Looking for a general Marxist view on Freud.

At first glance, to me everything relating to Freud sounds like pseudoscientific, idealist garbage … everything that Marx’s scientific socialism should be opposed to in principle. Nevertheless there was a Freudo-Marxist school that overlapped with the Frankfurt School, who thought the ideas of Freud and Marx could be married to some extent.

So,

  1. What was Freud about?
  2. Was Freud full of shit?
  3. Is Marxism compatible with psychoanalysis?
  • Jew [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
    8·
    10 months ago

    Psychology has a really big problem with focusing on like only 5-10 theorists. A single theory or approach can never encompass the complexity of the mind. Also most of them ignore the effect of environmental conditions, instead arguing that illness is innate and genetic. Every theorist should be taken with a huge amount of skepticism. Freud played a good part in getting psychology accepted, but he also played a huge part in modern stigma and dehumanization of the mentally ill.

    • quarrk [he/him]@hexbear.netOPEnglish
      6·
      10 months ago

      One of the Freudo-Marxists is Erich Fromm, who I recall from a Jonas Čeika video [edit: sorry it was actually this video around 21:00] thought that mental illness can often be understood as a symptom of a sick society rather than sick individuals. Isolated but intriguing point.

      • Jew [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
        3·
        10 months ago

        I absolutely agree with that. Look at ADHD and the interactions it has with capitalist marketing. What commercials can do to a child’s brain is awful. Kids brains get fucked up by constant barrages of advertising. They can remember jingles better than multiplication tables because the jingles are psychologicaly designed to trigger attention and excitement. You are bombarded with this stuff your whole life in Amerikkka and it really fucks up your brain and attention span. Truly a symptom of a sick society. Shit needs to be illegal.