Freud Quote by Terry Eagleton
““Equally serious is the complaint that psychoanalysis as a medical practice is a form of oppressive social control, labelling individuals and forcing them to conform to arbitrary definitions of ‘normality’. This charge is in fact more usually aimed against psychiatric medicine as a whole: as far as Freud’s own views on ‘normality’ are concerned, the accusation is largely misdirected. Freud’s work showed, scandalously, just how ‘plastic’ and variable in its choice of objects libido really is, how so-called sexual perversions form part of what passes as normal sexuality, and how heterosexuality is by no means a natural or self-evident fact. It is true that Freudian psychoanalysis does usually work with some concept of a sexual ‘norm’; but this is in no sense given by Nature.””
About This Quote
Source Essay: "The Limits of Psychoanalysis", 1995
Psychoanalysis claims a universal normality but actually reveals sexuality's fluidity, challenging the idea of fixed norms.
In simple terms: Sexuality is fluid, not fixed.
Key Takeaway
Question and broaden definitions of normal.
Themes
sexuality
norms
psychoanalysis
Mood
critical
analytical
Type
philosophical
academic
When to use this quote
- therapeutic practice
- academic debate
- policy making
Key Concepts
fluidity
social control
medical ethics
Questions to Reflect On
- How do societal norms shape personal identity?
- What role should clinicians play in defining normality?
A Different Perspective
May overlook individual agency and cultural differences.
![“By what psychoanalyst friends tell me, in the field of the emotional subconscious, the emotional resistances to be overcome are no longer the ones most people felt in Freud's [..] day. The moralizing respectability and the fear of sex evidenced in Freud's day no longer exist. I am told that…” quote by Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/3bc/massimo-piattelli-palmarini-26_friendship_by-what-psychoanalyst-friends-tell-me-in_70209.jpg)
