Episode Details

Nevertheless, I shall take advantage of your kindness in assuming we agree that a science cannot be conditioned upon empiricism.

— Jacques Lacan, “The Subversion of the Subject and the Dialectic of Desire in the Freudian Unconscious”[1]

Freud developed the first modern theory of the unconscious. His writings on drives, dreams and the id were instrumental in developing modern practices of psychology and neuroscience. Modern researchers are unlikely to leverage concepts like the superego or the oedipal complex, because we have been able to further our understanding of the mind through empirical work, which does not support many of Freud's specific claims. Freud pushed us in the right direction, but he lacked an empirical foundation to make precise claims.

Freudian psychoanalysis mapped well to our narrative claims about the mind. Particularly coming out of the prudishness of late 19th century Europe, it was intuitive to learn we all had unconscious drives that did not track with societal norms. Stefan Zweig, writing about the austere Austro-Hungarian norms of his youth, wrote:

The more a woman was supposed to appear as a “lady,” the less her natural forms were permitted to be discernible; fundamentally, fashion, with this deliberate guiding principle of [...]

The original text contained 2 footnotes which were omitted from this narration.

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First published:
June 2nd, 2026

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/GykcHo2rfex3YHPuD/agent-foundations-reminds-me-of-continental-philosophy

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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