Freud, aggressive drive and the law

Journal title PSICOTERAPIA E SCIENZE UMANE
Author/s Morris N. Eagle
Publishing Year 2018 Issue 2018/1
Language Italian Pages 14 P. 17-30 File size 91 KB
DOI 10.3280/PU2018-001002
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The paper discusses Freud’s view of the law as the implementation of collective violence on the individual violator. The focus is on the implications of the link between the superego (as the source of moral judgment) and the aggressive drive, and it is suggested that we need to be ever vigilant regarding the danger of employing the law as a disguised means of taking pleasure in collective violence. The paper also discusses Freud’s conception of personal responsibility, according to which we are responsible for all our behavior, including unconsciously motivated behavior (such as slips and dreams). However, the kind of responsibility Freud has in mind is not the moral responsibility of blameworthiness or praiseworthiness, but rather responsibility in the sense that, whether or not acknowledged, all our behavior reflects our personal desires and motives.

Keywords: Psychoanalysis; Law; Personal responsibility; Collective violence; Unconscious motivation

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  • Dibattiti. A proposito dell'articolo di Morris N. Eagle (2018) "Freud, la pulsione aggressiva e la legge" Pietro Pellegrini, in PSICOTERAPIA E SCIENZE UMANE 2/2018 pp.299
    DOI: 10.3280/PU2018-002007

Morris N. Eagle, Freud, la pulsione aggressiva e la legge in "PSICOTERAPIA E SCIENZE UMANE" 1/2018, pp 17-30, DOI: 10.3280/PU2018-001002