| Abstrakt: |
Since its conception, psychoanalysis has depended heavily on biology, especially evolutionary biology. Freud stated many times that biology is the bedrock of psychoanalysis and he followed Darwinian lines of thought. His interest in Darwin was evoked by his biology professor Carl Claus while he was studying medicine. At the age of 20, Freud started working in Claus’s zoological laboratory, and conducted and published his first study in evolutionary biology. Freud’s interest was never extinguished, and so biology became an essential component of psychoanalysis when he invented his theory. This study explores the intellectual relationship between Claus and Freud. Claus’s influence on Freud can be traced back to several of the concepts and theories he developed, such as instinct, social psychology, and his cultural critiques. This study employs a sociological approach to understand the biological components of Freud’s theory. As such, instead of considering vague conceptions such as zeitgeist, we focus on Freud’s interactions. In this regard, his relationship with Carl Claus will be evaluated as a mediator of Freud’s biological paradigm. |
