Notes for one of the possible minor histories of psychoanalysis: Spinoza in Lou Salomé and Viktor Tausk (I)

The discussion on the presence or absence of a direct influence of Spinoza's philosophy in the reflection of psychoanalytic practice dates back to Freud himself. Since 1931. Siegfrid Hessing was so convinced of the presence of Spinoza elements in Freudian psychoanalysis that he invited Freud himself to produce a paper on this topic on the occasion of the celebrations for the 300th anniversary of the birth of the Dutch-Jewish philosopher. And we can imagine his astonishment when instead he received a polite rejection letter: he didn't have much to say Freud on this matter and would not have contributed to the publication of the volume. Despite this explicit declaration by the father of psychoanalysis, it is not possible to deny that there is some family resemblance between Spinozism and psychoanalysis. A lot of research has been conducted in this direction which, however, it must be admitted, focuses mainly on the writings of Freud.

In the circle of those who followed his seminars in Vienna in 1913 we find a woman: Lou von Salomé. Her name was already known: Nietzsche's muse and Rilke's lover, she arrives at psychoanalysis at the age of 50. For Lou it's a flash of lightning: what she's been looking for for a long time, actually, always. Unlike others who passed through Freud's seminars and who were then considered "heretics" Lou will always be considered by Freud himself a faithful interpreter of psychoanalysis. And in her diary of Freud's lectures in 1913 she wrote " I find it very nice, on my own, to meet again here the only thinker [Spinoza] who has exercised over me since I was a girl, as in an omen, a almost adoring attention, and that he is the philosopher of psychoanalysis”. So why is the search for the Spinozian roots of psychoanalysis not investigated in the wake of Salomé's writings? Who is Salomé referring to when she makes this statement? Behind Lou hides Victor Tausk, another minor character of psychoanalysis "forgotten" in the one-way story. In the two lessons that I propose, I will try to show the complexity and originality of Salomé and Tausk in their effort to remain within the Freudian tradition. In my reading Lou and Viktor make an effort precisely through an important reference to Spinoza to give their contribution not to develop a new current of analysis but, on the contrary, to strengthen the Freudian position.