Freud, Secularism, and Jewish History
Monday, October 25, 2010, 5:30 p.m.
As the inventor of psychoanalysis, a prominent secularist, and an essayist on human nature and modern life, Sigmund Freud was incontestably one of the most influential Jewish thinkers of modern times. But what is the place of this avowed atheist and his work in Jewish intellectual history? How did Freud himself write a secular history of the Jewish people and religion — and to what effect?
Panelists discuss Freud’s place in Jewish history, his contributions to secularization, and his impact on American culture.
Panelists include: David Aberbach, author of Surviving Trauma: Loss, Literature, and Psychoanalysis and Turning Points in Jewish Intellectual History; Richard H. Armstrong, author of A Compulsion for
Antiquity: Freud and the Ancient World; and Andrew R. Heinze, author of Jews and the American Soul and Adapting to Abundance: Jewish Immigrants, Mass Consumption, and the Search for American Identity.
Moderated by Richard J. Bernstein, author of Freud and the Legacy of Moses. (Sponsored by the Department of Humanities and co-sponsored by the Psychology Department at The New School for Social Research.)
Free admission, but registration required; for information and registration contact publicprograms@newschool.edu.
Location: The New School, Theresa Lang Center, 55 West 13th Street
(2nd Floor), New York.