Freud, Lipps and Nietzsche

pp. 16-19

in: David L. Smith, Freud's philosophy of the unconscious, Berlin, Springer, 1999

Abstract

Freud explicitly acknowledged the impact of several philosophical thinkers upon his work.¹⁷ One of the main philosophical influences on the development of Freud's psychoanalytical ideas was Theodor Lipps, an early exponent of phenomenology. In the present chapter I will briefly evaluate Lipps' influence on Freud and then go on to discuss critically the claim made by a number of historians of depth psychology that Nietzsche had a direct and insufficiently acknowledged impact on Freud's intellectual development.