Gannon, Timothy J.

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The Linacre QuarterlyVolume 23 | Number 2 Article 55-1-1956Book Review of Psychoanalysis Today by AgostinoGemelli, Translated by John Chapin and SalvatorAttanasiaTimothy J. GannonFollow this and additional works at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnqPart of the Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons, and the Medicine and Health SciencesCommonsRecommended CitationGannon, Timothy J. (1956) "Book Review of Psychoanalysis Today by Agostino Gemelli, Translated by John Chapin and SalvatorAttanasia," The Linacre Quarterly: Vol. 23 : No. 2 , Article 5.Available at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnq/vol23/iss2/5, · ok Review '· Agostino Gemelli , O.F.M., M.D. (Tra ns. by J ohn C ho pi n and Solvotor Attana sio) Review by Very Rev. Msgr. Timothy J. G a nnon Director, Depo rtme nt of Psychology Lora s College , Dub uque , Iowa Any writer w ho attempts to re-think the thoughts of Freud in the context of a sound ·concept of man and the simple acceptance of his supernatural destiny is entitled to the appreciative attention of the thoughtful reader, lay or profes-sional. When the writer happens to be a t once a medica l doctor, a research psychologist and a Cath-olic priest, the attempt to establish intellectual contact with Freud is a ll the more significant. This is the recommendation of the three es-says on psychoanalysis by Father Agostino Gemelli , 0 .F.M .. M .D .. founder of the University of the Sacred Heart, Milan, Italy, a nd chairman of the department of psychology in tha t institution. This series of essays originally contributed to the Italian review, Vita e Pensiero. now appears in transla tion as three chapters of a lit tle book entitled, Psychoanalysis T oday . 62 When one sets out to evalm te the contribution of Sigmund Pre 1d to our understa n ding of hum in dynamics, whether normal or co-normal. he is faced with a form;d-able task. This is partly beca t se of Freud's picturesque but oft ~n ambiguous terminology and par.ly because he made up his system as he went a long. The result is ti at there are as many moods and .n-flections of psychoanalysis as there are people who adopt its view-points or methods. In the fi rst c h ap te r . "Freudian Psych oar. al-ysis," F a ther Gemelli examines from the viewpoint of a psycholo-gist and psychiatrist, the doctri,tes of Freud as he elaborated them. The net effect of Father Gemel-li 's critical exposition of Freud ian tene ts leaves something to be de-sired. What one misses particu-la rly is the effort to detach Freud's purely clinical observations and psychological insights from their setting in late nineteenth century materialism and antireligious bias. The a uthor's criticism of Freud for his lack of scientific method, his frequent flights into Greek myth-LINACRE QUARTE RLY ology. his gross exa ggera tion of the role of sex in the etiology of mental disorder and his reduction of all religious experience to neu-rotic origins is sound and justified . But the urgent question for the layman or psychiatrist today is. "What should be the at titude of the enlightened Catholic towards Freud and the movement he insti-gated?" Are we to re ject him com-pletely as being vitia ted root and branch by his palpable errors con-cerning man, which are ultimately philosophical and theological? O r is it possible that beneath all of these philosophical a nd even psy-chological misconceptions there is new insight into t he dynamics of the human persona lity and the way opened to a more understanding and fruitful approach to the prob-lem of mental illness? For these questio~s the author provides no clear a n d unambiguous answer. While voicing his grave objections to Freudian psychoanalysis -he is, neverthdess, unwilling to go along with those critics w ho completely reject Freud's contribution to psy-chiatry. One gets the impression tha t at an earlier date Father Gemelli had rejected Freud quite unreservedly because of his erroneous concept of man. Now, some years older, he seems to sense that there is an · element of profou n d t r uth in Freud's clinical conclusions con-cerning the human personality. But in order to be of much help to the busy layman or psychia trist, the critique of Freud must carefully sift what is true and verifiable fact concerning m a n from w h at is plausible fiction. If, however, these M.~v. 1956 unresolved questions awakeH new in terest in the reader and stimulate him to read a whole work d t>voted to the subject , like Karl Stern's Third R evolution or some of the recent con t rib ution s of Gregory Z ilboorg , Psychoanalysis Today will have amply fulfilled its pur-pose. The second chapter, devoted to " The Analy tic P sy cho logy o f Jung," suffers from none of the ambivalence of the preceding chap-ter. Here, w i t h deftn ess a nd assurance the author points up the danger of being taken in by Jung's pseudo-religious jargon, a booby tra p tha t not all C atholics have avoided. He calls at tention to t he fact t ha t a l t hou gh Jung speaks bold ly of God , religion, morality, rede mption and sa lvat ion, it would be a grea t mistake to assume that he is using these terms in their tradi tional sense. While far from sharing Freud's strictures on re-ligion, Jung gives evidence of the failure to emancipate h imself from the insidious error of modernism that finds the origins of religious faith in the projection o f uncon-scious yearnings. In conclusion the author calls attention to the fact that any mere psychotherapy . based on natural techniques a nd aiming at in tegration o f person-ality on the purely natural level must always fall short of achiev-ing the comp lete adjustment o f ma n t o b is t o t a l environment. which a t its highest level. includes God. Following excell e n t Scriptural precedent, Fa ther Gemdli has re-served the best wine till the last. The final chapter, "The T eaching 63 of Piu, XII on · P sychotherapy," is the outstanding contribution of the hoc . Dr. Braceland, a psychi-atrist ot international stature, says of it: "Tne book would be worth the price of admission if only to get the author's comments upon the Holy Father's dissertation on 'Psychotherapy and Religion' .. . " In this section the author em-phasizes the significance of the Holy Father's a l locution to the members of the First International Congress of Histopathology of the N ervous S ys t em, September I I , 1952, (LINACRE QUARTERLY, Nov. 1952 , pp. 98-1 07 ) and of the sec-ond address, even more important, to the Fifth International Con-gress of P sychotherapy and Clin-ical Phychology, April 13, I 953. ( LIN ACRE QUARTERLY, Nov. 1953. pp. 97-105 ). He then offers a commentary that is admirable in its enlightened and balanced in-terpretation. 64 Catholic doctors, clinical p y-c hologis ts and psychotherap ,ts will want to read the pa j a l documents in connection w t h this chapter. (English versi. ns are to be found in The Cath lie Mind and The Pope Speaks.) F 1 ,m these, as well as from Fat: er Gemelli's timely commentary, t ey will draw inspiration as they cc 11e to realize the genuine interest of the . Supreme Pontiff in their f :o-fession. At the same time they · 1ill find helpful norms to guide tl em in their exploration of the hid len layers of the human persona :ty. as they try to bring relief to ,Ja-tients caught in the toils of mf ital illness. PSYCHOANALYSIS TODAY published by P. J. KENEDY & SONS 12 Barclay St. New York 8, N. Y. 1955. pp. 153 LINACRE QuAR1ERLY 

Book Review of \u3cem\u3ePsychoanalysis Today\u3c/em\u3e by Agostino Gemelli, Translated by John Chapin and      Salvator Attanasia

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Book Review of \u3cem\u3ePsychoanalysis Today\u3c/em\u3e by Agostino Gemelli, Translated by John Chapin and Salvator Attanasia

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