The correspondence between Freud and Jung approaches Greek tragedy, and is an almost irresistible temptation to turn the psychoanalytic spotlight on its two early founders.
This correspondence was published by the permission of the sons of Freud and Jung. They both insisted that the letters be published with as little editorial comment as possible, to serve as raw historical documents. Each reader is left with the task of interpreting the letters and deciding what went wrong with the relationship. Specifically, who was primarily responsible for the break-up of the relationship, and why?
Freud was in his early forties in the years just before the end of the 19th century. He was not a happy man. His career had not turned out as he had hoped (he wanted to be a research scientist) and he had to rely on a private medical practice to provide for his growing family. He lived in Vienna, Austria, primarily treating hysterical women (women who complained of medical or neurological problems, but no identifiable medical or neurological cause). It was through his work with these women that he developed psychoanalysis. In 1900 he published what he always felt was his most important book, The Interpretation of Dreams. By 1905 he had published several more books and articles, including the Psychopathology of Everyday Life and, in 1905, Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality. It was this last book which earned Freud the scorn of much of the scientific community, for in it he outlined his theory of childhood sexuality.
So, by 1906 Freud was an increasingly infamous character, regarded by most in his profession (medicine and psychiatry) as a "quack" or a pervert. But Freud was convinced that he had stumbled upon the keys to understanding human nature. Among these keys were his theory of an active unconscious, repression, resistance, transference, the use of symbols as a means of indirect communication from the unconscious (especially in dreams), and, most important to all, the primary importance of libido as the motivator of human behavior. Just what, exactly, Freud meant by libido (physical desire, sex) and just how important he thought it was were to become critical in his relationship with Jung.
Jung was a young psychiatrist at a famous government mental hospital in Zurich, Switzerland. Jung's supervisor or "chief" in Zurich was a man named Eugen Bleuler, a famous and well respected pioneer in psychiatry. Jung read Freud's Interpretation of Dreams and recognized the value of Freud's approach for treating his patients. Zurich soon became a center of interest for psychoanalytic treatment, with Bleuler and, especially, Jung, as the main proponents.
It is impossible to overestimate the importance of Zurich and Jung to Freud. For years Freud had been essentially working alone, challenging the entire medical establishment, and being dismissed as an immoral crank. Freud had acquired a small group of devout followers in Vienna, but Freud always felt that these Viennese followers (all Jewish, like himself) simply reinforced the anti-Semitism of many of his critics, and supported the impression of a rather "cultic' following. Jung was vital in making psychoanalysis internationally respectable. Jung was a protestant, a non-Austrian, and worked at one of the finest psychiatric hospitals in the world. Jung was also associated with Bleuler, who had an international reputation. As Jung made his interest and acceptance of psychoanalytic principles known to Freud, Freud quickly bestowed upon him all of his hopes and dreams for psychoanalysis. Eventually Freud made Jung his "heir apparent" the man who would take over after Freud retired or died and take care of Freud's "baby" - psychoanalysis.
As psychoanalysis developed and was promoted, many became convinced of the importance of unconscious conflicts as motivators of human behavior. Psychoanalysis was used to fight those who would reduce all of human behavior to mere biology. The critical question that began to divide psychoanalysts was the nature of this motivation. Freud always knew that Jung was "shaky" on his acceptance of libido as sex, and sex as the primary motivator of behavior. Early in the correspondence Freud encourages Jung not to water down the sexual content of the theory just to make psychoanalysis more palatable to his audiences. In the beginning Jung assured Freud that he would not, and that he (Jung) was a firm believer in the importance of sexuality. But ambiguity remained on this point.
Gradually Freud grew in stature. Jung began to develop (and crave?) an independent reputation. Jung was invited to join Freud on a trip to America (whether as a follower of Freud or in his own right is difficult to establish) to lecture on psychoanalysis. Later Jung was invited to lecture in America again, this time without Freud. As the relationship between Freud and Jung soured, one of the critical disagreements was this: Had Jung essentially betrayed Freud by surrendering the libido theory, out of either cowardice (afraid the public would reject him) or neurosis (Jung's supposed "father complex" in which unconsciously Freud was the Father whom Jung could never please). Freud concluded that out of (again, unconscious and irrational) anger, Jung betrayed Freud's theory and set-up his own school of psychology in an attempt to "beat" or destroy "father" Freud. As a counter-charge, Jung came to believe that Freud was the neurotic, who was unable to tolerate independent thought and honest, intellectual difference in his colleagues, insisting that everyone else be simply a "follower".
Attempting to unravel this puzzle is itself an exercise in psychoanalytic interpretation. Is the explanation for the break-up in this relationship unconscious (the neurosis of one or the other, or both?) or conscious (honest intellectual differences)? If both conscious and unconscious forces are at work, what is their relationship? (in other words, were the intellectual differences a result of the unconscious conflicts, or independent of them?).
2. How does Freud display his own illusions and wish-fulfillments regarding Jung? When Freud refers to Jung as "the other", what old relationship is being invoked, at least unconsciously?
3. What does Freud mean by calling Jung "Alexander"? How does this image lay the groundwork for Freud's perception of his break-up with Jung? How is this anticipated in the relationship with Adler?
4. What does Freud mean when he says he "turned off my excess libido"? What is happening at this point in the relationship? How does Jung's reference to Zarathustra, relate here?
5. Explain and discuss the so-called "Kreuzlingen Gesture"?
6. What is significance of the salutation to letter 324F (p.517)? How does Jung's lectures in America bring conflict to a head? What are the different interpretations of this episode?
7. What is Jung's response to Freud's charge that Jung suffers from neurotic "father-complex"? (see especially letter 338J). As you read the last few letters, who do you think is neurotic here?