The first in-depth Encyclopedia on the life, work, and theories of Sigmund Freud, this A-Z reference includes the most recent debates on such topics as the theory of dreams and the Oedipus complex, as well as biographical sketches of leading figures in the Freudian movement. Coverage also includes philosophers who anticipated or influenced Freud, such as Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, and the many movements influenced by his work, from the early twentieth-century Surrealists to the present day.

Many contemporary philosophers have thought that certain philosophic disputes could be settled by using the concept of meaninglessness. To solve philosophic problems in this way, however, it seemed necessary to provide a reliable criterion for deciding when a particular sentence or statement is meaningless. But devising such a criterion has proved to be very difficult. In fact, in recent years many philosophers have become quite skeptical about the adequacy of the standard criteria of meaninglessness. Some of the more radical skeptics have even argued that the concept of meaninglessness, as...