The Future of an Illusion

Freud, Sigmund. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. Volume 21. The Future of an Illusion(1927). Translated by James Strachey. London: Hogarth Press, 1968.

What we find in this text is the beginning of studies which were to be Freud's main interest for the rest of his life.


Text:

I: Freud beings the text with an observation of two characteristics of civilization. [1] First, he notes that it has developed the knowledge and capacity necessary to control and extract the wealth of the world and society to the satisfaction of human needs. [2] Civilization has also acquired all the regulations that are necessary in order to adjust the relationships of people to one another. This is especially so in terms of the distribution of wealth.

What this implies is that human beings are not independent of each other. [a] The mutuality of human relationships is influenced by the amount of instinctual satisfaction which the available wealth makes possible. [b] Because individual's can function as wealth in relation to another individual in terms of [i] economics-i.e., that capacity to work, and [ii]as sexual objects. [c] Each individual is considered to be an enemy to civilization. This is so even though civilization if supposed to be an object of universal interest. Therefore civilization must defend itself against the individual, and its regulations, institutions and commands which are all formed for and directed towards this task. (6)

From this Freud concludes that every civilization must be built upon coercion and renunciation of instincts. That is, we must recognize the fact that there is present in all humans destructive, and thus anti-social and anti-cultural, trends and that this is enough to determine the behaviour of a great many persons. To Freud, then, the question becomes on of whether and to what extent is it possible to lessen the burden of instinctual sacrifices imposed on us in order to reconcile people to those restrictions on life that must remain and provide then compensation for them. He notes that just as it is impossible to do without the control of the group by a minority, it is impossible top dispense with coercion in civilization. This statement is based on Freud's opinion that groups are inherently lazy and unintelligent, etc. (see: Group Psychology S.E:18). (7)...

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Gabrielle d'Estrées et une de ses soeurs

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FAMILY CONSTELLATION Theory and Practice of a Psychological Game

By Walter Toman, Ph.D.   Associate Professor of Psychology, Brandeis University 

This is a book for many, since most  people are interested in people (in  cluding themselves), and most enjoy a  good game. Family Constellation is a  psychological game which approximates  life yet is simple enough in its ingre  dients and explicit enough in its few  rules to be learned quickly from this  book. Before long you will think in  terms of family constellations, and with  their help figure out people, relation  ships, conflicts and psychological puz  zles. Mastery of the game can make a  difference in your entire life. From a set  of factual data about a person's brothers  and sisters, parents, uncles and aunts,  an expert in the game can predict the  nature of interpersonal problems with an  exactitude and specificity uncommon in  psychological diagnoses...

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The Joys and Complexities of Sibling Relationships

Relationships between brothers and sisters have often been called life's most influential and longest lasting relationships-lasting longer than ties to parents, spouses, or children (Bank & Kahn, 1997). Folk stories, biblical and classical literature, and numerous biographical and autobiographical accounts of childhood have focused on the role siblings play in children's development. Beginning in the 1980s, the influence of sibling relationships has received attention from developmental psychologists, researchers, and clinicians (Boer & Dunn, 1992). What factors influence the relationship between siblings? Why are some relationships marked by affection and closeness and others by conflict and hostility?

he variability in sibling relationships results from a complex interplay of factors that include gender, temperament, age spacing, and birth order. Sibling relationships are also embedded in the family and influenced by parenting behaviors, marital quality, and family conflict (Boer & Dunn, 1992; Stoneman & Brody, 1993; Eisenberg & Fabes, 1998). Although the research is not clear on what impact many of these variables have on brother and sister relationships, some effects appear with notable consistency. Among them is the role of the emotional climate of the family-marital conflict and marital satisfaction-in sibling relationships. Sibling conflict appears to be more frequent among brothers and sisters from homes where there are high levels of conflict. When there is a high amount of marital discord, there tends to be a high amount of aggression among the children (Boer & Dunn, 1992; Patten, 2000). While a sibling relationship can become more intense when parental care is emotionally unfulfilling or unavailable, the intensified bond can either be helpful or harmful to the children's relationship, depending on the attitudes and behaviors of the parents and the personalities of the children (Bank & Kahn, 1997; Boer & Dunn, 1992). For example, if the parents are physically or emotionally unavailable to care for their children, an older sibling may assume the parenting role and work to bind brothers and sisters together as a family. While most people would not consider this to be the best family dynamic, it can be a successful option for keeping children together and the family intact...

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Lessons from the Sweat of Our Bras

by MARIONROACH on APRIL 21, 2009

YOU KNOW YOU’RE A SISTER when you’re trying on a bra, and every bra nightmare you’re ever had comes sling-shotting back at your self-esteem as if loaded and launched from a 44DD, and you start to get just the eensiest bit hostile in the dressing room at the pooches and the pouches, and how you look nothing whatever like a Victoria’s Secret model, and you leave 19 bras in the dressing room, buying none, and go crying to the car and call your sister.

“Shopping for a bra,” may be the single worst phrase in the retail lexicon. Substitute, “purse,” or “shoes,” or even “sex toy,” and few if any of us feel the tiny slivers of icy humiliation that run right up the collective female spine when the word “bra” is tossed into that quote...

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Camilla Engman: Beauty, Mystery, and the Search For Connection

by PAIGE on JANUARY 7, 2009

'See You Next Wednesday,' by Camilla Engman

YOU CAN FEEL the craving in Camilla Engman’s work, but also the sense that something is just about to come true. And perhaps that is also the sister story of Engman: A sister to two brothers but not to another girl child, Camilla finds her sisters along the path–in the connection with her audience, in the sisterhood of other artists, and in close sister-friends. “I think we are always looking for our sisters,” says the prolific Swedish artist and illustrator. “Someone who loves you even when you are ugly inside/outside. And someone who wants to follow you on your adventures.”

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