I'm always rather saddened when you bring up something like this rigsy - only because our UK newspapers are so unlikely too. Civilisation and Its Discontents is a key volume in my subject area, through Melanie Klein and the Tavistock School. I tend to the view of Freud in the eloquent link, though there was madness in his practice. My own stuff tends towards the way 'manners' prevent a transparency of interests (Elias, Veblen) and how much intellectual effort is wasted in this. It's pretty obvious that the material could be a very small part of human existence if we weren't in such competition in it.
On Oct 10, 7:03 pm, "[email protected]" <[email protected]> wrote: > http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/09/freud-as-philosopher > > A lively essay, I felt, explained some conservative views well- on > repression and self-restraint, ambivalence, emotional unawareness. > Cheer up! He feels the "good life" consists of love and work- and I > agree. > > Among works of Freud offered in one of my courses are "The Future of > an Illusion" (religion and tradition) and "Civilization and Its > Discontents" (individual vs. society). Perhaps others would like to > discuss these books- very slim books but "meaty". > > Or we could delve into some Eric Hoffer?Or get carried away with > Lenin's "State and Revolution"?
