A General Selection from the Works of Sigmund Freud [antikvár]

PREFACE TO FIRST IMPRESSION The reader of a volume of Selections should know the principle on which the selections have been made. In order that this book should merit the title of an Epitome it has been confined as far as possible to the General Theory of Psychoanalysis. It is therefore an exposition of psychoanalytical theories regarding the interplay of the forces of instinct in the human mind, the mechanisms employed in this interplay and the principles governing the reduction of "tension" or strain in the mind. It deals also with the topography of the mental apparatus, particularly in respect to those parts of the mind that are concerned with instinct-impulses, with consciousness, with conscience and with the regulating or executive mental functions. The Special Theories of the Neuroses, Psychoses, and Character-DifiBculties are included only as far as is needed to throw Hght on the General Theory. No attempt has been made to include the evidence on which the theories have been built up, i.e. there are no Case Histories; nor are highly technical discussions included, since these cannot be adequately grasped, still less udged, apart from the details of the case material. The Technique of Therapy has been omitted for a different reason. There are many who do not scruple to call themselves psychoanalysts and their therapy psychoanalytic without having jfirst submitted themselves to the discipline of a psychoanalytical training in the technique of this therapy, and without even having made a careful study of the literature on the subject. Therefore it is not in the public interest to publish accounts of the therapeutic procedures without giving details of the precautions necessary to avoid mistakes; this cannot be done in epitome. Those who wish to read the case histories and to read about the therapeutic method are referred to the periodical literature and to the Library Series of books, those who iiijti