Audiobook1 hour
Reflections on War and Death
Written by Sigmund Freud
Narrated by LibriVox Community
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
()
About this audiobook
Anyone, as Freud tells us in Reflections on War and Death, forced to react against his own impulses may be described as a hypocrite, whether he is conscious of it or not. One might even venture to assert-it is still Freud's argument-that our contemporary civilisation favours this sort of hypocrisy and that there are more civilised hypocrites than truly cultured persons, and it is even a question whether a certain amount of hypocrisy is not indispensable to maintain civilisation. When this travesty of civilisation, this infallible state that has regimented and dragooned its citizens into obedience, goes to war, Freud is pained but not surprised that it makes free use of every injustice, of every act of violence that would dishonour the individual, that it employs not only permissible cunning but conscious lies and intentional deception against the enemy, that it absolves itself from guarantees and treaties by which it was bound to other states and makes unabashed confession of its greed and aspiration to power. For conscience, the idea of right and wrong, in the Freudian sense, is not the inexorable judge that teachers of ethics say it is: it has its origin in nothing but "social fear," and whereas in times of peace the state forbids the individual to do wrong, not because it wishes to do away with wrongdoing but because it wishes to monopolise it, like salt or tobacco, it suspends its reproach in times of war. The suppression of evil desires also ceases, and men, finding the moral ties loosened between large human units, commit acts of cruelty, treachery, deception and brutality the very possibility of which would have been considered incompatible with their degree of culture.(Summary by J.C. Grey, from The Bookman: A Review of Books and Life, v.47: Mar-Aug 1918. First sentence edited for clarity.)
Related to Reflections on War and Death
Related audiobooks
Civilization and Its Discontents Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Freud Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Joyful Wisdom Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5The Psychology of the Unconcious Processes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Myth of Mental Illness: Foundations of a Theory of Personal Conduct Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5On Becoming a Person: A Therapist's View of Psychotherapy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The History of Sexuality, Vol. 1: An Introduction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Discourse Upon the Origin and the Foundation the Inequality Among Mankind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Irrational Man: A Study in Existential Philosophy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5About Behaviorism Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sigmund Freud: Life and Work Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychological Experiments of the Twentieth Century Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Exile and the Kingdom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Philosophy For You
101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tao Te Ching: A New English Version Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Holographic Universe: The Revolutionary Theory of Reality Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Courage to Be Disliked: How to Free Yourself, Change Your Life, and Achieve Real Happiness Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Tao of Pooh Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Stoicism: How to Use Stoic Philosophy to Find Inner Peace and Happiness Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mastering Logical Fallacies: The Definitive Guide to Flawless Rhetoric and Bulletproof Logic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Buddhism 101: From Karma to the Four Noble Truths, Your Guide to Understanding the Principles of Buddhism Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Art of Living: Peace and Freedom in the Here and Now Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Book of Five Rings Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Be Free: An Ancient Guide to the Stoic Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dao De Jing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Conscious: A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of Communicating Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Many Lives, Many Masters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Courage to Be Happy: Discover the Power of Positive Psychology and Choose Happiness Every Day Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Life Is a 4-Letter Word: Laughing and Learning Through 40 Life Lessons Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Music Lesson: A Spiritual Search for Growth Through Music Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The End is Always Near: Apocalyptic Moments, from the Bronze Age Collapse to Nuclear Near Misses Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The More of Less Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5People of the Lie Vol. 1: Toward a Psychology of Evil Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Awakening Your Ikigai: How the Japanese Wake Up to Joy and Purpose Every Day Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Reflections on War and Death
Rating: 4.428571428571429 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
7 ratings0 reviews