Freud’s 『Phylogenetic Fantasy』 and Lamarckism: Evolution, Racial Science, and the Intellectual History of Psychoanalysis

1,2 1 , 2 This paper analyzes, from an intellectual-historical perspective, how Lamarckism and the concept of phylogenesis functioned within metapsychological neurosis theory, focusing on Freud's unpublished manuscript A Phylogenetic Fantasy (circa 1915).Originally conceived as a metapsychological draft titled Overview of the Transference Neuroses, the manuscript compares the transference neuroses in its first half, then introduces phylogenetic hypotheses in a limited way under the designation of "fantasy," mediated by the problem of "disposition" in its second half.Focusing on this juncture, this paper reconstructs the context in which phylogenetic speculation emerged as a hypothetical layer for addressing explanatory difficulties arising from ontogenesis-centered frameworks, and examines how its variations shift into the narrative modes of Totem and Taboo and Moses and Monotheism.Furthermore, through comparison with contemporary evolutionary anthropology, gene-culture coevolution theory, and epigenetics, this paper discusses the conditions under which the problem of "transmission" that Freud sought to capture in the language of biology might be redescribed in alternative conceptual terms.In conclusion, rather than choosing between defending or discarding Lamarckism, this paper presents, within the intellectual history of psychoanalysis, the significance of the very tension through which phylogenetic thinking was both invoked and suspended.

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Publication Details

Journal
Psychoanalysis
Published
2026-04-28
DOI
https://doi.org/10.18529/psychoanal.2026.37.2.33
Primary Topic
Japanese History and Culture
Type
article
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article

Freud’s 『Phylogenetic Fantasy』 and Lamarckism: Evolution, Racial Science, and the Intellectual History of Psychoanalysis

Hanson Park
Psychoanalysis
Japanese History and Culture
article

Freud’s 『Phylogenetic Fantasy』 and Lamarckism: Evolution, Racial Science, and the Intellectual History of Psychoanalysis

Hanson Park
article en

Abstract

1,2 1 , 2 This paper analyzes, from an intellectual-historical perspective, how Lamarckism and the concept of phylogenesis functioned within metapsychological neurosis theory, focusing on Freud's unpublished manuscript A Phylogenetic Fantasy (circa 1915).Originally conceived as a metapsychological draft titled Overview of the Transference Neuroses, the manuscript compares the transference neuroses in its first half, then introduces phylogenetic hypotheses in a limited way under the designation of "fantasy," mediated by the problem of "disposition" in its second half.Focusing on this juncture, this paper reconstructs the context in which phylogenetic speculation emerged as a hypothetical layer for addressing explanatory difficulties arising from ontogenesis-centered frameworks, and examines how its variations shift into the narrative modes of Totem and Taboo and Moses and Monotheism.Furthermore, through comparison with contemporary evolutionary anthropology, gene-culture coevolution theory, and epigenetics, this paper discusses the conditions under which the problem of "transmission" that Freud sought to capture in the language of biology might be redescribed in alternative conceptual terms.In conclusion, rather than choosing between defending or discarding Lamarckism, this paper presents, within the intellectual history of psychoanalysis, the significance of the very tension through which phylogenetic thinking was both invoked and suspended.

PsychoanalysisVol. 37(2)
Seoul National University (KR), New Generation University College (ET)
Openalex Percentile: Top 3%
Japanese History and Culture
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