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“Aggression, this second great vital force beside libido, had been identified by Freud variously –at least since the topic pressed itself upon his attention with the events of World War I –as an equally powerful and parallel drive to libido, or one at odds with libido and providing a countervailing pressure, or one which got peculiarly mixed up with and fused with libido (or vice versa, as libido got fused with aggression), or a phenomenon which grew in proportion as libidinal aims were thwarted.-hard to think about views of aggression not being informed by their intrinsic associa

post-World War II West Germany:"In no other national context would the attempt to make sense of aggression become such a core preoccupation specifically for psychoanalysts and allied professionals" (124)"On Aggression, … was a vigorous defense of aggression … It had two main components: aggression was ubiquitous in animals and in people (i.e., it was not just a German specialty). And more importantly: aggression was a force for good." (126)"By the later 1960s and early 1970s, at least three new versions of Freud were circulating in the West German media and wider public discussion.

"What Lorenz did find useful, however, was Freud's belatedly found conviction that aggression, like libido, was a drive.

"On Aggression, after all, as the original German title indicated, was a vigorous defense of aggression as by no means always a forcefor evil. The short take- home message –amidst all the witty, cheerfully chatty accounts of animal conduct –was welcome indeed. It had twomain components: aggression was ubiquitous in animals and in people (i.e., it was not just a German specialty). And more importantly: aggression was a force for good.

Herzog (2016) traces the lineage of German psychoanalytsts during the Cold War and their attempts to re-introduce psychoanalysis into cultural and scientific debates in their home country. Herzog pays particular attention to the work of Lorenz and Mitscherlich and their writings post-WWII.

What a wild ride through psychoanalyses of Nazism...Lorenz. What a guy. Aggression as a universal human trait: sure, absolutely, it has an evolutionary purpose which is activated when the Group is threatened in some way, in order to protect the In-group from some Other or Out-group. A base survival drive which is dependent on increases in stress hormones and a genetic legacy of brute, physical domination in non-linguistic species like our ape cousins. An excuse for attempts at genocide?

"and this is my contention – Anti-Oedipus needs to be understood also as a psychoanalytic text, not just an attack on psychoanalysis" (156)"The book was very much concerned with the emotional damages caused by a particular formation of capitalism – in everyone. It consistently searched for a language to articulate how economic conditions and processes shaped individual selves.

In this chapter (Chapter Five) of Cold War Freud, Herzog (2016) historicizes the environment and aftermath of Anti-Oedipus, in and outside of psychoanalytic communities. The author highlights how this prominent book was “lifted” into philosophical theory and cut off from important psychoanalytic thinking. Ultimately, Herzog argues that the text should be considered a psychoanalytic text.

“A great deal of the academic scholarship, however, has lifted Anti- Oedipus out of space and time entirely, treating it as principally a contribution to philosophy (whether wacky- elusive, spurious problematic, or canonical- impressive”-important to consider how it’s framed historically so one can then consider what constraints such framing presents to theory“Doing so reveals as well that the book needs to be understood as initiating a conceptual paradigm shift, particularly in its fresh take on the problem of ideology –and the puzzle of what attracts human beings to particular politi

Another week of "where to start." Very random - lots of thoughts, too little time to make any of them make sense.Herzog - and oh boy, Reich. Interesting guy. Grateful to him for the term "ideological befogging" and this gem, paraphrased by Herzog, "his conviction that it was above all parental prevention of child masturbation that prepared people for being obedient citizens and workers..." I mean, he's not wrong, but also, can we stop making everything about child masturbation?