Abstract
The author analyses Freud’s letter to Einstein (“Why War?”) putting it into relation with more modern reflections on war. In particular, he criticises Freud’s central thesis that cultivation works against war: on the contrary, war is a very mature product of cultivation, it is to generic violent conflict what marriage is to free sexual union. In addition, he analyses pacifism (of which Freud was a representative) as a recent historical product: it established itself starting in the 18th century, when the producers of wealth (workers, entrepreneurs, technological innovators) replaced warriors (the nobility) in the role of leadership they once had in societies. It is in a society dominated by production that the ideal of avoiding war, as expressed by socialist and liberal-democratic narratives, gains ground.
How to Cite:
Benvenuto, S., (2022) “Freud, and the Enjoyment of War”, The European Journal of Psychoanalysis 9(2), 1–11.
Rights: In Copyright
Downloads
Downloads are not available for this article.