Rick:

It is possible for an original and energetic mind to come out with brilliant new ideas that make us all smack our heads and say “Wow! I never thought of it that way before!” and yet for the ideas to be W-R-O-N-G. Or right. The proof is in the pudding.

None of Marx’s predictions about the future development of Western society came true; and when Marx-soaked intellectuals tried to carry out his suggested program, the results were horrible disasters. So cross out Marx.

Freud did less obvious damage; but he honestly believed (as Marx did) that he was doing science; and science has proved this belief mistaken. (Though perhaps not entirely: see my review of Eli Zaretsky’s Secrets of the Soul here — “The old witch doctor is with us yet, for a while longer, at least.”)

Darwin has fared much better, and natural selection is now the scientific consensus. (Even the Intelligent Design people believe in natural selection! They just don’t acknowledge that it is the origin of new species

– that’s the hand of God. You have to read the I.D.-ers carefully to figure this out.) Darwin was wrong about a lot of things — as he was bound to be, knowing nothing about genetics — but his big idea was correct. Marx and Freud, by contrast, were right or part-right about some small points (yes, “modes of production” do play a large role in shaping civilizations, and yes, we do concoct fictions in order to make sense of our lives) but their big ideas were busts.