Freud and the Good Life

1 Credit · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

Sigmund Freud's "Civilization and Its Discontents" painted a darkly pessimistic vision of current and future prospects for human happiness. He explained that as civilization grows it will gain an increasingly repressive upper hand with the result that coming generations can look forward to diminished freedom for self, family, pleasure, and love. Even worse, cultural expectations will be internalized through socialization, making it virtually impossible for individuals to know what life could be like if they were truly free and able to choose authentic lives. Through an examination of Ernest Becker's "Denial of Death" and Soren Kierkegaard's "The Concept of Dread" and "The Sickness Unto Death," this brief course will consider alternative pathways beyond inauthenticity to a life marked by freely chosen purpose and authentic selfhood..