Freud and the Philosophy of the Unconscious - Einzelansicht

The theories of Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), the founder of psychoanalysis, have exercised a profound influence on thought and culture for over a hundred years. Many of Freud`s ideas, most prominently that of the ‘Unconscious’, have become integral to our everyday thinking about human behaviour and about our inner life. They have also exercised a significant influence on other academic disciplines, including philosophy. At the same, Freud`s claims about the nature and functioning of the human mind have always been highly contested, and they raise many intriguing philosophical questions.

This module introduces students to the most important elements of Freud`s psychoanalytic theories, and explores some of the philosophical issues which they raise. In the first half of the course, we will discuss Freud’s meta-psychological models of the human psyche, his reflections on clinical technique and the psychoanalytic situation, and his way of expanding his psychoanalytic theories in terms of a broader interpretation of culture and civilization. In the second half of the course, we will explore the philosophical implications of Freud's investigations by turning to a selection of authors which have developed the philosophical import of psychoanalysis in Freud's aftermath. Among the authors we will study are Lacan, Lear, Gardner, and Zupancic.

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