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What do we know about Sigmund Freud's theories?
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Words and sayings

A huge amount of sayings that are now common parlance come from Freud and his theories.
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Context

As WH Auden wrote after Freud's death, "To us he is no more a person / now but a whole climate of opinion."[1]

The Argument

“More than dead Hitler or Lenin, Roosevelt or Kennedy, more than Picasso, Eliot, or Stravinsky, more than the Beatles or Bob Dylan, Freud's influence on modern culture has been profound and long-lasting.”[2] Phrases we can thank Freud for include: Mommy and daddy issues. Arrested development. Death wishes. Freudian slips. Phallic symbols. Anal retentiveness. Defense mechanisms. Cathartic release. Oedipus complex. Denial. Id, ego and super-ego. Libido. Death wishes. Anal retentiveness. Defence mechanisms. Displacement. Phallic symbols. Projection. Transference. And Freudian slips. Are all in common parlance and started with Freud. It's not just Freud's terminology that persists, he's an adjective in his own right.[1]

Counter arguments

Premises

[P1] Freud's theories have lent us a huge amount of common sayings.

Rejecting the premises

References

  1. https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29251040
  2. https://io9.gizmodo.com/why-freud-still-matters-when-he-was-wrong-about-almost-1055800815
This page was last edited on Monday, 23 Mar 2020 at 12:55 UTC

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