Fall
2003
ISF100B
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In the first part of this course we will study the central concepts developed by both the psychoanalytic and the philosophical Freud, such as the “unconscious,” “Oedipus complex,” “the hord,” etc. We will then explore the Freudian impact on thinkers who focused on issues of power and domination (Volosinov, Reich, Horkheimer, Marcuse). Here the topics focus on the cultural roots of mainstream psychoanalysis (Volosinov), the production of psychic space of fascism (Reich), the production of the legitimacy of violence in psychic space by means of authoritatian family structures (Horkheimer), and the cultural manipulation of psychic space by consumerism and conformism. We will then, in the second part of this course, study Lacan and Irigaray and the patriarchalist structure of the production of the unconscious. Issues of power and domination are also under discussion when we reflect on the geopolitical dimensions of the production of psychic space in the works of W.E.B. Du Bois, Cesaire Aime, Frantz Fanon, Ashis Nandy, Daryush Shayegan. All of them have addressed the issue of resistances to oppression of the unconscious under conditions of colonialism. John Brown Child’s concept of “transcommunality” will conclude our course with its promise for new forms of violence-free productions of psychic spaces.
The purpose of the course is threefold:
- to critically master a central tradition in hegemonic intellectual history;
- to assess the extent of its applicability to contemporary global facts and issues;
- to understand the psychoanalytic traditions of the 20th century as part of a philosophical framework which for centuries has focuses on “theories of the soul” (Plato, Al Farabi, Indian philosophy etc). This philosophical framework bears on the relations that obtain between “theories of the soul” and religions. Satisfies L & S Requirements: (SBS) Social and Behavioural Sciences and (PV) Philosophy and and Values.
| 50% | Midterm |
| 50% | Final |
All exams have to be taken at the days and times scheduled. No exceptions will be made.