Our original scenes. Freud’s theory of sexuality
Tomas Geyskens (Author),
Freud’s ideas on infantile sexuality can only be understood as constructions that are necessary to understand the psychopathological formations of adults. These constructions of infantile sexuality, therefore, must not be considered to be speculations about infant behaviour as such, because in infancy sexuality is obviously a rather marginal problem, and because, consequently, only their nachträglich effects reveal the significance of our infantile sexual experiences. In the psychoanalytic cure, these infantile experiences are never remembered as such. The idea that what is repressed in adults can be observed in infants does not take into account this notion of Nachträglichkeit, while Freud’s theory cannot be understood without it. The relation between the pathological and the infantile bridges the gap between pathology and normality because pathology is caused by universally human problems or ‘weak points’: infantile sexuality and, following our interpretation of the death instinct, the infant’s radical Hilflosigkeit. In psychoanalysis, therefore, the analysis of the different pathologies has inevitably an anthropological claim. To understand what it means to be human, says Freud, we must analyse the extreme, paradigmatic answers to this problem that we all are ourselves. The analysis of different pathologies will highlight the different aspects of our infantile experience and its nachträglich effects. In this perspective, the difference between normality and pathology can only be a quantitative, not a qualitative difference. In this way, Freud transformed the study of psychopathology into a clinical anthropology, i.e. a clarification of the specifically human in human nature by analysing its pathological manifestations.
Introduction – Psychoanalysis as clinical anthropology
1. An instinct perverted by beauty – Three Essays as a sexual aesthetics
2. What is sexual about infantile “sexuality”?
3. The constitution of sexual phantasy
4. The destruction of sexual phantasy
5. Love and need in Instincts and their vicissitudes
6. The capacity to suffer
7. Oedipus: Abandonment and exile
8. The Minoan-Mycenaean civilisation
9. Freud beyond psychoanalysis?
Frequently Asked Questions
What is "Our original scenes. Freud’s theory of sexuality" about?
Freud's ideas on infantile sexuality can only be understood as constructions that are necessary to understand the psychopathological formations of adults. These constructions of infantile sexuality, therefore, must not be considered to be speculations about infant behaviour as such, because in infancy sexuality is obviously a rather marginal problem, and because, consequently, only their nachträglich effects reveal the significance of our infantile sexual experiences. In the psychoanalytic cure, these infantile experiences are never remembered as such. The idea that what is repressed in adults can be observed in infants does not take into account this notion of Nachträglichkeit, while Freud's theory cannot be understood without it. The relation between the pathological and the infantile bridges the gap between pathology and normality because pathology is caused by universally human problems or 'weak points': infantile sexuality and, following our interpretation of the death instinct, the infant's radical Hilflosigkeit. In psychoanalysis, therefore, the analysis of the different pathologies has inevitably an anthropological claim. To understand what it means to be human, says Freud, we must analyse the extreme, paradigmatic answers to this problem that we all are ourselves. The analysis of different pathologies will highlight the different aspects of our infantile experience and its nachträglich effects. In this perspective, the difference between normality and pathology can only be a quantitative, not a qualitative difference. In this way, Freud transformed the study of psychopathology into a clinical anthropology, i.e. a clarification of the specifically human in human nature by analysing its pathological manifestations.
Who wrote "Our original scenes. Freud’s theory of sexuality"?
"Our original scenes. Freud’s theory of sexuality" was written by Tomas Geyskens.
Tomas Geyskens is doctor in philosophy and a practising psychoanalyst (Belgian School for Psychoanalysis).
Is "Our original scenes. Freud’s theory of sexuality" part of a series?
Yes, "Our original scenes. Freud’s theory of sexuality" is part of the "Figures of the Unconscious" series. It's book 6 in the series.
In collaboration with the International Society for Psychoanalysis and Philosophy (SIPP-ISPP).
The peer-reviewed book series Figures of the Unconscious was founded in 2001 and provides a platform for exchange at the intersection of philosophy and psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis occupies a crucial position within contemporary philosophical thinking and many analysts are influenced by philosophical approaches.
Both philosophy and psychoanalysis are concerned with the nature of the subject, questions of knowledge and epistemology, sexuality, life and death, ethical issues, alterity, and the subject’s manifold relationships to the other - to other human and non-human beings and to its environment.
We welcome manuscripts in the areas and at the intersections of
- the history of psychoanalysis and Freudian thought
- the exploration of psychoanalytic concepts and the development of theories
- the research and development of the psychoanalytic movement
- psychoanalytic and philosophical concepts and ideas
- psychoanalysis, gender and queer studies
- interdisciplinary approaches that combine psychoanalysis with other scientific disciplines
- current developments in psychoanalytic approaches
- ethical approaches in psychoanalysis
- epistemological debates
Editors-in-Chief
Beatriz Santos (Université de Paris)
Herman Westerink (Radboud University)
Esther Hutfless (Sigmund Freud University Linz)
Editorial board
Jeff Bloechl (Boston College)
Advisory Board
Jozef Corveleyn (KU Leuven)
Monique David-Ménard (Université de Paris)
Rodrigo De La Fabián (Universidad Diego Portales, Santiago de Chile)
Jens De Vleminck (Leuven)
Eran Dorfman (University of Tel Aviv)
Laurie Laufer (Université de Paris)
Elissa Marder (Emory University, Atlanta)
Claire Nioche (Université Paris XIII)
Vladimir Safatle (Universidade de São Paulo)
Charles Shepherdson (State University of New York at Albany)
Guillaume Silbertin Blanc (Université Paris 8)
Raluca Soreanu (University of Essex)
Celine Surprenant (Paris)
Antônio Teixeira (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais)
Johan Van Der Walt (University of Luxemburg)
Wilfried Ver Eecke (Georgetown University)
Proposals
The board accepts manuscripts for review from both members and non-members of the SIPP-ISPP. These can be either monographs or edited volumes, provided they align with the aims and scope of the series.
Proposals and enquiries can be sent to the series editors-in-chief.
Please make use of the submission form to present your manuscript or proposal to our board.
Authors interested in Open Access can consult the available funding options.
Links & Resources
What is the Table of Contents for "Our original scenes. Freud’s theory of sexuality"?
Introduction - Psychoanalysis as clinical anthropology
1. An instinct perverted by beauty - Three Essays as a sexual aesthetics
2. What is sexual about infantile "sexuality"?
3. The constitution of sexual phantasy
4. The destruction of sexual phantasy
5. Love and need in Instincts and their vicissitudes
6. The capacity to suffer
7. Oedipus: Abandonment and exile
8. The Minoan-Mycenaean civilisation
9. Freud beyond psychoanalysis?
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