Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson
Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson | |
---|---|
After Dark | |
Born | Jeffrey Lloyd Masson March 28, 1941 |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | Harvard University |
Subject | Psychoanalysis |
Notable work | The Assault on Truth (1984) |
Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson (/ˈmeɪsən/;[1] born March 28, 1941, as Jeffrey Lloyd Masson) is an American author. Masson is best known for his conclusions about Sigmund Freud and psychoanalysis. In his The Assault on Truth (1984), Masson argues that Freud may have abandoned his seduction theory because he feared that granting the truth of his female patients' claims (that they had been sexually abused) would hinder the acceptance of his psychoanalytic methods. Masson is a veganism advocate and has written about animal rights.[2]
Early life
Jeffrey Masson is the son of Jacques Masson, a Frenchman of
Studies
At Brunton's urging, Masson went to
Career
Masson taught Sanskrit and Indian Studies at the University of Toronto, 1969–80, reaching the rank of Professor. He has also held short term appointments at Brown University, the University of California, and the University of Michigan. From 1981 to 1992, he was a Research Associate, Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies, at the University of California, Berkeley. He is currently an Honorary Fellow in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Auckland in New Zealand.
Views on Freud's seduction theory
In 1970, Masson began studying to become a psychoanalyst at the Toronto Psychoanalytic Institute, completing a full clinical training course in 1978. His training analyst was Irvine Schiffer, a well-known Toronto analyst and author of books on the unconscious aspects of charisma and time. In 1990 Masson published an autobiographical book in which he accused Schiffer of cursing, being constantly late for sessions, and intimidating Masson when the latter complained about this issue.
During this time, Masson befriended the psychoanalyst
In 1981, Masson's controversial conclusions were discussed in a series of New York Times articles by Ralph Blumenthal, to the dismay of the psychoanalytic establishment. Masson was subsequently dismissed from his position as project director of the Freud Archives and stripped of his membership in psychoanalytic professional societies. Masson was defended by Alice Miller[8] and Muriel Gardiner ("While striving not to take sides," Gardiner said, "I consider him a good and energetic worker and a worthwhile scholar").[9]
Masson later wrote several books critical of psychoanalysis, including The Assault on Truth: Freud's Suppression of the Seduction Theory. In the introduction to The Assault on Truth, Masson challenged his critics to address his arguments: "My pessimistic conclusions may possibly be wrong. The documents may in fact allow a very different reading."[10] Janet Malcolm interviewed Masson at length when writing her long New Yorker article on this controversy, which she later expanded into In the Freud Archives, a book that also dealt with Eissler and with Peter Swales.
In 1984 Masson sued The New Yorker, Janet Malcolm and the publisher Alfred A. Knopf for defamation, claiming that Malcolm had misquoted him. The ensuing trial drew considerable attention.[11] The U.S. district court ruled against Masson. In 1989 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco upheld the lower court's decision. “The Court of Appeals affirmed [...] that Malcolm had deliberately altered each quotation not found on the tape recordings, but nevertheless held that petitioner failed to raise a jury question of actual malice.” [12] Masson petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court, which reversed the Court of Appeals decision and sent the case back to trial by jury. The decade-long ten-million-dollar federal lawsuit came to a close in 1994 when the jury and the court again ruled in The New Yorker‘s favor.[13] Subsequent to the case, Janet Malcolm claimed to have found her handwritten notes indicating that Masson had lied in relation to the remaining disputed quotations, as he had lied in relation to quotations where there were recordings.[14][15]
Meanwhile, in 1985, Masson edited and translated Freud's complete correspondence with
Later work
Since the early 1990s, Masson has written a number of books on the emotional life of animals, one of which, When Elephants Weep, has been translated into 20 languages. He has explained this radical change in the subject of his writings as follows:
I'd written a whole series of books about psychiatry, and nobody bought them. Nobody liked them. Nobody. Psychiatrists hated them, and they were much too abstruse for the general public. It was very hard to make a living, and I thought, As long as I'm not making a living, I may as well write about something I really love: animals.[18]
In 2008, Masson became a Director of
Masson also wrote a book about living in New Zealand, including an interview with Sir Edmund Hillary.[20]
Personal life
Masson is married to Leila Masson, a German
Masson became a vegan in 2004.[3] He is an animal rights activist.[2]
Name
Masson's great-grandfather
Works
- 1974. "India and the Unconscious: Erik Erikson on Gandhi," International Journal of Psycho-Analysis55: 519-26. Discussion by T. C. Sinha: 527.
- 1974. "Sex and Yoga: Psychoanalysis and the Indian Religious Experience", ISBN 0-19-565835-3, Paperback (Edition: 2003)[25]
- 1976. "Perversions — some observations", Israel Ann. Psychiat. rel. Disc., (1976b), 14, 354–61.
