Totem and taboo

Name: Totem and taboo
Author: Sigmund Freud

By Sigmund Freud

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About This Book

This work assembles four essays that apply psychoanalytic ideas to social and religious phenomena, contending that taboos and totemic practices express unconscious infantile structures and emotional ambivalence. It analyzes the fear of incest and the mixed feelings that produce prohibitions, connects animistic and magical beliefs to a presumed omnipotence of thought in early mental life, and advances a hypothesis that totemic institutions emerged from a foundational act of violence followed by collective guilt. The essays continually draw parallels between cultural formations and individual neuroses, emphasizing how childhood development can reenact archaic social patterns.

About the Author

Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for treating psychopathology through dialogue between a patient and a psychoanalyst. He is best known for his theories of the unconscious mind, the mechanism of repression, and the significance of dreams in understanding human behavior. Freud's influential works include "The Interpretation of Dreams," where he explores the symbolic meanings of dreams, and "Beyond the Pleasure Principle," which examines the motivations behind human behavior. His ideas have profoundly impacted psychology, literature, and the arts, making him a pivotal figure in the development of modern thought.