Research Blog 9: Argument/Counterargument

 My Argument: Freud's dream theory as seen in his work, "The Interpretation of Dreams" was influenced by his Jewish upbringing and several Jewish works of literature such as the Zohar. 

Counterargument: Many sources claim that Freud had little to no relationship with Judaism, including Freud himself. He even wrote an entire book, "Obsessive Actions and Religious Practices" which illustrated how foolish he thought organized and traditional religions were. He also referred to himself as a "G-dless Jew." (Kaplan, p. 2)

However: several biographies have been written about Freud's upbringing and it simply cannot be the case that he had no relationship with Judaism. The Freud family was part of a Hasidic Jewish community and Freud is known to have attended a Jewish University and was actually renowned for his knowledge of the Tanakh and surrounding Jewish texts. Piecing together what we know he learned with what we know of his dream theory (and entire book's worth) it becomes clearer and clearer that much of Freud's thoughts were influenced by what he learned when he was younger. It is also likely that he was not as far removed from Judaism as he would have liked us to think, as he married a Jewish woman and all of his children remained Jewish as well.

Sources:

Freud, Sigmund, and James Strachey. The Interpretation of Dreams. Avon Books, 1998. 

H., Berke, Joseph. The Hidden Freud : His Hassidic Roots : His Hassidic Roots, Taylor &

Francis Group, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/rutgers-ebooks/detail.action?docID=2068804.

Kaplan, Robert. “Soaring on the Wings of the Wind: Freud, Jews and Judaism.” Australian

and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, vol. 17, no. 4, Informa UK Ltd, 2009, pp. 318–25, doi:10.1080/10398560902870957.

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