Freud and His Aphasia Book: Language and the Sources of Psychoanalysis

by Valerie D. Greenberg

"Valerie Greenberg's scrupulous analysis of Freud's first published book, On Aphasia, reveals a fascinating picture of the young neurologist flexing his intellectual muscles and displaying many of the habits of thought and argument, as well as rhetorical technique, that would soon give birth to psychoanalysis."--Paul Robinson, Stanford University (history) OR author of Freud and His Critics. "Freud and His Aphasia Book is the best type of intellectual history. By focussing her microscope on one phase of Freud's career, the author has revealed a swarm of previously invisible ideas, and shown us both the personalities and the culture that bred them. Valerie Greenberg has done a huge amount of original research on behalf of all historians of psychoanalysis. All of us working in this field will have reason to be grateful to her for her aphasia book."--Michael Molnar, Director of Research, Freud Museum Freud and His Aphasia Book helps to fill a gap in discussions of Freud's earliest work. With careful attention to Freud's language, his science, and his methods of investigation, Greenberg shows how his thinking linked to an international network of cross-disciplinary researchers united by their fascination with patients whose striking deficits challenged the science of the time.

207 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1997