Sigmund Freud

2007-05-24T20:35:00Z

Ruad:

[[Image:freud-thumb.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Freud in his laboratory]]
'''Sigmund Freud''' (1856–1939) was the founder of [[psychoanalysis]].

In 1938 he left fled Vienna and persecution by the [[Nazi]]s to North [[London]], [[England]], where he lived until his death in 1939.

Freud is best known for his theories of the [[unconscious mind]], especially involving the mechanism of [[repression]]; his symbolic interpretation of dreams; his redefinition of sexual desire as mobile and directed towards a wide variety of objects; and his therapeutic technique, especially his understanding of [[transference]] in the therapeutic relationship and the symbolic interpretation of dreams as sources of insight into [[unconscious desire]]s.

Freud proposed that the human [[psyche]] consists of three parts -- [[ego]], [[super-ego]], and [[id]] -- and that [[defense mechanism]]s are an attempt by the mind to resolve conflicts between the super-ego and the id.

Freud's theories are viewed by some as unscientific because they lack [[falsifiability]], as pointed out by [[Karl Popper]].<ref>Popper, Karl R.: [http://www.stephenjaygould.org/ctrl/popper_falsification.html 'Science as Falsification'], ''Conjectures and Refutations: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge'' (London, 1963) </ref>

Much of Freud's psychosexual theories and his tripartite model have failed any empirical investigation. Psychoanalysis as a [[clinical psychology | clinical]] method has in many cases been shown to be as effective as other talk therapies,{{fact-science}}
but this is not likely to reflect the accuracy or inaccuracy of the underlying theories, but rather the positive effect of talking about one's problems.

Sigmund Freud died of maxillary [[cancer]] at the age of 82.

== References ==
<references/>

[[Category:psychologists|Freud, Sigmund]]

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Sigmund Freud