Several quite enthusiastic comments
on my forthcoming lectures on Freud have made me fear that I have been guilty
of bait and switch advertising. Inasmuch
as I am a philosopher given to easy allusions to Herbert Marcuse and the Frankfurt
School, one might reasonably anticipate that the lectures would be a fruity
mixture of kulturkritik and dire predictions
of the Untergang des Abendlandes. Alas, nothing could be further from the
truth. After some opening remarks about
the dangers of our current political situation, I shall devote the remainder of
my time to a focused examination of the core of Freud’s professional work: the discovery of the unconscious. There will be some, but really not very much,
sex talk, and absolutely no reference
to Civilization and its Discontents
or Moses and Monotheism. On the other hand, there will be a great deal
on primary and secondary thought processes, countertransference, resistance,
and overdetermination in the dreamwork.
Why shall I be behaving in a manner
apparently deliberately designed to disappoint?
Because I find Freud’s discussion of the unconscious conceptually
fascinating, and his musings about Western Civilization not very interesting at
all.
Lord, what have I done? As you may have noticed, I am obsessed with
how many “views” my video-ed lectures get, and here I am driving potential
viewers away. It is enough to make one
suspect that I am engaged in neurotically self-defeating behavior. But I digress …
Looking forward to your Freud lectures. You knew Marcuse. What do you think of Eros and Civilization? I read it in 1972, and was not impressed. My favorite book on Freud is Philip Rieff, Freud: The Mind of a Moralist. Also read an obscure book comparing Freud and Marx. It was very interesting. Too bad I can't remember the title.
ReplyDeleteI looked up my obscure reference. It is by Martin Kalin and is titled The Utopian Flight From Unhappiness: Freud Against Marx on Social Progress. Worth a look, especially for Marxist Freudians. Even for Freudian Marxists!
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