freud and hegel take on the

ever-changing nature of:

by zoe tillman

sigmund freud georg wilhelm friedrich hegel

Hmph...

Oh my.

I just don't understand, dr. freud...

one afternoon, the long deceased psychoanalyst sigmund freud and philosopher georg wilhelm friedrich hegel were watching television...

Ahh, I see. Perhaps I can help you understand...

What? ...why is the world so violent these days?

I suppose men are just aggressive, mr.

hegel.

i'm not talking about a rugby match, friend, i mean capital-v violence...

please do.

well, In the beginning, there was the primal father...

I dominate you.

says who?

i reject your

authority.

i am almost irrelevant in

this male-dominated

world.

i covet our father's power and i also desire to possess our mother.

Agreed. We must kill

our father.

father, you've left us no choice. we must kill you.

I am free of my father, but i am still

not satisfied...

...I must kill my

brother.

one last game of

hoops...?

there is only one solution...

The death of the brothers brings on a brief period of peaceful, matriarchal rule...

this doesn't feel very

permanent.

...but her reign is short-

i dominate you...

here we go again.

but what does familial strife have to do with anythiing? how did we get from them to this?

i'm getting there!

Men realized that to keep their power, they had to find a way to control groups larger than just their respective families...

We used lynching!

using these and many other violent tactics, control, in the name of "civilization," was imposed on a resisting majority...

i abused my authority as an officer of the law and caused an

entire city to divide and riot.

...by a minority that learned to use coercion and force.

This is starting to make sense.

Naturally.

Continue please.

as you

It goes without saying that a civilization that leaves so large a number of its participants unsatisfied...

...neither has nor deserves the prospect of a lasting existence. but no one has yet found a way to break this cycle.

...and drives them into revolt...

Now I'm definitely starting to understand.

fantastic

but it seems that more must be at stake psychologically for this kind of violence to have evolved into the norm. i have my own theory you know...

please

it seems as though, in one way or another, your oppressive

groups always see the oppressed as subservient,

agreed?

agreed.

well i believe that men, in their desperate search for

recognition, see oppression of the subservient through fear as the ultimate way of

being recognized.

i like where this is

headed.

Thank you. So regardless of whether the struggle is between the father and son, or the oppressive and the

oppressed...

...violence has evolved as a means of getting recognition, and will continue to grow worse until we can end the domination of one social

class, gender or race over another.

may i interject?

who are

i do not believe we have been

introduced. I am herbert

he must be new...

i couldn't help but overhear your

conversation.

and while i agree, i believe there is another issue that

has contributed to the process you are

discussing.and that

is...?

the repression

of eros.

fascinating...

you mean sex?

well of course sexual repression plays a role. I've already discussed that.

i covet my mother...

you misunderstand

eros isn't just about sexual freedom, it is the force of life, the ability to live without having to follow

prescribed rules or norms, which have a tendency to be enforced using violence.

like those imposed by organized religion?

at times, yes. but these norms come from a lot of different sources under the pretense of

"civilization."

even elements of supposedly non-violent social control , like segregation...

...are still "violent" at their core. they are just new ways of suppressing eros, or the life instinct.

...or censorship...

comic books are such

filth!

berkeley, here we come!

young man, you are quite a

radical!

thank you.

so violence is ever-changing and expanding as men continue to seek out new ways to

control one another?

and seek recognition?

so violence is ever-changing and expanding as men continue to seek out new ways to

control one another?

so violence is ever-changing and expanding as men continue to seek out new ways to

control one another?

so violence is ever-changing and expanding as men continue to seek out new ways to

control one another?

so violence is ever-changing and expanding as men continue to seek out new ways to

control one another?

so violence is ever-changing and expanding as men continue to seek out new ways to

control one another?

so violence is ever-changing and expanding as men continue to seek out new ways to

control one another?

so violence is ever-changing and expanding as men continue to seek out new ways to

control one another?

And repress our instinct

for life?

yes.

how depressing.

how do we put an end to all of these forms of

violence?

create a forum for mutual recognition among men?

abolish religion and

other outdated

hierarchies?

end the domination of white men in the realms of politics, economics and

philosophy?

huh??

ah, i hope you don't mind, but i brought a few friends along...

you were talking about an evolving cycle of

violence and oppression, gentlemen?

the end...

greetings...

All photographs courtesy of the associated press archives, through the University of pennsylvania libraries

web site, except the following:

1. image of portrait of georg Friedrich hegel by jakob schlesinger (1831), used throughout, courtesy of

www.wikipedia.com2. pictures from the tv show "leave it to beaver" (pp. 4-5)

courtesy ofwww.sitcomsonline.com; tvland.classictvhits.com; associated press archives3. picture from the tv show "the brady bunch" (p. 6)

courtesy of abc photo archives 4. picture of video game art from "civilization iv" (p. 12)

courtesy of www.amazon.com

source material:

1. freud, sigmund. civilization and its discontents (1929)and the future of an illusion (1927).

2. hegel, georg wilhelm friedrich. the phenomenology of mind (1807).

3. marcuse, herbert. eros and civilization (1955).