Civilization And Its Discontents
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Edition: Revised edition
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Wear and tear with damage
Pages: Good
Condition remarks: Tears repaired with non-acidic tape. Jacket still structural
One of the most penetrating and enduring works in the history of psychological thought, Civilization and Its Discontents presents Sigmund Freud's bold argument that human happiness is fundamentally at odds with the demands of organised society. Written in 1929 and translated here by Joan Riviere, with a revised and newly edited edition by James Strachey, the work chronicles the tension between the individual's drive for instinctual freedom — rooted in Eros and the pleasure principle — and the repressive forces of civilisation that demand conformity, renunciation, and guilt. Freud constructs his thesis with the precision of a clinician and the sweep of a philosopher, moving from the oceanic feeling of religious experience to the destructive undercurrent of the death drive, known as Thanatos, that he believed lurked beneath all human culture. Part of the prestigious International Psycho-Analytical Library, this edition stands as a landmark in both psychoanalytic theory and Western intellectual history. Freud's prose, even in translation, carries an authoritative lucidity that makes this dense philosophical treatise accessible without sacrificing its rigorous depth. The work has profoundly influenced disciplines far beyond psychology — from political philosophy and sociology to literary theory and cultural criticism. For any reader who has ever wondered why civilised life so often feels like a quiet form of suffering, Freud's unflinching diagnosis remains as urgent and unsettling today as when it was first written.
Author: Sigmund Freud
Format: Hardback
Published: 1963, The Hogarth Press and the Institute of Psycho-Analysis
Genre: Psychology
Edition: Revised edition
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Wear and tear with damage
Pages: Good
Condition remarks: Tears repaired with non-acidic tape. Jacket still structural
One of the most penetrating and enduring works in the history of psychological thought, Civilization and Its Discontents presents Sigmund Freud's bold argument that human happiness is fundamentally at odds with the demands of organised society. Written in 1929 and translated here by Joan Riviere, with a revised and newly edited edition by James Strachey, the work chronicles the tension between the individual's drive for instinctual freedom — rooted in Eros and the pleasure principle — and the repressive forces of civilisation that demand conformity, renunciation, and guilt. Freud constructs his thesis with the precision of a clinician and the sweep of a philosopher, moving from the oceanic feeling of religious experience to the destructive undercurrent of the death drive, known as Thanatos, that he believed lurked beneath all human culture. Part of the prestigious International Psycho-Analytical Library, this edition stands as a landmark in both psychoanalytic theory and Western intellectual history. Freud's prose, even in translation, carries an authoritative lucidity that makes this dense philosophical treatise accessible without sacrificing its rigorous depth. The work has profoundly influenced disciplines far beyond psychology — from political philosophy and sociology to literary theory and cultural criticism. For any reader who has ever wondered why civilised life so often feels like a quiet form of suffering, Freud's unflinching diagnosis remains as urgent and unsettling today as when it was first written.