Civilization and Its Discontents

by Sigmund Freud, Louis Menand, Peter Gay

Overview

For the 75th anniversary, a new edition of the seminal work with an introduction by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Louis Menand.

Civilization and Its Discontents may be Sigmund Freud's best-known work. Originally published in 1930, it seeks to answer ultimate questions: What influences led to the creation of civilization? How did it come to be? What determines its course? In this seminal volume of twentieth-century thought, Freud elucidates the contest between aggression, indeed the death drive, and its adversary eros. He speaks to issues of human creativity and fulfillment, the place of beauty in culture, and the effects of repression.

Louis Menand, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Metaphysical Club, contributor to The New Yorker, and professor of English at Harvard University, reflects on the importance of this work in intellectual thought and why it has become such a landmark book for the history of ideas.

Not available in hardcover for decades, this beautifully rendered anniversary edition will be a welcome addition to readers' shelves.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393059953
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	01/17/2005
Series:	Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud
Edition description:	The Standard Edition
Pages:	194
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) is one of the twentieth century's greatest minds and the founder of the psychoanalytic school of psychology. His many works include The Ego and the Id; An Outline of Psycho-Analysis; Inhibitions; Symptoms and Anxiety; New Introductory Lectures on Psycho-Analysis; Civilization and Its Discontent, and others.

Louis Menand, professor of English at Harvard University, is the author of The Metaphysical Club, which won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize in History. A longtime staff writer for The New Yorker, he lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Peter Gay (1923—2015) was the author of more than twenty-five books, including the National Book Award winner The Enlightenment, the best-selling Weimar Culture, and the widely translated Freud: A Life for Our Time.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Introduction
Sigmund Freud: A Brief Chronology
Translator’s Note

Civilization and its Discontents (1930)

Appendix A: Other Works of Freud

1. From “‘Civilized’ Sexual Morality and Modern Nervous Disease” (March 1908)
2. From “Thought for the Times on War and Death” (1915)
3. From Beyond the Pleasure Principle (1920)
4. From The Future of an Illusion (1927)
5. From Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud, Why War? (1932)
6. From Moses and Monotheism (1939)

Appendix B: Contemporary Reviews of Civilization and Its Discontents

1. E. G. Catlin, “Freud No Freudian” Saturday Review (27 September 1930)
2. Joseph Jastrow, “Unhappiness Psycho-Analyzed” Saturday Review of Literature (6 December 1930)
3. Harold D. Lasswell, “Review: Civilization and Its Discontents by Sigmund Freud,” American Journal of Sociology (September 1931)

Appendix C: Scholarly Responses to Civilization and Its Discontents

1. Herbert Marcuse, “The Dialectic of Civilization” (1955)
2. Philip Rieff, “Freud & the Value of Religion” (1959)
3. Paul Ricoeur, “On Metaculture & ‘Death Against Death’” (1970)

Select Bibliography

Index

Editorial Reviews

Norton is releasing this hardcover to celebrate the title's 75th anniversary. This edition includes an introduction by Pulitzer Prize winner Louis Menand. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Following on the heels of Beyond the Pleasure Principle and The Future of an Illusion, this new Broadview Edition of Civilization and Its Discontents concludes Todd Dufresne’s editorial trilogy on the late ‘philosophical’ Freud. Gregory Richter’s lucid and exact translation rejuvenates the text. Dufresne’s superb introduction renews our understanding of Freud’s final ‘romantic science’; it excerpts from other works by Freud and from critical responses to Freud in order to provide context and perspective. At last a truly critical edition of Freud!” — Mikkel Borch-Jacobsen, University of Washington

“Civilization and Its Discontents is one of Sigmund Freud’s darkest texts, offering an analysis of culture by reflecting on the place of death in a person’s life. Todd Dufresne’s thoughtful edition showcases the full relevance of this text for a historical, philosophical, and psychoanalytical reading by adding an informative introduction, references to other works by Freud, as well as excerpts from the work by scholars such as Herbert Marcuse and Paul Ricœur who have written about Freud’s text. The new translation by Gregory C. Richter is excellent. This edition of Civilization and Its Discontents will be very useful for the classroom, but also of interest for any general reader who wants to learn more about Freud’s late work.” — Liliane Weissberg, University of Pennsylvania

“Gregory Richter’s new translation of Civilization and Its Discontents is complemented by Todd Dufresne’s careful contextualization and lively interrogation of Freud’s most widely read text. Dufresne’s pithy introduction stages the confrontation between Freud’s ‘late Romantic pessimism’ and Romain Rolland’s optimistic embrace of the ‘oceanic’ as the font of religion, morality, and, by extension, civilization. Dufresne’s larger argument is that Freud’s psychology is inseparable from his ‘metabiology’—inseparable, that is, from Freud’s belief in the transmission of acquired characteristics. Whether or not Lamarckism is to be understood as Freud’s signature failing, Dufresne’s critical reading challenges his audience to take up the task of interpretation—in this case, to locate Freud’s logic of the drives.” — Vanessa Parks Rumble, Boston College

“This is an excellent edition of Civilization and its Discontents and will be particularly helpful in teaching contexts for both undergraduate and graduate classes. The translation by Gregory C. Richter is quite accessible and includes helpful footnotes which add to the readability of the text. … The three appendices included in the volume speak to the strength of this edition as one which can be utilized at multiple teaching levels. The culling of texts from Freud’s own work in the first appendix (A) which address similar themes to those found in Civilization and its Discontents, is particularly helpful and well chosen. The third appendix (C) which addresses the central scholarly responses to this text make this edition ideal for advanced undergraduate or graduate courses.” — Athena V. Colman, Brock University

From the Publisher

Newly designed in a uniform format, each new paperback in the Standard Edition opens with a biographical essay on Freud's life and work—along with a note on the individual volume

Peter Gay