Life Against Death (The Psychoanalytical Meaning of History)

Brown presents a psychoanalytic theory of culture and history. The essence of this theory is contained within the following passage: "Culture exists in order to project the infantile fantasies into external reality, where they may be seen and mastered." Brown suggests that we are the source of society, culture and history. His perspective differs from theories of the reigning scholars, who propose that culture "descends" upon people from above (mind is shaped by discourse or the symbolic order). Brown proposes a more difficult (and profound) way of understanding society, suggesting that cultural forms are created and perpetuated to the extent that they fulfill specific human needs and desires. A psychoanalytic theory of culture would require articulating why human beings bring into being certain ideologies and institutions--and why they are perpetuated. My own research and writing builds upon Brown's theories in books such as "Hitler's Ideology: A Study in Psychoanalytic Sociology," "The Psychoanalysis of Racism, Revolution and Nationalism," and "Symbiosis and Separation: Towards a Psychology of Culture," and most recently: Richard A. Koenigsberg, Ph. D.Nations Have the Right to Kill: Hitler, the Holocaust and War

This is not really a review - time is lacking. Just a strong recommendation. If the question "What is the human animal?" is on your mind, read this book! In my opinion, Life Against Death ranks among the most important modern contributions toward an understanding of the human condition. It is on the same short list as Freud's Civilization and Its Discontents and Camus' Myth of Sisyphus. Like these works and indeed the subject, it is not an easy read. I am ordering a fresh copy and looking forward to the introduction by Christopher Lasch which I have not read. I also recommend Norman O. Brown's other works - in particular, Love's Body and the collection of essays, Apocalypse And/or Metamorphosis. I first read Brown in the 1960s and revisit him often. There are those who dismiss Brown as a 1960s enfant terrible (Life was in fact written in the 1950s) but listen to them not!

Norman O. Brown's interpretation of Freud is clearly written, startling in its conclusions, and important for anyone trying to understand Freud's theory of sublimation. However, he comes to the opposite view of Freud, insofar as Brown values art as a Dionysian and liberating force, rather than as a mere symptomology of the artist's psychic disturbance. The analysis of the death-instinct and its relation to culture is particularly brilliant. However, I found the latter part of the book, with its Swiftian emphasis, to be less than persuasive.

Norman O. Brown offers the best ever interpretation of Freud, and expands psychoanalysis, much like Marceuse, to encompass a broad and precise understanding of society. With a rich background in Classics, Brown incorprates the visions of Nietsche, Blake, Boehme, and Marx to formulate a mystical psycohanalysis. Through sheer logic he champions the intellectual superiority of the symbolic approach. Readers of Jonathan Swift will enjoy Brown's insight. Anyone concerned with the Great Questions and craving a booster shot of 20th century genius must read this master work.

norman o brown is no longer in vogue, as he once was, back in the 60's, but intellectuals who criticize this book today, claiming their own mature wisdom and resignation, are the ones who have never read it, or read it carefully, in the first place. this is one of the most intelligent books ever written by an american professor. as a piece of work in the field of freud interpretation, it has a penetrating force unsurpassed by any other since the day of its publication. it's not likely that the official academic world will approve of it, but that doesn't matter. what the intelligent reader has to do, and all that he has to do, is to open the book and read it. yes, read this book, for it might be decades before another one of its caliber will come into this world.