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sarahreffstrup's review against another edition
2.0
Vi har læst et uddrag på 5 kapitler i undervisningen og jeg må indrømme at det ikke gav ret meget mening for mig. Heller ikke anden gang...
oskhen's review against another edition
4.0
In order to understand psychoanalysis, and especially works like Eros and Civilization, one must understand the datum, quoting Hendrix, "It's all in your mind."
On the extreme end we might look at the subjective idealism of Bishop Berkeley's A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge, in which nothing exists outside of the human mind.
More conservatively is for example Lacan "The privilege of the subject seems to be ..., as soon as I perceive, my representations belong to me. This is how the world is struck with a presumption of idealization". There is of course also the field of Phenomenology which has entered into psychoanalysis more and more, which analyses that point in which consciousness and phenomena meet.
The important point is that it does not matter whether we believe reality exists out there, in here or somewhere inbetween, either way we must accept, if we are to take psychology even the least bit seriously, that the reality we interact with, as subjects, is in our mind. The rational man which the modern man claims himself to be does not exist. The thing he has achieved is rather the opposite, by claiming himself to be objective he has managed to become blind to his idealizations. "I am not biased, I am sane, I am rational" says the fool.
With this in mind, we might understand Civilization for what it is; a community. Civilization is not simply the city, it is not confined to its material existence. Its material existence is rather a symptom of something else, of its foundation, which is based in the projection and interjection of the mind. That is to say, its foundation rather lies in the psychological plane; in technical terms it rests on a common neurosis. More specifically, we find the basis of civilization at that point in which repression begins. Although its origin patriarchical, a true patriarchical organization of dominion would not classify as civilization. Violence is crude, and external, centralized, displays of power will never be able to match the organization of dominion that is discipline; internalized, respressive, self-imposed.
"In a strict sense, civilization begins only in the brother clan, when the taboos, now self-imposed by the ruling brothers, implement repression in the common interest of preserving the group as a whole."
In other words, civilization begins with the birth of guilt.
"It introjects into the individuals, and thus sustains, the principal prohibitions ... on which civilization depends."
This is the fundamental dialectic of Eros and Civilization; Civilization depends on the repression of Eros. History, then, is marked by the return of the repressed. The repressed bubbles up from our unconscious, is projected into external phenomena and then able to be discerned. This is, by definition, the only way for the unconscious to be made conscious, which is the aim of psychoanalysis, by analyzing the symptoms of repression and tracing the phenomena to its root.
Thus we might understand the dialectic of man and civilization, of the symbiosis between them and of its consequences. The external antagonism between man and his society is mirrored on a different plane, namely in man's psyche. Civilization serves as the ultimate screen for projection, and we find in our everyday external struggle the return of the repressed.
On the extreme end we might look at the subjective idealism of Bishop Berkeley's A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge, in which nothing exists outside of the human mind.
More conservatively is for example Lacan "The privilege of the subject seems to be ..., as soon as I perceive, my representations belong to me. This is how the world is struck with a presumption of idealization". There is of course also the field of Phenomenology which has entered into psychoanalysis more and more, which analyses that point in which consciousness and phenomena meet.
The important point is that it does not matter whether we believe reality exists out there, in here or somewhere inbetween, either way we must accept, if we are to take psychology even the least bit seriously, that the reality we interact with, as subjects, is in our mind. The rational man which the modern man claims himself to be does not exist. The thing he has achieved is rather the opposite, by claiming himself to be objective he has managed to become blind to his idealizations. "I am not biased, I am sane, I am rational" says the fool.
With this in mind, we might understand Civilization for what it is; a community. Civilization is not simply the city, it is not confined to its material existence. Its material existence is rather a symptom of something else, of its foundation, which is based in the projection and interjection of the mind. That is to say, its foundation rather lies in the psychological plane; in technical terms it rests on a common neurosis. More specifically, we find the basis of civilization at that point in which repression begins. Although its origin patriarchical, a true patriarchical organization of dominion would not classify as civilization. Violence is crude, and external, centralized, displays of power will never be able to match the organization of dominion that is discipline; internalized, respressive, self-imposed.
"In a strict sense, civilization begins only in the brother clan, when the taboos, now self-imposed by the ruling brothers, implement repression in the common interest of preserving the group as a whole."
In other words, civilization begins with the birth of guilt.
"It introjects into the individuals, and thus sustains, the principal prohibitions ... on which civilization depends."
This is the fundamental dialectic of Eros and Civilization; Civilization depends on the repression of Eros. History, then, is marked by the return of the repressed. The repressed bubbles up from our unconscious, is projected into external phenomena and then able to be discerned. This is, by definition, the only way for the unconscious to be made conscious, which is the aim of psychoanalysis, by analyzing the symptoms of repression and tracing the phenomena to its root.
"The return of the repressed makes up the tabooed and subterranean history of civilization. And the exploration of this history reveals not only the secret of the individual but also that of civilization. Freud's individual psychology is in its very essence social psychology. Repression is a historical phenomenon. The effective subjugation of the instincts to repressive controls is imposed not by nature but by man. ... the unfree individual introjects his masters and their commands into his own mental apparatus. The struggle against freedom reproduces itself in the psyche of man, as the self-repression of the repressed individual, and his self-repression in turn sustains his masters and their institutions. It is this mental dynamic which Freud unfolds as the dynamic of civilization."
Thus we might understand the dialectic of man and civilization, of the symbiosis between them and of its consequences. The external antagonism between man and his society is mirrored on a different plane, namely in man's psyche. Civilization serves as the ultimate screen for projection, and we find in our everyday external struggle the return of the repressed.
"The processes that create the ego and superego also shape and perpetuate specific societal institutions and relations. Such psychoanalytical concepts as sublimation, identification, and introjection have not only a psychical but also a social content: they terminate in a system of institutions, laws, agencies, things, and customs that confront the individual as objective entities. Within this antagonistic system, the mental conflict between ego and superego, between ego and id, is at one and the same time a conflict between the individual and his society. The latter embodies the rationality of the whole, and the individual's struggle against the repressive forces is a struggle against objective reason."
cinaedussinister's review against another edition
1.0
Reading this caused physical pain. Ever wanted to know what would happen if Marx was Freud's mom? Well this would be the child of that godforsaken union.
dsbookie's review against another edition
3.0
This, like all the other critical theory books I have read recently, was for a class. Though I have been more exposed to this topic, it is still difficult to understand completely.
I have enjoyed this class and the discussions because it is helping me to understand the dense theory, but I would not be able to understand it very well on my own.
If you like challenging texts, pick this up. Marcuse is not for the weary reader.
I have enjoyed this class and the discussions because it is helping me to understand the dense theory, but I would not be able to understand it very well on my own.
If you like challenging texts, pick this up. Marcuse is not for the weary reader.
at1130's review against another edition
1.0
An old white windbag takes on the philosophy of another old white windbag and it's exactly as enlightening as you would think. I am going to live forever so that I can warn every person ever born not to read this boring, misogynistic drivel.
aguattery's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
This was my first dip into psychology theory text. That being said, I only understood about half of it but I'm very excited to to read again in the future. I think Marcuse presents some very interesting ideas and critiques on Freud.