A
book preview based on The James Strachey Translation
A very good English translation of Freud’s
last work, ‘an outline of psychoanalysis”,
that reveals and outlines most or nearly all of the ideas and work which has
been done by Freud through his fruitful life.
The book is divided into
three parts, the first part deals with the mind and its workings, where
in the first chapter, it differentiates between the different psychical
apparatus, the id, the ego, and the superego, then it moves through the
principal characteristics of the ego, the internal events that are related to
the Id and the superego and its role as a third power which must be taken into
account by the ego.
The second chapter deals
with the theory of instincts, where Freud defines the “instinct” and
differentiates between the two basic instincts in humans.
Moving to the third
chapter, Freud’s most popular analytical concern, which is the sexual one. In this chapter, he starts by stating some principal findings in psychoanalysis and then moves to the three main phases of the development of the sexual
function.
Then he explains the
psychical qualities in the fourth chapter, but first he stresses on a
concept, which states that the conscious alone is psychical, and discusses other
theories that contradict this concept.Also, he relates these qualities to the
psychical tools or apparatus he explained previously in the first chapter.
Finally, he illustrates in
the fifth and last chapter of this part his ideas and concepts through dream
interpretation where he demonstrates the work of each psychical apparatus
in the dream work.
Applying all of this in
practice is demonstrated in the second part of the book, which was given the
name, the practical task.
This part is divided into
two chapters, the first goes through the technique of psychoanalysis. He
focuses on the dreams as a psychosis, and impressively he explains in detail
how to deal with neurotics and the methods which are to be considered by the
analyst then.
Stating neuroses as an
example of the psychoanalytic work, he relates this case as a result of the
disturbance of the psychical apparatus in the second chapter entitled, an
example of psychoanalytic work.
The last part of the book tackles the theoretical yield or product of his work,
where he divides it into two chapters and distinguishes between the work of
the psychical apparatus throughout the external world (the work of the ego)
and the internal world (the work of the id), this part of the book –from my
own point of view- is a good illustration and simplification of the whole
hypotheses are shown in this book.
It is really an
interesting book despite the fact that it needs a lot of focus while reading,
and adequate knowledge of psychology, but it’s worth the time and effort.
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