Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
into the future, and second, that “present-day man does not feel happy
in his Godlike character.”
11
And humans, according to Freud, desire to
be happy. Consequently, discontent was another diacritic of humans'
plight, especially as science advanced and its achievements yielded instru-
mental capacities.
Freud's diagnosis of the present, in 1930, was therefore gloomy. While
scientific and technical advances were unquestionably accumulating, the
contemporary mix of scientifically achieved self-understanding (of the
self and civilization) and technical advance was, however, not yet coor-
dinated. Humankind was pursuing its illusions with more power than
ever before. Freud's effort was to question the project of coordination or
at least to temper the expectations it engendered. Of course, Freud
himself was deeply committed to a scientific project of his own.
Wounded Pride
In 1916, a younger Freud had written a small article for a Hungarian
journal titled “A Difficulty in the Path of Psycho-Analysis.” The piece,
which appeared early in 1917, was intended for an “educated but unin-
structed audience” (an interesting distinction when you think about it).
Freud remained content with the article's basic points and repeated them
(albeit phrased a little differently) in his subsequent
Introductory Lec-
tures in Psychoanalysis
.
12
The difficulty alluded to in the title of Freud's
essay was not humanity itself but rather its pride. It is worth remarking
that the question of who exactly this humanity or humankind is
(Europe's educated classes perhaps?), is not explored in the essay. Freud's
core argument is that throughout history, scientific advance had run
counter to humanity's megalomania, its self-importance. Thus, it was
consistent to assume that any truly significant scientific advance con-
cerning a human being's relation to the cosmos, nature, other humans,
or itself would be resisted, for longer or shorter periods of time.
13
Freud's
core position is that as science discovered and demonstrated what was
true, humankind ultimately had no rational alternative but to adapt its
own self-understanding to scientific discoveries. In this article as else-
where, Freud presents himself as a scientist, even a great scientist; by so
doing, his self-presentation constitutes an audacious challenge to his
readers to accept his theories and no doubt offers some comfort to