- 1976. (with Terri C. Masson) "The Navel of Neurosis: Trauma, Memory and Denial", paper presented to the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Society[26]
- 1978. (with Terri C. Masson) "Buried Memories on the Acropolis. Freud's Relation to Mysticism and Anti-Semitism", International Journal of Psycho-Analysis 59: 199-208.
- 1980. The Oceanic Feeling: The Origins of Religious Sentiment in Ancient India.
- 1981. The Peacock's Egg: Love Poems from Ancient India, ISBN 0-86547-059-6
- 1984. The Assault on Truth: Freud's Suppression of the Seduction Theory. ISBN 0-374-10642-8
- 1984. "Freud and the Seduction Theory A challenge to the foundations of psychoanalysis," The Atlantic Monthly, February 1984.
- 1985. (editor and translator) The Complete Letters of ISBN 0-674-15420-7
- 1986. A Dark Science: Women, Sexuality and Psychiatry in the Nineteenth Century. ISBN 0-374-13501-0
- 1988. ISBN 0-689-11929-1
- 1990. Final Analysis: The Making and Unmaking of A Psychoanalyst. ISBN 0-201-52368-X
- 1993. My Father's Guru: A Journey Through Spirituality and Disillusion, Addison-Wesley. ISBN 0-201-56778-4
- 1994. (with Susan McCarthy) When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Life of Animals, Jonathan Cape.
- 1995. "A Note on U.G. Krishnamurti"
- 1996. Lost Prince: The Unsolved Mystery of Kaspar Hauser.[27]
- 1997. Dogs Never Lie About Love: Reflections on the Emotional World of Dogs.
- 1999. The Emperor's Embrace: Reflections on Animal Families and Fatherhood.
- 2003. The Pig Who Sang to the Moon: The Emotional World of Farm Animals.
- 2002. The Nine Emotional Lives of Cats: A Journey Into the Feline Heart. ISBN 0-345-44882-0
- 2004. The Evolution of Fatherhood: A Celebration of Animal and Human Families.
- 2004. Slipping into Paradise: Why I live in New Zealand. ISBN 0-345-46634-9
- 2004. The Cat Who Came in from the Cold. Wheeler. ISBN 1-58724-914-6
- 2005. Raising the Peaceable Kingdom: What Animals Can Teach Us about the Social Origins of Tolerance and Friendship.
- 2006. Altruistic ISBN 978-0-345-47881-8
- 2009. The Face on Your Plate: The Truth about Food. ISBN 978-0-393-06595-4
- 2010. "On Alice Miller"[28]
- 2010. The Dog Who Couldn't Stop Loving: How Dogs Have Captured Our Hearts for Thousands of Years. ISBN 978-0-06-177109-5
- 2010. (editor) Sigmund Freud: ISBN 978-1-4027-6388-5
- 2010 Altruistic Armadillos, Zenlike Zebras-Understanding the World's Most Intriguing Animals. ISBN 1602397384
- 2011 "Pornography and Animals", in ISBN 9781876756895.
- 2014 Beasts: What Animals Can Teach Us About the Origins of Good and Evil. ISBN 978-1608196159
- 2020 Lost Companions: Reflections on the Death of Pets. Murdoch Books. ISBN 9781922351159
Reviews of his books
- The Complete Letters of Sigmund Freud to Wilhelm Fliess, 1887-1904: By William McGrath.
- Against Therapy:
- Final Analysis: By Michael Sacks.
- Breaking Away From the Cult: By Carol Tavris.
See also
References
- ^ "Jeffrey Masson, PhD, Discusses Gurus, Evil, Politics, and Freud's Seduction Theory | Nick Bryant". YouTube. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
- ^ a b c "About Jeff". Jeffreymasson.com. Archived from the original on 2020-05-14. Retrieved 2012-01-05.
- ^ a b c Konigsberg, Eric (14 April 2009). "A Man With Opinions on Food With a Face". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
- ^ "John Levy: friend and contrary guru". Ods.nl. Archived from the original on 2020-05-31. Retrieved 2012-01-05.
- ^ ISBN 0-201-52368-X.
- ^ Smith, Dinitia (March 22, 1993). "Love is Strange". New York. Retrieved November 14, 2012.
