2Ndary Sexuality and Object Relations in Freud's Three Essays (1905)

Sexuality and its Object in Freud's 1905 Edition of Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality

  • Overview: This article analyzes the first edition (1905) of Freud's Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality, focusing on his understanding of sexuality and its relation to the object. It examines how this relationship evolves in later editions and emphasizes the importance of reconstructing the first edition to understand Freud's intellectual development.

Introduction

  • Multiple Versions of Key Texts: Freud's crucial texts, like The Interpretation of Dreams, Three Essays, and Beyond the Pleasure Principle, exist in different versions due to revisions and additions over time.
  • Ulrike May's Approach: May's work on Beyond the Pleasure Principle highlights the importance of studying different revisions to understand the development of Freud's thought.
  • Article's Connection to May's Approach: This article examines the internal logic of the first edition of Three Essays in its historical context, preparing for a comparison between different editions to trace the evolution of Freud's thought on sexuality.
  • Focus on the 1905 Edition: The article concentrates on Freud's understanding of sexuality and its object in the 1905 edition.
  • Dichotomy in the First Edition: The first edition features a strict structural division between infantile sexuality (non-functional, auto-erotic pleasure) and pubertal/adult sexuality (functional, object-related pleasure).
  • Impact of the Dichotomy: This dichotomy led Freud to reconsider the relationship between the two forms of sexuality in later editions, introducing concepts like the Oedipus complex and narcissism to bridge the developmental gap between auto-erotism and adult sexuality.
  • Importance of Context: The Three Essays must be understood in relation to contemporary German sexology, psychiatry, and Freud's theories on hysteria.

Studies in Sexuality

  • Context of the Text: The article examines the place of Three Essays within the body of thought on sexuality, perversion, and pathology in late 19th-century psychiatry, neurology, and sexology.
  • Freud's Predecessors: The article considers whether Freud continues the reasoning and frameworks of Richard von Krafft-Ebing, Havelock Ellis, Albert Moll, Iwan Bloch, and others from the 1880s and 1890s, or whether he presents something radically new.
  • Freud's Rhetoric: Freud distances himself from previous works, relegating eminent predecessors to a footnote and presenting his work as opposed to