A Psychoanalytic Exploration of the Contemporary Search for Pleasure: The Turning of the Screw

This interdisciplinary collection of essays explores the malaise of the contemporary individual by returning the economic point of view of Freudian thinking to the motivating forces of human existence, particularly in light of the pandemic and virtuality.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 218 pages
Publication date: 19 July 2023
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

This comprehensive collection of essays delves into the contemporary malaise of the individual by reclaiming the economic perspective of Freudian thought, emphasizing the concepts of satisfaction, libido, and pleasure-unpleasure principle as the driving forces behind human existence. For Freud, pleasure stands apart from other human experiences, always serving as a bonus in the pursuit of satisfying the pleasure principle and beyond. Alongside libido, emotional fulfillment, and the abilities for sublimation and play, pleasure has received inadequate attention in the psychoanalytic literature. The editors of this book aim to rectify this deficiency and shed light on the importance of examining the social and individual woes of our time through these specific lenses of inquiry. It is particularly timely and crucial to address this gap in light of the pandemic's social phenomena, the crises of ideals and virtuality that have impacted individuals who find themselves in a perpetual state of emergency, overwhelmed, addicted, and delibidinalized.

Contributions from various branches of psychoanalysis make this book an essential read for psychoanalysts in training and practice, as it provides insights into how the modern world has shaped our understanding of pleasure.

Weight: 378g
Dimension: 155 x 235 x 15 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781032471136