Civilization and Its Discontents
by Sigmund Freud, Coralie Bickford-Smith · first published 2010
33% recommend67% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Freud's late essay on how civilization's demands on instinct produce guilt and discontent. A clear, pessimistic summary of why social order costs individuals something, for anyone thinking about culture and human nature.
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…without paying anything. I am hardly rich but I gladly pay taxes. I would prefer to pay less but that is the reason I vote. If you want to blow it all up then I think the counter to that is Freud's Civilization and Its Discontents. I even might gain personally in that world but overall it is a miserable world to live at the systems level. It is better to just pay taxes.
on “Venmo, PayPal and Zelle must report $600 in transactions to IRS” ↗…did was read On the Genealogy of Morals by Nietzsche. Then Discipline and Punish by Foucault. Then the Deleuze. I am less well read with Freud than I should be to truly engage with Anti-Oedipus, but Civilization and its Discontents is worthwhile. Same with Marx, many many disagree, but all assume some level of familiarity. Really, the best you can do is exactly what Massumi says about A Thousand Plateaus and "read it like a record":…
on “Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy” ↗"History of Sexuality: Volume I" -Michel Foucault "Discipline and Punish" -Michel Foucault "Philosophy in the Flesh" -George Lakoff "Metaphors We Live By" -George Lakoff "Civilization and its Discontents" -Sigmund Freud These books allowed me to look at reality in a completely different manner.
on “Ask HN: Best Philosophical Books?” ↗…biological drives or instincts. This is why feminists say we have a "Rape Culture," and that all we have to do is fix culture, then all rape and violence will disappear. Freud was much more pessimistic. "Civilization and Its Discontents" is a good summary of why.
on “Prostitution decriminalized: Rhode Island’s experiment” ↗The Divided Self + The Politics of Experience and the Bird of Paradise + The Politics of the Family - all by RD Laing Civilization and its Discontents - Freud Capitalist Realism - Mark Fisher Gateless Gate - Mu-men? Very old Chinese mystical text that somehow resonated w me considerably.. Neuromancer - William Gibson Snowcrash - Neal Stephenson…
on “Ask HN: Which books do you wish you'd read earlier in life?” ↗“Civilization and its Discontents” by Freud “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelly “Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite books or essays written at least 100 years ago?” ↗…latest book is all about justice for victims (and how the system is failing them). The most famous critical essays about modern society from a therapist are by Sigmund Freud. You may want to start with "Civilization and Its Discontents" (1929). Quote: "The present cultural state of America would give us a good opportunity for studying the damage to civilization which is thus to be feared. But I shall avoid the temptation of entering…
on “The link between trauma, drug use, and our search to feel better” ↗…occur in developed countries? These books try to answer these questions. I don't think they have the entire answer, and they don't have much in the way of easy solutions, but they get a lot of it right. Civilization and Its Discontents by Sigmund Freud. I thought Freud was largely discredited and his theories superseded by better ones, but reading this book showed me how insightful Freud really was. He is one of the greatest thinkers…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2018?” ↗…knowledge.) Why do you say that? What does it mean? I think of the internet, but not a person, I always thought of him as a free market economist. When I think of individual and society, I think of Freud's Civilization and Its Discontents where the individual can never be free.
on “Plans you're not supposed to talk about” ↗If Freud had known you, he wouldn't have written Civilization and its Discontents. Even Hemingway could have learned a lesson or two.
on “Update on Julie Horvath's Departure” ↗…force. The question is, what do you mean when you say "force". If you mean coercion, then many things in society are achieved through coercion. That is pretty much the essence of civilization (see Freud's Civilization and its Discontents). Coercion and freedom will always live side by side. Most values conflict with one another at some point and need to be prioritized, but freedom is rather unique in that it conflicts with itself. If…
on “Income Inequality: Empirical View” ↗…individualistic to combine with other intelligent men from whom they differ on minor points. Around the same time (1930), Sigmund Freud articulated the concept of "the narcissism of small differences" in his book Civilization and its Discontents, a concept that is endlessly useful in understanding how otherwise like-minded people tend to tear themselves apart. A related concept in software development is "bikeshedding".
on “The Triumph of Stupidity (1933)” ↗When I was assigned "Civilization and its Discontents" in college, I already knew Freud's theories were poorly supported, but it was still pretty convincing while I was reading it.
on “The Lifespan of a Lie – Why can’t we escape the Stanford Prison Experiment?” ↗Second Treatise of Government - Locke On Liberty - Mill The Communist Manifesto - Marx & Engels Eros & Civilization - Marcuse Civilization and Its Discontents - Freud The Road To Serfdom - Hayak Milestones - Qutb
on “What are you reading?” ↗Reminds me of Civilization and its Discontents by Freud (1928), where he treats technology and tools the expand man's ability to perceive the world (telephones, long distance prothetic ear, telescopes are prosthetic eye enhancement) or interact with…
on “We are analog beings trapped in a digital world, we did it to ourselves.” ↗