Biologizing psychoanalysis: Konstantin gavrilov and freudo-Pavlovism in Argentina (1942-1960)

Abstract

This paper examines the work of the Russian zoologist Konstantin Gavrilov (1908-82) in Argentina, in the light of a series of authors who tried to find connections between Sigmund Freud's and Ivan Pavlov's ideas. This theoretical effort is designated as Freudo-Pavlovism, and it intended to offer neurophysiological evidence to psychoanalytical thesis in order to build a holistic theory of the psyche. Freudo-Pavlovism is considered a possible extension of Freudian ideas within an evolutionary framework. Gavrilov's ideas on the compatibility of Freudian and Pavlovian theories are analysed, as well as the support given by Argentinian psychoanalysts and the criticism that his work received by communist psychiatrists.