On Moralism and Ethics

Associations to Henry Abelove’s “Freud, Male Homosexuality, and the Americans”

Bibliographic Data

ID16781909
AuthorsLynne Layton (0000-0003-0786-6563, corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume17
Issue2
Pages95-101
Publication date2016-04-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueStudies in Gender and Sexuality (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1524-0657 • E-ISSN: 1940-9206
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/15240657.2016.1172924
OpenAlexW2396254647
LanguageEN
References cited17

Henry Abelove (1986) writes that Freud was troubled by what he saw as moralistic leanings pervading the theory and practice of early American psychoanalysis. Drawing on Erikson’s (1976) distinction between moralism and ethics, my associations to Abelove’s still very timely paper explore the psychological “deals” we all tend to make between moralism and ethics. I begin with Freud’s less than progressive views of female homosexuality. I then focus on the way that what I have called normative unconscious processes enter contemporary theory and practice. I draw attention to a continued presence in our theories of a straight/gay binary (which, according to Abelove, Freud contested), and I give an example of the effects of an unconscious adherence to neoliberal cultural norms. I conclude with the suggestion that, although fraught, it is nonetheless crucial to think about what is “the good.”

Criminology · Epistemology · Homosexuality · Morality · Normative · Psychoanalysis · Psychoanalytic theory · Sociology · Unconscious mind · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy · Philosophy · Psychoanalysis, Philosophy, and Politics · Psychology · Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications