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M S Bergmann

Publications and source records attributed to M S Bergmann.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1997

The historical roots of psychoanalytic orthodoxy.

The historical roots of psychoanalytic orthodoxy may now be examined because new hitherto unpublished sources on the history of psychoanalysis have become available. The early defections of Adler and Jung can be seen in a different light from that in Freud's (1914) history of psychoanalysis. The controversial discussions between Anna Freud and Melanie Klein can also yield new insights. In the author's view, the fact that the Kleinians were not expelled gave rise to a new type of creative analyst, that of the modifier. Modifiers complicate the task of psychoanalytic training, but they also keep psychoanalysis alive. Criticisms of psychoanalytic training are cited and the claim is made that psychoanalytic orthodoxy may have been necessary historically speaking, but it extracted a heavy toll. It no longer serves a useful purpose. A new historical approach is recommended. The author believes that understanding the history of psychoanalysis can contribute to tolerance between different psychoanalytic schools.

Germany↗
PubMed1993

Reflections on the history of psychoanalysis.

The proliferation of psychoanalytic schools demands the reexamination of the history of psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis emerged at the intersection between the rational heritage of the enlightenment and the interest in the morbid that was the hallmark of romanticism. This paper focuses on moments when psychoanalysis was poised at a crossroads where various routes could have been taken. Differentiation is made among the heretics, modifiers, and extenders of psychoanalysis. Discussed within a historical frame of reference are the contributions of leading modifiers--Melanie Klein, Hartmann, Winnicott, Kohut, and others--as well as their extenders. The paper concludes with a discussion of some current urgent problems facing psychoanalysis.

Europe↗
PubMed1988

Freud's three theories of love in the light of later developments.

Evidence is presented that Freud developed three very different theories on love. These theories were not integrated into a coherent theory. In subsequent developments each theory had its own history. The paper discusses the history of the controversy on the genital character, the relation between love and gender identity, between love and narcissism, the hierarchical structure of the capacity to love, and the relation between love and object loss. The impact of some concepts such as symbiosis and the rapprochmente subphase on the understanding of conflicts in loving is raised. While at present differences in emphasis make it difficult to build a coherent psychoanalytic theory of love, it is productive to bring divergent views in touch with each other. A unified theory of love based on psychoanalytic observations is suggested.

Freudian Theory↗
PubMed1982

Platonic love, transference love, and love in real life.

Plato and Freud transformed our way of looking at love. In Plato's Dialogues one can trace the transition and transformation of the mythical view on love into philosophical conceptualizations. The waning of the mythical point of view created the demand for man to know himself, and love became a puzzle. Plato was the first to propose that erotic impulses can undergo sublimation to higher and desexualized aims. Freud was not a Platonist, but if we trace the history of certain ideas it becomes evident that Plato's influence on Freud went further and deeper than was assumed by previous psychoanalytic writers. Freud's conceptualization of the libido can be seen as a Latinized version of Plato's Eros. Some of the difficulties associated with the psychoanalytic use of the term sublimation go back to the Platonic origin of the term. Freud's conviction that tender and aim-inhibited love was a later transformation of sexual impulses also went back to Plato, as did his belief that aim-inhibited love endures longer than sexual love. Because erotic love impulses can be sublimated, transference love can be harnessed in the service of cure based on insight. Erotized transference is not based on the refinding of an early love object and therefore is less capable of yielding the therapeutic climate required for psychoanalytic treatment. Freud's treatment procedure confirms Plato's belief in the plasticity of Eros.

Freudian Theory↗
PubMed1980

Symposium on object relations theory and love. On the intrapsychic function of falling in love.

Freud once planned a comprehensive "study of man's love life." Although only fragments of this project ever appeared in print, much of it can be reconstructed from Freud's letters and other sources. After tracing the evolution of Freud's thinking on this topic, the author proposes that there are five functions of the ego which are associated with falling in love. The bliss of falling in love is seen as the result of a revival of feelings that once belonged to the symbiotic phase of infancy. Other findings of Mahler are considered in terms of their significance for the understanding of love.

Freudian Theory↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Transference love and love in real life.

This paper discusses transference love, its place among other transference reactions, and other forms of love. It attempts to resolve two questions: (1) whether transference love is essentially similar to love in real life or is fundamentally different and (2) whether if it is different, it can be seen as a transitory form of love that will enable the analysand to transfer to a new object significantly better than he or she would have been able to had psychoanalysis not interfered. Also examined are the consequences of a love relationship between the analyst and the analysand, the ramifications of Freud's metaphor the "economics of love," and transference love and sublimation.

Borderline Personality Disorder↗