Reading Freud today

by Adam Phillips

Key point 1
Reasons for reading Freud: he reveals how incredibly imaginative and intelligent we are in our suffering, and his texts are very evocative.
Key point 2
Freud has fallen out of favour for many reasons: he became notorious for being interested in sex. Also, feminism found him oppressively patriarchal.
Key point 3
Freud helps us make sense of our lives because he sees us as essentially meaning-making animals.
Key point 4
Freud is trying to help us be less terrorised by the complexity of our own minds.