PHIL4429 · Philosophy

Freud and Philosophy

Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences

The course is designed to acquaint students with the scope and evolution of Freud's thinking and with significant developments in psychoanalysis since his time. Students will study and assess Freud's and Breuer's first formulation of the nature of hysteria; Freud's groundbreaking work in dream interpretation and the nature of unconscious processes; Freud's attempt to apply his novel theory of unconscious mechanisms to cultural anthropology as well as individual psychology; and the implications of the ongoing revisions in Freud's classification of the drives.Above all, we'll focus on Freud's attempt, over the course of many years, to account for the origin of human morality and guilt, and his ongoing assessment of the role of Judaism in his life and in his culture.