Freud and utopia : from cosmological narcissism to the soft dictatorship of reason / M. Andrew Holowchak.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Holowchak, M. Andrew (Mark Andrew), 1958-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Freud, Sigmund, 1856-1939.

Freud, Sigmund.

Positivism.

Utopias.

Physical Description:

ix, 155 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Lanham, Md. : Lexington Books, [2011]

Summary:

Though he never makes Utopia the subject of any one work, this book is an attempt to tease out Freud's notion of Utopia through examination of his group-psychology works such as The Future of an Illusion, Civilization and Its Discontents, "Why War?" and "On the Question of a Weltanschauung." By tracing out three key blows to human narcissism through scientific advance, this book shows the extent to which biological factors affect human psychology and influence the prospect of future human happiness - the triumph of ego over id. The lure of Utopian thinking for Freud is its dependence on human imagination, which relies on wish-impulses that seek fulfillment. It is also the drive in Freud, perhaps based fundamentally on his hidden wishes, to demonstrate that psychoanalysis is a profitable investigative tool not only for individual neuroses, but also tor group neuroses and the social, political, and ethical issues underlying them. Freud's perceived successes with the psychoanalytic investigation of group neuroses emboldened him to explore utopianism psychoanalytically. Book jacket.

Contents:

Positively Freud

Religion and utopia

Philosophy and utopia

Science and utopia

The legitimacy of psychoanalysis

A fourth blow to human narcissism.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780739168561

0739168568

OCLC:

742512231