Civilization and Its Discontents
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Number of Pages: 127
Published: 1989-07
List price: $12.95
ISBN-10: 0393301583
ISBN-13: 9780393301588
In what remains one of his most seminal papers, Freud considers the incompatibility of civilisation and individual happiness, and the tensions between the claims of society and the individual. We all know that living in civilised groups means sacrificing a degree of personal interest, but couldn’t you argue that it in fact creates the conditions for our happiness? Freud explores the arguments and counter-arguments surrounding this proposition, focusing on what he perceives to be one of society’s greatest dangers; ’civilised’ sexual morality. After all, doesn’t rep...