What do we know about Sigmund Freud's theories?

Encyclopedia of Opinion

Question: What do we know about Sigmund Freud's theories?
Position‹3 of 5›: Much of what we know comes from pop culture
Argument1 of 2›: Words and sayings

A huge amount of sayings that are now common parlance come from Freud and his theories.

The argument

“More than dead Hitler or Lenin, Roosevelt or Kennedy, more than Picasso, Eliot, or Stravinsky, more than the Beatles or Bob Dylan, Freud's influence on modern culture has been profound and long-lasting.” Phrases we can thank Freud for include: Mommy and daddy issues. Arrested development. Death wishes. Freudian slips. Phallic symbols. Anal retentiveness. Defense mechanisms. Cathartic release. Oedipus complex. Denial. Id, ego and super-ego. Libido. Death wishes. Anal retentiveness. Defence mechanisms. Displacement. Phallic symbols. Projection. Transference. And Freudian slips. Are all in common parlance and started with Freud. It's not just Freud's terminology that persists, he's an adjective in his own right.

Context

As WH Auden wrote after Freud's death, "To us he is no more a person / now but a whole climate of opinion."

Premises

[P1]Freud's influence on modern culture has been profound and long-lasting, greater even than many leading political and artistic figures. [P2] Everyday phrases like "Freudian slip," "Oedipus complex," "denial," "libido," and "id, ego, and super-ego" all originate with him. [P3] His name itself has become an adjective in common parlance, "Freudian." [C] Therefore, because so many of Freud's words and sayings persist in everyday speech, much of what we know of him comes from pop culture.

Counter-arguments

A framing objection notes that a list of Freudian phrases shows his terminology diffused into everyday language — not that people actually know his theories. Cultural footprint and understanding are different things. Indeed, popularised terms like 'Freudian slip' and 'anal retentive' are typically used loosely and often distort the underlying concepts, so pop culture conveys a garbled version rather than knowledge. And several listed items are not uniquely Freud's coinages. On this view the point is better read as a caution — that much of what passes for knowing Freud is second-hand and imprecise — than as a positive account of his theories.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P1] That Freudian phrases entered everyday speech shows his terminology diffused into culture, not that people actually know his theories. [Rejecting P2] Popularised terms like 'Freudian slip' and 'anal retentive' are used loosely and often distort the underlying concepts, so pop culture conveys a garbled version rather than knowledge. [Rejecting P3] Several listed items are not uniquely Freud's coinages, so the list overstates his sole authorship of 'common parlance.'