Wittgenstein reads Freud
Subtitle: the myth of the unconscious
By: Jacques Bouveresse ; translated by Carol Cosman ; with a foreword by Vincent Descombes.
Series: New French thought
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 1995
Place of publication: Princeton, N.J
Language: eng
Number of pages: 143
Subjects: Wittgenstein, Ludwig, 1889-1951.; Freud, Sigmund, 1856-1939 -- Influence.; Freud, Sigmund, 1856-1939.; Psychoanalysis and philosophy.
Description: Offering a critical view of all the texts in which Wittgenstein mentions Freud, Bouveresse immerses us in the intellectual climate of Vienna in the early part of the twentieth century. Although we come to see why Wittgenstein did not view psychoanalysis as a science proper, we are nonetheless made to feel the philosopher's sense of wonder and respect for the cultural task Freud took on as he found new ways meaningfully to discuss human concerns.

Intertwined in this story of Wittgenstein's grappling with the theory of the unconscious is the story of how he came to question the authority of science and of philosophy itself. While aiming primarily at the clarification of Wittgenstein's opinion of Freud, Bouveresse's book can be read as a challenge to the French psychoanalytic school of Lacan and as a provocative commentary on cultural authority.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [133]-137) and index.