|
serious way. He came to a negative conclusion concerning its existence. However, his answer
followed largely from his definitions of consciousness and unconsciousness, and the evidence
subsequently available to Freud did not, of course, figure in Brentano’s thought.114
In any case, Freud very likely first heard a serious discussion of the unconscious from his
professor Brentano. No wonder Fancher concludes that there was some important Brentanian
influence on Freud.
It is an intriguing fact that, in introducing the concept of the unconscious in Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint, Brentano stated, “One of the first men who taught that there is an unconscious consciousness was Thomas Aquinas.”115 In other words, Brentano came to an anti-Thomist conclusion, while Freud would later, perhaps unknowingly, side with Aquinas on this central matter. There appear to be many important similarities between Freudian psychoanalysis and Thomism, not the least of which is St. Thomas’s frequent use of the word and concept “libido”—sometimes in a more specific sense than Freud, but always in a manner in agreement with the Freudian use.116 This is not the place to go into an analysis of the Thomist Aristotelian nature of Freud, or the “Freudian” aspects of Aquinas’s thought. Suffice it to say that a number of thoughtful writers aware of the two systems have noticed important resemblances. As far as I have been able to discover, no one really grounded in both systems has attempted a thorough comparison or synthesis.117 There are other, less easily documentable reasons for assuming an influence of Brentano on Freud—less documentable, but not necessarily less likely. Throughout his life Freud was apt to identify very strongly with impressive male figures who were older and obviously accomplished. Brentano had certain qualities that would have had a special appeal to Freud, besides his brilliant reputation. These factors undoubtedly account for the great number of historically important students known to have been attracted to him; they also do much to explain why Freud, while a student, would have visited Brentano at his home. Some hint of the influence of Brentano on Freud can be found in an unpublished letter from Freud to his friend Edward Silberstein on March 27, 1875. Peter Swales brought this letter to my attention.118 Freud declared that he was under the influence of various arguments put to him personally by Brentano and was afraid that one day he might succumb to belief in the alleged scientific proofs of “spritualism, homeopathy, Louise Lateau, and so on.”119 Louise Lateau was a Belgian mystic who attracted worldwide attention from 1868 until her death in 1883 for having the stigmata.120 Brentano’s religious situation would most probably have struck a sympathetic chord in Freud. Brentano, in leaving the Church and in rejecting papal infallibility, had become an outsider—someone like Hannibal who had done battle with Rome and lost, and yet maintained his |