Sigmund Freud as a Critical Social Theorist: Psychoanalysis and the Neurotic in Contemporary Society

Sigmund Freud’s work has impacted the modern world in profound ways. The contributions in this collection trace the influence of his psychanalytic perspective on a wide range of philosophers and sociologists who built on his thought. The “father of psychoanalysis,” Freud wrote numerous works wherein his psychoanalytic perspectives were applied to history, society, religion, and other cultural phenomena. 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, 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 relevance of Freud’s thought to a variety of disciplines, as they diagnose a myriad of social issues.