DOLOJAN, MARY ELAINE S.

SEPTEMBER 8, 2019
GED104/B3 MR. JOHN MARK VILLANUEVA

Psychoanalysis was believed to be invented by Sigmund Freud but in this article, it was
proved to be a contribution of different ideas of different philosophers based on historical
evidences. George Makari focused on answering two questions: how these ideas were
created and how it affects the community and spread in the social world. To answer these
questions, he mentioned many philosophies and theories. Some of those are: Paradigm
Shift, Interpretative communities, Degeneration, Disassociation, Traumatic paralysis,
Interpretation of dreams, Homosexuality and Psychosexuality.

In Paradigm Shift by Thomas Kuhn, it is said that science established in a community with
the same paradigm or model will experience a shift or change once deviation from
standard arises or when it became incompatible with new phenomena which causes
scientific revolution. It is a change of pattern how the things are done, made and thought.
Interpretative Communities are communities that collaborate and share ideas. They have
their own way to interpret it according to what it meant to their social group and it either
causes unity or division depending on their beliefs.

Ribot examine psychological function with heredity. He studied it through family charts
and genealogy. Both he and Charcot claim and correlate functional disturbance with
degeneration like rheumatoid arthritis, general paralysis of the insane, hysteria and
alcoholism. But they find this theory as questionable and very weak thru the debates of
locomotor ataxia.

Ribot and Charcot also based psychology on disassociation and traumatic paralysis like
the example in the article where the French worker had an accident, got terrified and
thought that he cannot move his hands then the next day he got paralyzed not because
of the accident but due to hysteria. He had become disassociated by the shock that
caused “paralysis of the imagination” or trauma paralysis. They believed that
disassociation is for the weak and degenerates. Nowadays, it is still being studied and
some said that this is due to pain receptor that sends signal to the brain to avoid potential
damage.

One of the things I don’t understand in the article is Psychophysics founded by Fechner.
He said that “there is inner psychic world and there is outer world of physical energy”. In
his experiment with the candle, it is unclear to me how he measures and even quantify
energy on the experience.

Interpretation of Dreams and Sexology of Sigmund Freud was also mentioned which is
very interesting and still being used today. He believed that dreams are unconscious
wishes but unsure where they came from. What’s interesting is he suggests that dreams
come from our conscious experience and fragments of memory from what I understand
it’s all associated in the past or what we already experienced my question is, how about
dreams that happened preceding a real event? Like a premonition? Is it possible to foretell
the future from dreams? Another thing, dreams are like abstract how can he be sure that
he can accurately interpret these dreams? He also studied sexual trauma and theorized
that hysteria is the negative of perversion that the things that perverts do is the same as
what happens with the repression of unconscious minds of hysterics. He said that
hysterics dreams what perverts do so if you study the act of perversion you will have the
window of unconscious thus, he studies sexology.

His theory of psychosexuality is very timely and controversial nowadays since the rise of
the issue of Sexual Equality not only in the country but all around the world. As Sigmund
said, sexual differences are not due to degeneration or a stray association, but rather
psychobiological development. In my understanding, this translates that Homosexuality
is not an impulse but rather a part of one’s development or our genes. Then this put being
part of the minority sexuality is not a choice anymore but is inherent. So, where does the
controversial debate of sexual equality go? Where do we associate the LGBTQIA+ if
there’s only two categories men and women in restrooms, sports and socially in general.
This sounds complicated but really interesting.
Psychoanalysis is a very broad subject and a very complicated one. It is unbelievable and
amazing at the same time how these people/psychiatrists come up with those theories
and study them knowing they are very abstract and extensive and humans are very
complicated in nature. Does it really help if we analyze people’s behavior? As the father
of Psychoanalysis and studied a lot of humans, did Sigmund Freud really understand
humans more than anyone else? Maybe it helps greatly those with psychiatric illnesses
but as for me I still rather appreciate every person’s distinctiveness than analyze them
based on behavior and I’ll leave the Psychoanalysis with the experts.