Sigmund Freud as a Critical Social Theorist

Book excerpt: Sigmund Freud’s work has influenced the modern world in many profound ways. The “father of psychoanalysis,” Freud wrote numerous works wherein his psychoanalytic perspectives were applied to history, society, religion, and other cultural phenomenon. By expanding his psychoanalytic theories into these realms, Freud insured his place within the disciplines of philosophy, sociology, history, theology, and religious studies, wherein his works are still studied. More specifically, his psychoanalytic theories were adopted, revised, and expanded upon by philosophers and sociologists, such as Theodor W. Adorno, Erich Fromm, Herbert Marcuse, Jürgen Habermas, Jacques Derrida, Julia Kristeva, Gilles Deleuze, Judith Butler, Slavoj Žižek, and many others, who in some cases radicalized the latent political content within Freud’s thought, using it to critique modern industrialized capitalism and theorize about the possibility for alternative forms of societies more conducive towards mental health. Although Freud is often marginalized, or even denigrated, we think there are still elements within the corpus of Freud’s work that are valuable for both diagnosing social problems and addressing such problems psychoanalytically. The book demonstrates the lasting relevancy of Freud’s thought to a variety of disciplines, as they diagnose a myriad of social issues.