In the works of Weber, Freud, and Foucault we find a distinct depiction of the relation between the self and modern civilization. This thesis describes that relation as "entrapment": the self has become mired in the life orders of modernity and is unable to reign over them. The primary hazard of these orders is their imposition of subjectivities that are highly circumscribed, subjectivities more responsive to external functions and imperatives than to the expression of individuality. Underlying this outlook is a new consciousness of time; in lieu of evolutionary and progressive theories of history, a tragic view emerges. History is seen as devoid of any deterministic necessity, yet its collective products have become too weighty and entrenched to allow for radical, over-arching political transformations. The thesis examines how, beginning with these shared presuppositions, Weber, Freud, and Foucault develop very different understandings of entrapment, understandings that pose fundamental challenges to one another.

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This mini-thesis attempts to understand what it means to fear death. It does this by first investigating how Heidegger and then Freud explain fear of death. Heidegger believes that the relationship Dasein has towards its own death allows it the possibility of 'authenticity'. Death presents to Dasein its ownmost potentiality for being. Heidegger explains that this means that in facing death Dasein has the possibility of completeness and absolute individuality. Dasein is called to this possibility of authenticity by the anxiety it experiences in the face of its own death. However, Dasein does not necessarily respond to this call. By reducing anxiety to a fear it is possible for Dasein to disregard its fear of death and correspondingly not respond to the call of authenticity. Thus, for Heidegger, fear of death is symptomatic of inauthentic Dasein's relationship towards its own death. For Freud, on the other hand, death cannot be conceptualised without reference to the social world. Freud believes that the relationship we have towards our own death is learnt through living in this world. Furthermore, Freud argues that it is impossible for the human being to ever understand that death can be an annihilation. When the human being dreads, fears or even desires death, Freud believes it does so symbolically. In this regard Freud explains, by way of the death instinct, that the psyche understands death as a return to before birth. One of Freud's explanations of fear of death is that this fear is actually for the loss of Eros. This fear, however, is in conflict with the phantasy to return to before birth. One of the results of this conflict is the arousal of anxiety. The differences and similarities between Freud's and Heidegger's explanations are detailed in the final chapter. Examining these details leads to a closer investigation of Freud's and Heidegger's explanations of anxiety. On this issue this mini-thesis finds that Freud's and Heidegger's explanations of anxiety are in conflict with each other. After attempting to avoid placing Freud and Heidegger against each other, this mini-thesis demonstrates that Heidegger's explanation of anxiety is lacking in detail. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sci.)-University of Natal, 1999.

Even if they rely on apparently quite different investigation domains and ideologies, both Freud and Bakhtin participate to that current which in the XXth century would upset the foundation of the positivist thought and would modify profoundly the traditional conception of science, language and the cartesian vision of the conscience and of the human subject. The thought of one as of the other, therefore, surpasses largely the principal reason of their research: If Freud applies the principles of the interpretation of dreams to the study of literary works, Bakhtin expands on the novel theory and questions polyphony and dialogism of all language. In conception of the literary speech of Bakhtin and of the dreams of Freud, the signs, the speeches and the multiple intentions or affects that animate them are constantly in dynamic interaction and obey it seems, to mechanism of similar transformation. The problem of interpretation is at the center of their works. The two authors are at the same time theoreticians and analysts of whom the theory of literature, of speeches, of work and dreams, pass necessarily by an act of interpretation. We are aware of the role played by the novels of Dostoievski on the theoretical work of Bakhtin. For Freud also, the principles of the work on dreams, according to his own affirmation develop with the interpretation process. We have to think that for him as for the Russian researcher, the theory is always in a link of active complicity with the interpretation; that one and the other are constantly mutually reflected and determined. A compared analysis of their texts can put in evidence the proximity of the thought processes of the thinkers, but can reveal also the differences, with their consequences from the point of view of ideology, ontology, even ethics.

The thesis examines the nature of political reform and the role of culture in the liberal utopia envisaged by Richard Rorty in Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity. Rorty's overall project is outlined, and situated within the anti-foundationalist critique that has been the hallmark of his recent career. The perilous position of nonintellectuals within the otherwise-acceptable utopia is detailed. Harold Bloom's conception of the strong poet is then examined and compared to the use Rorty makes of Bloom; I conclude that the faults of the liberal utopia lie primarily in establishing the strong poet as that culture's hero. I turn to Rorty's reading of Sigmund Freud, a reading which consistently inverts Freud's insights in order to make Freud fit into Rorty's plan. Finally, I re-examine Freud and suggest ways in which he can be used to correct the faults of the liberal utopia.

