ABSTRACT
Historically minded tolerance of the beginnings of psychoanalysis is in order. Such understanding does not entail that we remain unaware of the kind of mistakes that even Freud was capable of making. Presumably Freud at the moment he made that remark was in a bold frame of mind. It does not mean that Freud ignored Goethe either as a thinker or a poet. Nor does it imply that we have to overlook early psychoanalysis’s own blind spots and Freud’s characteristic self-deceptions. Freud’s powers as a great writer make it hard for any reader to see where he might have erred. But throughout Freud’s lifetime there were respectful critics of his who were willing to point out his biases. Although Freud worked in behalf of autonomy, the implications of his ideas may have helped undermine certain features of the ideal of individualism.
