Towards the Limits of Freudian Thinking

Sigmund Freud''s Beyond the Pleasure Principle stands as a foundational text in psychoanalysis delving into profound questions about life death pleasure and pain. Through a combination of contextualising and philosophical contributions this critical edition and commentary sheds new light on Freud''s text. In a series of contributions spanning approaches from historical exegesis to philosophical reflections on key concepts and ideas presented in Beyond the Pleasure Principle the evolution and inconsistencies found in the various versions of the text are highlighted. Particular emphasis is placed on the conceptualisation of the death and life drives. These commentaries also provide context for the work examining its position within the Freudian corpus its role in the collaborative project with Sndor Ferenczi in speculative bioanalysis and its clinical insights into war neuroses trauma bonding and aggression in post-World War I society.By critically examining diverse interpretations of Freud''s work Towards the Limits of Freudian Thinking re-actualises this classic text in contemporary philosophy and psychoanalysis rendering it accessible to both specialised and broader audiences.This book will be made open access within three years of publication thanks to JSTOR''s Path to Open pilot.Contributors: Ulrike May (Berlin) Herman Westerink (Radboud University Nijmegen) Philippe Van Haute (Radboud University Nijmegen) Ulrike Kistner (University of Pretoria) Jenny Willner (LMU Munich) Jakob Staberg (Sdertrn University Stockholm)