- ^ "Did Freud's Isolation Lead Him to Reverse Theory on Neurosis?" by Ralph Blumenthal, The New York Times, August 25, 1981
- ^ PSYCHOLOGIE HEUTE, April 1987, P.21, 22: "Im Gegensatz zu manchen Interpreten, die, wie zum Beispiel Marianne Krüll, Marie Balmary oder Jeffrey Masson, Freuds Abkehr von der Wahrheit als Folge seiner Familiengeschichte deuten, sehe ich diesen Schritt als Folge und Ausdruck unserer jahrtausendealten kinderfeindlichen Tradition, in der wir auch heute noch leben. Die Ergebnisse der oben genannten historischen Forscher können trotzdem korrekt sein, aber ich meine, daß es Freud trotz der persönlichen Familiengeschichte möglich gewesen wäre, seiner Entdeckung treu zu bleiben, wenn die Gesellschaft als Ganzes nicht so kinderfeindlich gewesen wäre, wenn schon damals andere, freiere Erziehungsmuster denkbar gewesen wären. Doch zur Zeit Freuds war es noch absolut unmöglich, die Unschuld der Eltern in Frage zu stellen." Alice Miller in interview entitled Wie Psychotherapien das Kind verraten
- ^ "Freud Archives Research Chief Removed in Dispute Over Yale Talk" by Ralph Blumenthal, The New York Times November 9, 1981.
- ISBN 0-06-097457-5.
- ^ David Margolick (1994-11-03). "Psychoanalyst Loses Libel Suit Against a New Yorker Reporter". The New York Times.
- ^ "Masson v. New Yorker Magazine, Inc. (89-1799), 501 U.S. 496 (1991)". Supreme Court/Cornell University Law School. 1991. Retrieved Oct 19, 2015.
- ^ "SMH article October 6, 2007". Smh.com.au. 2007-10-06. Retrieved 2012-01-05.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-08-12.
- ^ Lewis, Anthony, "Abroad at Home; Stranger Than Fiction," The New York Times, August 26, 1995
- ^ History of La Salpêtrière Archived January 3, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Schimek, J. G. (1987). Fact and Fantasy in the Seduction Theory: a Historical Review. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, xxxv: 937-65; Israëls, H. and Schatzman, M. (1993) The Seduction Theory. History of Psychiatry, iv: 23-59; Esterson, A. (1998). Jeffrey Masson and Freud’s seduction theory: a new fable based on old myths. History of the Human Sciences, 11 (1), pp. 1-21; Esterson, A. (2001). The mythologizing of psychoanalytic history: deception and self deception in Freud's accounts of the seduction theory episode. History of Psychiatry, Vol. 12 (3), pp. 329-352; Eissler, K. R. (2001) Freud and the Seduction Theory: A Brief Love Affair. International Universities Press, pp. 107-117.
- ^ "Interviews — Jeffrey Masson". Powells.com. Archived from the original on 2011-06-29. Retrieved 2012-01-05.
- ^ "Voiceless, the animal protection institute".
- ^ Masson, J., "A Conversation with a Great Ordinary Kiwi: Sir Edmund Hillary," chapter 7 in Slipping into Paradise.
- ^ "Dr. Leila Masson". Leilamasson.com. Retrieved 2012-01-05.
- New York. Vol. 26, no. 12. pp. 36–43. Retrieved 2010-02-14. (cover)
- ^ "Are women human?" by Stuart Jeffries, The Guardian, April 12, 2006.
- ISBN 0-16-048116-3.
- ^ "Table of Contents". Exoticindiaart.com. 2008-10-02. Retrieved 2012-01-05.
- ^ "San Francisco Psychoanalytic Society and Institute". Enotes.com. Retrieved 2012-01-05.
- ^ Barry J. Landau. "Review". Pep-web.org. Retrieved 2012-01-05.
- Tablet Magazine.
Further reading
- Eissler, Kurt R. (2001). Freud and the Seduction Theory: A Brief Love Affair. New York: International Universities Press.
- Lee, John (6 February 1984). "Trying to Rock the Couch: An analyst charges that Freud suppressed a key theory". Time. p. 58.
- ISBN 1-59017-027-X. First published in 1984 by Alfred A. Knopf.
- Tarlo, Luna (1997). The Mother of God. Plover Press. ISBN 978-1-57027-043-7.
External links
- Jeffrey Masson's website Archived 2012-04-03 at the Wayback Machine
- Articles
- "Scholars seek the hidden Freud in newly emerging letters." The first of two articles in The New York Times by Ralph Blumenthal, published August 18, 1981.
- "Till Press Do Us Part: The Trial of Janet Malcolm and Jeffrey Masson."
Interviews
- Transcript of an interview: Jeffrey Masson talking with Kirsten Garrett about Sigmund Freud and Emma Eckstein/ first broadcast on The Science Show in 1986, second broadcast 3 June 2006 presented by Robyn Williams
- A conversation about the lives of animals with Susan McCarthy and Jeffrey Moussaieff Mason on Jun 30, 1995, Duration 60 min (Audio)
- "Walking on the Beach with Jeffrey Masson's Cats," November 14, 2002
- "Conversation between Masson and Richard Fidler. Related Audio, December 14, 2007.
- "Episode 6: Human and the Beast", Masson interviewed by Siobhan O'Sullivan for the Knowing Animals podcast