Totem and Taboo

Sigmund Freud

ISBN 10: 1605206504 / ISBN 13: 9781605206509

Published by Cosimo Aug 2009, 2009

About this Item

Neuware - Sigmund Freud pioneered the study of the human unconscious-not only on the motivation and behavior of the individual but also as a factor in culture. Here, Freud applies his theories to the fields of archaeology, anthropology, and religion. This collection of four essays-written in 1912-3 and originally appearing in the journal \*Imago\*-includes:¿ 'The savage's dread of incest'¿ 'Taboo and the ambivalence of emotions'¿ 'Animism, magic and the omnipotence of thought'¿ 'The infantile recurrence of totemism'Initially rejected by those who study culture, Freud's methods were later adopted by many ethnographers, and this remains a vital work for approaching cultural issues today.Austrian psychiatrist SIGMUND FREUD (1856-1939) developed psychoanalysis-dialogue between doctor and patient-as a tool for understanding and curing psychopathologies. While some of his ideas have been supplanted by subsequent research and refinement, his work continues to profoundly influence the sciences and the humanities alike.

Seller Inventory # 9781605206509

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Totem and Taboo
• Publisher: Cosimo Aug 2009
• Publication Date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1605206504
• ISBN 13: 9781605206509
• Binding: Buch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 222W x 145H x 17D millimeters 222 millimeters width by 145 millimeters height by 17 millimeters depth
• Weight: 465 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Sigmund Freud pioneered the study of the human unconscious-not only on the motivation and behavior of the individual but also as a factor in culture. Here, Freud applies his theories to the fields of archaeology, anthropology, and religion. This collection of four essays-written in 1912-3 and originally appearing in the journal *Imago*-includes: - "The savage's dread of incest" - "Taboo and the ambivalence of emotions" - "Animism, magic and the omnipotence of thought" - "The infantile recurrence of totemism" Initially rejected by those who study culture, Freud's methods were later adopted by many ethnographers, and this remains a vital work for approaching cultural issues today. Austrian psychiatrist SIGMUND FREUD (1856-1939) developed psychoanalysis-dialogue between doctor and patient-as a tool for understanding and curing psychopathologies. While some of his ideas have been supplanted by subsequent research and refinement, his work continues to profoundly influence the sciences and the humanities alike.

From the Back Cover

In this brilliant exploratory attempt to extend the analysis of the individual psyche to society and culture, Freud laid the lines for much of his late thought, and made a major contribution to the psychology of religion. Primitive societies and the individual, he found, mutually illuminate each other, and the psychology of primitive races bears marked resemblances to the psychology of neurotics. Basing his investigations on the finding of anthropologists, Freud came to the conclusion that totemism and its accompanying restriction of exogamy derive form the savage's dread of incest, and that taboo customs parallel closely the symptoms of compulsion neurosis. The killing of the 'primal father' and the consequent sense of guilt are seen as determining events both in the misty tribal pre-history of mankind, and in the suppressed wishes of individual men. Both totemism and taboo are thus held to have their roots in the Oedipus complex, which lies at the basis of all neurosis, and, as Freud argues, is also the origin of religion, ethics, society, and art.