The Self as Other: Introduction to Freud

Undergraduate / Graduate

This course is an introduction to one of the most influential and controversial thinkers of the twentieth century: Sigmund Freud. With his theory of the unconscious, Freud revolutionized how we understand what it means to be human. We do not act as rational, willful agents, he suggested, but are compelled through life by complexly organized desires and drives, much of which we are not aware of. Many of Freud's terms-such as "Oedipus complex" or "superego"-have become so popularized that they are now part of common parlance, yet they are rarely understood as Freud meant. This course will take seriously the therapeutic imperative of Freud's work and cover his major texts, including his early case studies on hysteria, his theories of psychosexual development and pathology, and his master narratives about the rise of civilization. We will read Freud in his context, learning about the history of psychoanalysis and life in early twentieth-century Vienna. No prerequisites required; this course is open to all students.