Freudless Subjects. On the Psychoanalysis Conception of Michel Foucault

This article examines the status of psychoanalysis in the work of Michel Foucault. It argues that Foucaults struggle with Sigmund Freud's theory is pivotal for his oeuvre. Foucault is initially ambivalent towards psychoanalysis. This changes with his turn towards genealogy, which leads him to adopt a more dismissive approach towards psychoanalysis. This article outlines three dimensions of Foucault's critique of Freud: The first is directed against psychoanalytic hermeneutic, the second against the Oedipus complex as universal, and the third situates psychoanalysis on a continuum with modern psychiatry.