3 - Freud’s Moses

Summary

When one first opens the pages of Moses and Monotheism one is struck by Freud’s employment of a curious organizational strategy. The volume consists of three independent essays with the third having two sections, the first of which has two prefaces and the second introduced by a “summary.” Given Freud’s sterling reputation as a prose writer, such disorganization is at first perplexing. The prefaces explain why this might be the case. Faced with old age and cancer (the book was published in 1939, the year of his death), the rise of fascism in Germany, the fear of persecution, and subsequent forced move from Vienna to London (in 1938), Freud was doubtful the book would ever be finished, much less see the public light of day. Indeed, with some hesitation he decided to publish the first two essays independently (“Moses an Egyptian,” “If Moses Was an Egyptian …”) in the psychoanalytic journal Imago in 1937, thinking that would be the end of it. The third essay (“Moses, His People, and Monotheistic Religion”), which deals more provocatively with the identity of Moses and origins of monotheism, was deemed too sensitive to publish. The rise of Nazism in conjunction with the risk of offending both Jews and Christians was too great a risk not only to Freud but also to the profession of psychoanalysis and its many adherents, analysts, and friends. However, once safely situated in London, Freud had a change of heart and, apologizing for the many repetitions and organizational problems, decided to include the previously published essays along with the new, third essay in a single volume.