Democracy and its discontents – 28.04.2014

In Civilization and Its Discontents (“Das Unbehagen in der Kultur”, 1930), Freud argued that the individual’s quest for instinctual freedom, that is to say his primary drives, are intrinsically opposed to the requirements of civilization, which therefore inevitably gives rise to dissatisfaction and neurosis. As the net effect of civilization is to increase unhappiness, Freud finds in it a paradox, which he does little to elucidate. Civilization seems to be a force above man, a deus ex machina to which he is unwillingly subject. But, if so, how has this come about, historically, biologically, sociologically and economically?