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Work #280 · Early-mid (after the Interpretation of Dreams)

Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality

Sigmund Freud
1905; revised through 1924 · German
Three essays in psychoanalytic theory · Depth psychology / psychoanalysis

The infantile sexuality thesis, the polymorphously perverse, the Oedipus complex — Freud's 1905 founding work on psychosexual development

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality (Early-mid (after the Interpretation of Dreams))
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Partial
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Both
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency None
Observer · Moral Authority Reason
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality

Developmental-psychosexual time — oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital stages.

Space

Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality

The bodily-psychological space of sexual development.

Matter

Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality

The embodied sexual body as the substrate of psychosexual development.

Observer

Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality

The developing sexual self; the psychoanalyst as the interpretive observer. No metaphysical framework.

Energy

Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality

The libido as sexual psychic energy with its developmental transformations.

Information

Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality

The personal-psychosexual history preserved through development; the analytic-clinical record.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality

The infantile sexuality thesis was scandalous in 1905 and remains controversial. Feminist engagement with Freudian sexual theory (from Karen Horney and Melanie Klein onward through second- and third-wave feminism) has been a central thread of subsequent critical engagement. The relation between Freud's specific clinical-empirical claims (largely rejected in contemporary scientific psychology) and the broader interpretive framework (continuing influence in cultural theory) has been a continuing interpretive question.