Francesca, Foucault

Foucault’s argument of the progression towards emphasized expression of sexuality sheds light upon Freud’s psychoanalytic theory. As his theory was based upon the mechanisms of sexuality and their alleged causes, societies preoccupation with his thoughts convey a growing interest of the time. As conversation regarding such matters was previously taboo, the newfound freedom in discussing sex was met with consequential confusion. Being able to express one’s desires in the realm of free association created an additional desire to categorize such feelings. Sigmund Freud satiated this hunger for controlled chaos by presenting his psychoanalytic theory. His theory essentially maintained that all of our behaviors, desires, actions, etc. were related to successive stages of sexual development during childhood. By means of a verbal confession, patients could be absolved of their anxiety. This anxiety was only alleviated when the psychoanalyst discovered a related event from childhood that convincingly explicated their concern. In this context, correlation implies causality. As this substantiated psychoanalysis itself, empirical data supplanted scientific evidence as the infrastructure of the theory. Foucault writes, “the nineteenth century gave itself the possibility if causing the procedures of confession to operate within the regular formation of a scientific discourse.” Thus, psychoanalysis held that truth was derived from the subjectivity of the analyst’s interpretation. This method of deciphering what constitutes truth provides commentary on the era’s complete view of sex. There was a desire to categorize it by means of creating various discourses. In summation, Freud’s psychoanalytic theory serves as one demonstration of an entire era’s perspective, which Foucault deciphers.