Sigmund Freud’s Beyond the Pleasure Principle stands as a foundational text in psychoanalysis, delving into profound questions about life, death, pleasure and pain. Through a combination of contextualising and philosophical contributions, this critical edition and commentary sheds new light on Freud’s text. In a series of contributions spanning approaches from historical exegesis to philosophical reflections on key concepts and ideas presented in Beyond the Pleasure Principle, the evolution and inconsistencies found in the various versions of the text are highlighted. Particular emphasis is placed on the conceptualisation of trauma and drive theory. These commentaries also provide context for the work, examining its position within the Freudian corpus, its role in the collaborative project with Sándor Ferenczi in speculative bioanalysis, and its clinical insights into war neuroses, trauma, bonding and aggression in post-World War I society. By critically examining diverse interpretations of Freud’s work, Towards the Limits of Freudian Thinking re-actualises this classic text in contemporary philosophy and psychoanalysis, rendering it accessible to both specialised and broader audiences.

DIVDIVRenowned social psychologist Erich Fromm’s classic study of Freud’s most important—and controversial—ideas/divDIV Bestselling philosopher and psychoanalyst Erich Fromm contends that the principle behind Freud’s work—the wellspring from which psychoanalysis flows—boils down to one well-known belief: “And the truth shall set you free.” The healing power of truth is what Freud used to cure depression and anxiety, cutting through repression and rationalizations, and it provided the foundation for modern psychology./divDIV /divDIVFreud’s work, however, was not without its flaws. Though he pioneered many of the practices still in use today, Freud’s perspective was imperfect. In Greatness and Limitation of Freud’s Thought, Fromm deepens the understanding of Freud by highlighting not just his remarkable insights, but also his flaws, on topics ranging from dreams to sexuality. /divDIV /divDIVThis ebook features an illustrated biography of Erich Fromm including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the author’s estate./div/div

The acclaimed social psychologist and New York Times–bestselling author of The Art of Loving examines what drives human beings. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Sigmund Freud was the first scientist to attempt to present the reality of the individual human being’s unconscious and to find ways of dealing with unconscious forces. In the early 1930s, Erich Fromm built upon Freud’s insights on the individual and began to study the unconscious of society. However, this attempt soon revealed the limits of the theory of drives, which Freud used to bring his discoveries into a systematic explanatory context. In Beyond Freud, Fromm discusses his findings in relation to Freud’s. In studying both the unconsciousness of the individual and of society, Fromm found that Freud wrongly based psychology totally on natural factors; Freud needed to include social influences as well. This book is broken into three dynamic sections: 1. Man’s Impulse Structure and Its Relation to Culture 2. Psychic Needs and Society (1956 lecture) 3. Dealing with the Unconscious in Psychotherapeutic Practice (1959 lecture) Beyond Freud explores the understanding of psychoanalytic theory, relating Freudian observations and practices to the needs of society; handling the unconscious in psychotherapeutic practice; and considering the relevance of Freud’s discoveries for therapy today.

Addresses the limits in treating pain psychoanalytically, and offers a phenomenological description of psychic pain, particularly the pain of a lost loved one.

(Dover thrift editions).

Psychoanalysis has long been charged as being a pseudoscience. This timely book explores and reexamines the nature of psychoanalysis within contemporary debates about science, epistemology, unconscious experience, and the philosophy of mind. Distinguished scholars and practitioners from diverse backgrounds in psychoanalysis, philosophy, and psychology offer both favorable and critical accounts of psychoanalytic theory and practice from Freud and Lacan through contemporary revisionist philosophical perspectives.