of mind and philosophical
psychology through issues in cognitive psychology and sociobiology (regarding the mental
abilities of other species) to ideas related to artificial intelligence and computer science.
While emphasis will be placed upon theoretical, conceptual, and epistemological aspects
of these problems and domains, empirical, experimental, and methodological studies will also
appear from time to time.
Confusion between philosophy and psychology commonly occurs among those who are
neither philosophers nor psychologists, less frequently among those who are. Some philosophers
excuse themselves from taking Freud seriously by viewing him merely as a psychologist, while
some psychologists excuse themselves by viewing him merely as a philosopher. Anyone who
has ever adopted such an attitude toward Freud should find this work a repository of refutations,
for Freud's work--as David Smith amply displays--abounds with insights--both philosophical and
psychological--about the nature of the mind, especially the existence of mentality without
consciousness.
This rich historical and analytical study demonstrates Freud's enduring significance for
contemporary debates within both of these domains.
J.R.F.
PREFACE
The literature on Freud and his theory of the 'dynamic' unconscious is
gargantuan and still burgeoning, if only because of post-Freudian object
relations theory, Kohutian self-psychology and Hartmannian ego
psychology, not to speak of Lacanian variants. Yet, to the best of my
knowledge as a critic of psychoanalytic theory and therapy for over two
decades, there has been no book elucidating the intersection of contem
porary philosophy of mind, Freud's intellectual odyssey in the philoso
phy of mind and his negative stance toward philosophy and metaphys
ics.
In this excellent study, David Smith weaves a rich, conceptually
penetrating and historically sophisticated tapestry in just that area. The
book will be much welcomed by philosophers of mind, cognitive psy
chologists and any reader who has a scholarly interest in Freud.
Adolf Griinbaum
Andrew Mellon Professor of Philosophy of Science,
Research Professor of Psychiatry,
Chairman, Center for Philosophy of Science,
University of Pittsburgh.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My deepest thanks go to Dr James Hopkins for taking on the fonni
dable task of my philosophical education.
I also owe a profound debt of gratitude to Professor Adolf Griinbaum,
whose rock-solid support and encouragement have made a huge differ
ence in my attitude towards my own work.
I would like to thank Mr. Keith Davies of the Freud Museum, Lon
don, who generously allowed me access to the index of Sigmund
Freud's library.
lowe a huge debt to my son Benjamin for his expert and generous
technical assistance during the preparation of this manuscript. Both
Benjamin and my daughter Sasha have shown amazing resilience and
forbearance during the turbulent period when this work was being re
searched and written. Thanks.
Thanks also to Ms. Anna David, Mrs. Hilde Rapp and Dr. Ulrich
Berns, who have provided me with essential assistance translating pas
sages from Freud's German original and patiently answering my ques
tions about the use of German terms.
Special thanks are owed to Marsha Taylor who bravely accepted the
challenge of proofreading and editing the manuscript in the face of my
appalling spelling and grammar.
I would like to thank the multitalented Mr. Brett Kahr for his benign
obsessionality when checking my list of references.
Finally I would like to thank Dr. Harry Schlepperman, who has gen
erously shared with me his encyclopedic knowledge of the history of
psychoanalytic thought.
