Freudianism is going the way of other midcentury shibboleths, like respectable journalism and nudist colonies.

It was always a farce, and always obviously a farce. “How could respectable people bring themselves to believe such things?” is the same question as “How could people wear bell bottoms?”

Smart, bookish people need to admit to themselves that they are fashion whores just like everybody else.

Except for me. Oh, shoot, is this thing on?

* * *

The funny thing looking back was how much courage it took to publicly laugh at Freud’s absurd pretensions to be scientific. Apparently, you had to have the immense self-confidence of a Vladimir Nabokov to scoff at Freud.

Read the whole thing.

You’d probably describe C.S. Lewis as having immense self-confidence too. Or immense confidence in God. Either way, the chapter from A Pilgrim’s Regress on the spirit of the age should be required reading. It does down Freud and a whole slew of modern thought cankers all at the same time.