Is it true that sheep and cows have Oedipal complexes?

mibmob

Do you mean do they HAVE sex with their dams or do they WANT to have sex with thier dams which is entirely different. The complex is that you want to do it isn't it? Apr 06 05, 10:17 AM

Flynn_17

I'm not sure, which is why I'm hoping someone can explain it. I think an Oedipal complex when referring to animals is them wanting to mate with their mothers/ someone who the think is like their mother... Apr 06 05, 11:31 AM

Baloo55th

Has anyone ever psychoanalysed a sheep? The Oedipus complex is one of those dubious Freudian ideas formulated by a turn of the century Viennese with possibly interesting repressions of his own, and a penchant for projecting his own fixations on the world as a whole. And for cheating in reporting successes, into the bargain. Psychoanalysis is at best pseudo-science. It is not falsifiable (you can't prove them wrong by their own rules!), and has no agreed basis of theory. The only relation of it that seems to really work is Transactional Anaylsis, which is widely not practiced. Anyway, are sheep and cows complex enough to even have the possiblity of having complexes? Apr 06 05, 1:56 PM

Flynn_17

Sheep are, apparently. Apr 06 05, 2:58 PM

robboy

Ludicrous as it is, I'll say no anyway and try to keep a straight face about it. It's not the wanting to have sex with their mom part, it's the compulsion to kill dad that's got me smiling. The two urges kind of go hand in hand with the Oedipal Complex, don't they? Apr 06 05, 3:40 PM

Flynn_17

That's true, Rob. Apr 06 05, 4:10 PM

satguru

Technically man is virtually the only animal that doesn't usually mate with close family members. The animal kingdom rarely discriminates between members of the family or not, as anyone who has cats will see. Farm animals would therefore be no exception, except to say true oedipus complexes involve both love for the mother but also a wish to kill the father to take her oneself. And the other point was that Oedipus wasn't aware it was his mother, so people who are shouldn't really be compared with him! Apr 06 05, 9:13 PM