This page aims to make learning about the philosophy of Freud as easy as possible by bringing together the best articles, podcasts, and videos from across the internet onto one page. To get started, simply choose one of the resources listed below, or browse a selection of key quotes by Freud at the bottom of the page.
Encyclopedia Articles
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Articles
This section features short articles written by professional philosophers and aimed at a general audience. These articles are ideal for anyone looking for a shorter or more beginner-friendly introduction to Freud than the encyclopedia articles listed above.
Aeon
- From philosophy to psychoanalysis: a classic Freudian move
- Can neuroscience rehabilitate Freud for the age of the brain?
- Freud versus Jung: a bitter feud over the meaning of sex
- How midcentury Arab thinkers embraced the ideas of Freud
- Every Sufi master is, in a sense, a Freudian psychotherapist
- Was Freud right about dreams all along?
- Love and identification lie behind the dark urges of the mob
- Is the Freudian slip still a road to the unconscious?
The Conversation
- Why Freud was right about hysteria
- Was Freud right about dreams after all? Here’s the research that helps explain it
- A dangerous method? In defence of Freud’s psychoanalysis
The New York Times (The Stone)
The Guardian
Podcasts
This section features episodes from leading philosophy podcasts. These are also aimed at a general audience and are a good option for beginners who prefer audio content.
In Our Time
New Books Network
The Philosopher’s Zone
The Partially Examined Life
Short Videos (<30 mins)
This section features short videos aimed at beginners.
Miscellaneous
Lectures/Longer Videos (>30 mins)
This section features longer videos and lectures.
Course Syllabi
See this page for course syllabi on the philosophy of Freud.
Books
See this list of the best books on the philosophy of Freud.
Courses
This section features online courses on Freud.
Quotes
This section features a selection of key quotes by Freud.
The unconscious is the true psychical reality; in its innermost nature it is as much unknown to us as the reality of the external world, and it is as incompletely presented by the data of consciousness as is the external world by the communications of our sense organs.
– The Interpretation of Dreams
In the course of centuries the naive self-love of men has had to submit to two major blows at the hands of science. The first was when they learnt that our earth was not the centre of the universe but only a tiny fragment of a cosmic system of scarcely imaginable vastness … the second blow fell when biological research destroyed man’s supposedly privileged place in creation and proved his descent from the animal kingdom and his ineradicable animal nature … But human megalomania will have suffered its third and most wounding blow from the psychological research of the present time which seeks to prove to the ego that it is not even master in its own house, but must content itself with scanty information of what is going on unconsciously in its mind.
– Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis
One might compare the relation of the ego to the id with that between a rider and his horse. The horse provides the locomotive energy, and the rider has the prerogative of determining the goal and of guiding the movements of his powerful mount towards it. But all too often in the relation between the ego and the id we find a picture of the less ideal situation in which the rider is obliged to guide his horse in the direction in which itself wants to go.
– New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis
We are warned by a proverb against serving two masters at the same time. The poor ego has things even worse: it serves three masters and does what it can to bring their claims and demands into harmony with one another. … Its three tyrannical masters are the external world, the super-ego and the id.
– New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis
It is impossible to overlook the extent to which civilization is built up on renunciation [of instinctual desires], how much it presupposes the non-satisfaction of powerful drives – by suppression, repression or some other means. Such ‘cultural frustration’ dominates the large sphere of interpersonal relations; as we already know, it is the cause of the hostility that all civilizations have to contend with.
– Civilization and Its Discontents, ch. 3
The Daily Idea aims to make learning about philosophy as easy as possible by bringing together the best philosophy resources from across the internet. To get started, check out this organized collection of 400+ articles, podcasts, and videos on a wide range of philosophical topics.
A Collection of the Greatest Philosophical Quotations
