Freud on Time and Timelessness

by Kelly Noel-Smith

Overview

Time and timelessness are fundamental principles of psychoanalysis yet Freud does not present a consolidated theory of temporality. In this book Kelly Noel-Smith pieces together Freud's scattered 'hints' and 'suspicions' about time and its negative, timelessness. She traces a careful temporal trail through Freud’s published works and his daunting Nachlass, and provides a compelling reason as to why Freud kept his remarkable thoughts about time to himself.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781137597205
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	07/02/2016
Series:	Studies in the Psychosocial
Edition description:	1st ed. 2016
Pages:	226
Product dimensions:	5.83(w) x 8.27(h) x (d)

About the Author

Kelly Noel-Smith, a philosophy graduate, has spent more than a decade studying Freud, first at the Tavisk (where she published a paper on Freud and Kant) and then at Birkbeck College, University of London, UK, where she completed a PhD on Freud and the ancient Greek influence under the supervision of Professor Stephen Frosh.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1. Time and 'Psycho-Mythology.- Chapter 2. Loss, Lack and Refinding.- Chapter 3. The Importance of Discontinuity: Palpatations, Feelers and Quanta.-Chapter 4. Time and Guilt.- Chapter 5. Tragic Guilt.- Chapter 6. Timelessness is What Time is Not.- Chapter 7. The Role of the Drives in Temporality.- Chapter 8. Freud's Riddle of Time.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“This is a very important contribution to the slowly emerging literature on psychoanalysis and time. By examining the influences on Freud’s thinking about time and the development of what were his mostly implicit ideas about temporality, Kelly Noel-Smith offers a lively and impeccably scholarly new way of understanding the background to current developments in psychoanalytic theory and practice.” (Professor Stephen Frosh, Department of Psychosocial Studies, Birkbeck, University of London, UK)

“Dr Noel-Smith displays deep knowledge of Freud’s oeuvre, the relevant Ancient Greek sources that Freud drew upon, and modern philosophical thought. Her expertise is synthesized into a well-organized inquiry into what Freud thought about time. I learned a huge amount from reading this clear, well-informed and profound exposition.” (Professor Charles Stewart, Department of Anthropology, UCL University College London, UK)

Editorial Reviews

Noel-Smith’s book is an original and scholarly inquiry into Freud’s constructions of time and timelessness. … Thankfully, Noel-Smith’s contribution offers us a modern reading of a return to Freud and a beautiful explication of his theories of time.” (Ryan Allison, PsycCRITIQUES, Vol. 62 (4), January, 2017)

From the Publisher