If you don't know your incest taboo from your Oedipal complex, and you want to understand more about the culture we're living in, then Totem and Taboo is the book to read.

Here are the essential ideas of psychoanalytic theory, including Freud's explanations of such concepts as the Id, Ego and Super-Ego, the Death Instinct and Pleasure Principle, along with classic case studies like that of the Wolf Man. Adam Phillips's marvellous selection provides an ideal overview of Freud's thought in all its extraordinary ambition and variety. Psychoanalysis may be known as the 'talking cure', yet it is also and profoundly, a way of reading.

Here we can see Freud's writings...

Considering the incompatibility of civilization and individual happiness, the author focuses on what he perceives to be one of society's greatest dangers; 'civilized' sexual morality, he asks, does repression compromise our chances of happiness?

The text includes the first full emergence of the concept of narcissism and develops Freud's theories of homosexuality.

In his later work, Freud proposed that the human psyche could be divided into three parts: Id, ego and super-ego. Freud discussed this model in the 1920 essay Beyond the Pleasure Principle, and fully elaborated upon it in The Ego and the Id (1923), in which he developed it as an alternative to his previous topographic schema (i.e., conscious, unconscious and preconscious).

The id is the completely unconscious, impulsive, childlike portion of the psyche that operates on the "pleasure principle...

Embark on a thrilling journey into the depths of the human mind with Dream Psychology by the legendary Prof. Dr. Sigmund Freud! This timeless masterpiece delves into the mysterious realm of dreams, unlocking the secrets hidden within our subconscious.

Discover Freud's groundbreaking insights as he unravels the intricate tapestry of the human psyche. From the symbolic language of dreams to the profound meanings behind our deepest desires, Freud takes you on an exhilarating exploration of the u...