Freud's Scientific Revolution

Originally published in Hebrew, this book presents the first thorough analysis of Freud’s Project for a Scientific Psychology for Neurologists while relating to all its strata (evolutionary, physiological, psychological and linguistic) and deciphering their complex integration. Its conclusions challenge the accepted literature by presenting a re-evaluation of the text’s place in the Freudian revolution. Dr. Saul Haimovich, the author of this uncompromising book, provides the reader with a richer and more intellectually stimulating framework than previously available for the interpretation of Freud's work. The book’s importance, the outcome of a meticulous reading of Freud's early work, lies in the author's description of Freud's efforts to develop a new scientific paradigm, rooted in his understanding that the mind-body problem and the concept 'psyche' lack content. Together with his Freud and Psychiatry (2010), the book marks a further step in the author’s over-arching program, having two aims: The first, an analysis of the epistemic (theoretical, technical) and institutional foundations of Freud’s commonly accepted model for research and treatment, grounded in the analysand's associations; the second, ultimately replacing that model with Freud's original method, based on study of the analyst’s associations and self-analysis as applied in the Traumdeutung. Intended for psychoanalysts, philosophers of science, literary critics, Freudians, anti-Freudians, as well as the interested lay reader, this book provides fascinating insights into Freud’s early work and its implications for psychoanalysis and its history.

Saul Haimovich is a Senior Clinical Psychologist practising free psychoanalysis. He holds M.A. degrees in Psychology and in History and a Ph.D. in the History and Philosophy of Science (Cohn Institute, Tel Aviv University).