This thesis traces Freud's debt to classical Greece and argues that the development of his theory should not be considered apart from its roots in this legacy. The psychoanalytic project sheltered under the umbrella of Altertumswissenschaft and used the "ancient world to illuminate the modern". Winckelmann's Hellenism provided the foundations to German culture in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and dominated the educational and cultural institutions in which Freud lived and worked. Nietzsche later challenged Winckelmann's Apollian vision of Greece, and his "psychology of the Dionysian condition" acknowledged both irrational passion and sexuality. Freud is heir to both Winckelmann's and Nietzsche's Greece, and the dialectical tension between the rational and irrational, the mind and the body, that is evident in the reception of classical Greece in the nineteenth century is often paralleled in Freud's work. Hellenism is an essential element in Freud's theory of dreams and the unconscious. Greek mythology grounds the Oedipus complex, and informs his theorising on human sexuality. It plays an influential role in early sexology, and many of the challenges to psychiatry and neurology have their origin in Greek classicism. Not only does psychoanalysis rely on content drawn from this legacy, but its methodology as well as it structure are deeply influenced by Freud's knowledge of ancient Greece and his involvement in classical scholarship. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.

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Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:28:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2002-10-12Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:16:57Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 dalcol_dml_me_assis.pdf: 581229 bytes, checksum: 9165d6ce3f114b512edbae3ab956dcdc (MD5) / O presente trabalho tem como objeto o conceito de angústia na perspectiva aberta pelo fundador da psicanálise - S.Freud. Seu objetivo é o estudo da elaboração desse conceito ao longo da sua obra, desde suas origens - quando se encontra, nos casos clínicos, com o fenômeno de angústia - , sua revisão no meio da obra, entre 1915 e 1917, até sua conceituação final da angústia como sinal de alarme. Visa discutir as conseqüências dessa conceituação para o tratamento psicanalítico e faz algumas considerações sobre a angústia na cultura contemporânea. Realiza-se mediante um método que consiste em fazer um levantamento da origem e das mudanças da teoria, procurando apontar os impasses com os quais Freud se deparou na sua clínica e na elaboração do saber, identificando as conclusões a que chegou. Estabelece três períodos do desenvolvimento da elaboração do conceito de angústia na obra freudiana: as origens (1886-1900); período intermediário (1900-1920); última fase (1920-1933). Apresenta e discute as conseqüências para a clínica psicanalítica (tratamento) das descobertas que Freud fez sobre a angústia ao longo de sua investigação, principalmente do seu conceito final como sinal de alarme do perigo que o desejo inconsciente representa para o ego. Conclui que a angústia é um paradoxo porquanto indica, clinicamente, ao mesmo tempo, uma aproximação ao desejo inconsciente e um alerta do ego para colocar em curso medidas de afastamento. A implicação clínica reside em que o praticante da clínica psicanalítica deve acolher a angústia e levar o paciente a acolhê-la pela verdade inconsciente que ela aponta, a saber, que o sujeito é marcado pela perda, tendo isso implicações na sua vida... / The object of this work is the concept of angst within the open perspective of the founder of psychoanalysis, S. Freud. It elaborates on the concept of angst from its origins, found in his clinical cases together with the angst phenomenon, during its review, between 1915 and 1917, until its final conceptualization as a sign of distress. The consequences of this conceptualization to the psychoanalytical treatment and considerations on the subject of angst in the contemporary culture are also presented. The method used to carry out this study included a survey of the origins and changes of the theory, as well as the setbacks faced by Freud both in his clinical work and during the development of the knowledge based on his conclusions. Three phases were established for the develoment of the Freudian concept of angst: the origins phase (1886 to 1900), the intermediate phase (1900 to 1920) and the last phase (1920 to1933). The consequences of his conceptualization to the psychoanalysis clinical treatment, mainly his final conceptualization of the phenomenon as a sign of distress, and the dangers that the unconscious desire causes to the ego are also discussed. It concludes that angst is a paradox which indicates, clinically, an approximation to the unconscious desire and an alert for the ego to use withdrawal measures.Clinical implications involve the acceptance of angst by the clinician and his patient of the unconscious truth it reveals ,i.e., that the subject suffers from a loss which brings consequences to his life... (Complete abstract, click electronic access below)

Sociological interest in psychoanalytic thought, which began early in this century, has thus far emphasized the implications of Sigmund Freud's clinical discoveries. However, beginning in 1912, Freud produced a series of works which addressed social themes. These works included Totem and Taboo, Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego, The Future of an Illusion, Civilization and its Discontents, and Moses and Monotheism, as well as a number of papers dealing with social themes. This study began with a review of the social and intellectual influences on Freud's life and thought. Then a content analysis of Freud's social writings, identified above, was undertaken, to assess the significance for contemporary social theory of Freud's social thought. Categories for analysis were constructed: Society: Social Origins, Social Control and Social Change; Social Groups; the Family; Religion. Freud's ideas concerning these social categories and social institutions were explicated and an assessment of Freud as a social theorist was undertaken.