Changes

Anthropology, a term common to the European [[languages]], has several [[meanings]], ranging from the theological—the expression of divine things in [[human ]] terms—to the modern—the study of humanity as a unit, including an examination of its [[biological]], [[psychic]], and [[social ]] [[nature]], as well as mankind's historical and prehistorical [[development]]. During [[Freud]]'s lifetime, the term acquired new connotations through the expansion of anthropological research, by both Anglo-American and European researchers.The [[word ]] "anthropology" was not part of Freud's [[vocabulary ]] any more than "[[sociology]]," which Freud integrated (<i>Sozial-</i>, <i>oder Massenpsychologie</i>) with [[psychoanalysis]]. His avoidance of the [[terms ]] is significant. In the [[case ]] of anthropology he used the [[German ]] <i>Geisteswissenschaften</i>, literally the "[[sciences ]] of [[mind]]," and enumerated the domains in which psychoanalysis was pertinent: the explanation of the "major [[cultural ]] institutions," exogamy, the [[construction ]] of the [[state]], law, the social [[order]], art, [[morality ]] and [[moral ]] [[awareness]], [[religion]]. He also refers to research on [[myths]], tales, and legends, cultural [[history ]] and development, [[linguistics ]] and ethnology, the history of the development of the human species—in fact, the principal [[subjects ]] of anthropology.Freud's justification of the relevance of psychoanalysis to these fields was systematized after the publication of <i>[[Totem ]] and Taboo</i> (1912-13a). In "The Claims of [[Psycho]]-[[analysis ]] to [[Scientific ]] Interest" (1913j), there is a lengthy explanation of this, an [[idea ]] that was further developed by Freud in his later writings (1914d, 1923a, 1924f, 1925d, 1926e, 1933a). Initially a medical specialization concerned with [[neurotic ]] [[symptoms]], the status of psychoanalysis changed with the publication of <i>The [[Interpretation ]] of [[Dreams]]</i> (1900a). "The analysis of dreams gave us an insight into the [[unconscious ]] [[processes ]] of the mind and showed us that the mechanisms which produce pathological symptoms are also operative in the normal mind. Thus psychoanalysis became a depth-[[psychology ]] and capable as such of [[being ]] applied to the [[mental ]] sciences" (1923a, p. 253). Moreover, psychoanalysis, which is the [[science ]] of the genesis of psychic [[formations]], is the basis for all psychology, "since [[nothing ]] that men make or do is understandable without the co-operation of psychology, the applications of psychoanalysis to numerous fields of [[knowledge]], in [[particular ]] to those of the mental sciences, came [[about ]] of their own accord" (1933a, p. 145).In 1907 Freud found a resemblance between <i>compulsive activities and [[religious ]] practices</i> (1907b) and compared the [[phenomenology ]] of [[rituals ]] with a shared etiology of [[conflict]]. In 1913 he postulated the [[identity ]] of the "[[dynamic ]] source" that generated "the psychic [[behavior ]] of isolated individuals and societies" (1913j). In <i>[[Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego]]</i> (1921c) and later in <i>[[Civilization ]] and Its Discontents</i> (1930a [1929]), Freud showed how the [[instinctual ]] dynamic of groups is the same as that of individuals, and excluded any "herd [[instinct]]." This identity enabled psychoanalysis to be applied to (or implied in) the explanation of cultural formations and allowed researchers to exploit the profound analogy between [[individual ]] psychic formations and cultural formations.The fundamental analogy is that of the "two wishes which combine to [[form ]] the [[Oedipus ]] [[complex ]] coincide precisely with the two principal prohibitions imposed by [[totemism ]] (not to kill the tribal ancestor and not to marry any [[woman ]] belonging to one's clan)" (1923a, p. 253). Here Freud's research makes a direct reference to anthropology.All the central [[concepts ]] of psychoanalysis are related to anthropology and to [[group psychology ]] because of their intrinsic relation to [[individual psychology]], the [[family ]] being the intermediate term. Aside from the [[Oedipus complex ]] and [[ritual]], the ego, ego [[ideal]], and [[superego ]] are derived from this, as are [[identification ]] and defensive formations, which are associated with education and [[culture]], especially [[inhibition ]] and [[sublimation]].The study of [[myth]], religion, and [[society ]] extended Freud's [[work]], primarily through the writings of Otto Rank, Theodor Reik, and Géza Róheim. Later, American cultural anthropology made use of the [[psychoanalytic ]] point of view, although in diluted form. As anthropology evolved and became more interdisciplinary, psychoanalysis became one of its key referents. In [[France]], authors such Georges Devereux, Roger Bastide, and Bernard Juillerat are examples of this interrelation. In <i>Tristes Tropiques</i> (1955), Claude Lévi-[[Strauss ]] insisted on the decisive [[role ]] played by the discovery of Freud's theories in his [[training ]] as an ethnologist.According to Freud, psychoanalysis discovered [[universal ]] psychic processes; moreover, it possesses explanatory and not purely descriptive capability. Critics of the relevance of psychoanalysis for anthropology have attacked both aspects of its explanatory powers. In fact the articulation of knowledge through field studies is as complicated as it is in the case of [[metapsychology ]] and therapeutic methods. However, Freud provided us with a way to move forward in <i>[[Moses ]] and [[Monotheism]]</i> (1939a [1934-38]), his masterful analysis of [[Jewish ]] and [[Christian ]] [[monotheistic ]] cultures.

# [[Freud, Sigmund]]. (1923a). The [[libido ]] [[theory]]. SE, 18: 255-259.