Death and Mastery: Psychoanalytic Drive Theory and the Subject of Late Capitalism

by Benjamin Y Fong

The first philosophers of the Frankfurt School famously turned to the psychoanalytic theories of Sigmund Freud to supplement their Marxist analyses of ideological subjectification. Since the collapse of their proposed "marriage of Marx and Freud," psychology and social theory have grown apart to the impoverishment of both. Returning to this union, Benjamin Y. Fong reconstructs the psychoanalytic "foundation stone" of critical theory in an effort to once again think together the possibility of psychic and social transformation.

Drawing on the work of Hans Loewald and Jacques Lacan, Fong complicates the famous antagonism between Eros and the death drive in reference to a third the woefully undertheorized drive to mastery. Rejuvenating Freudian metapsychology through the lens of this pivotal concept, he then provides fresh perspective on Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer, and Herbert Marcuse's critiques of psychic life under the influence of modern cultural and technological change. The result is a novel vision of critical theory that rearticulates the nature of subjection in late capitalism and renews an old project of resistance.

Genres: Psychoanalysis, Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology, Death, Economics, Nonfiction

240 pages, Hardcover

Published November 8, 2016

Reviews

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

A concise (+ 140 pages) and approachable synthesis of psychoanalytical insights, updating both drive theory (represented by Freud, Loewald and Lacan) and Frankfurt school dialectics (specifically Adorno, Horkheimer and Marcuse's writings) and integrating both to come to an intelligible theory of why we, subjects under late capitalism, continuously agree to societal demands that clearly go against our best interests. Fong charitably admits to not positively contributing to a solution for this problem, but from this reader's point of view the simple act of clearly and unambiguously establishing the psychoanalytical base of Critical Theory strains, the knowledge of which the gnomic propagators themselves often take for granted, is a major step towards systematizing the schools' findings.

This specific strength - privileging intelligibility over complexity, neatly slotting attitudes and psychological structures into pre- and postoedipal categories, the death drive and Eros - may prove to be controversial. Dialectic of Enlightenment self-innoculated against easy repudiation by eschewing 'scientific' language and sticking to more philosophical descriptors like "the false life" and "mimesis"; Death and Mastery, on the other hand, tries to clear up this discursive vagueness by explicitly denouncing - for instance - the idea that the culture industry fails to 'authentically sastisfy' the wishes and urges of its purportedly unwilling audience. Fong holds that this phrasing is tantamount to saying nothing at all, and instead chooses to reframe the CI's pernicious influence as stemming from its fleeting nature. Few words are spent either defending this choice or theorizing Adorno & Horkheimer's intentions.

Nevertheless, Death and Mastery's positive contributions by far outweigh its seemingly weaker theoretical choices, which in any case are to be celebrated: by opening itself up to criticism, theory can continue to meaningfully develop or be refuted.

[Taneli Viitahuhta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptionally lucid while the topic is difficult to say the least. I especially liked the way that Marcuse was handled in an even-out manner: on the one hand, the most promising of the critical theorists (I think it is true) and on the other, the most disappointing and awry. Also, while I came for Lacan and Adorno, I definitely stayed for Jessica Benjamin and René Girard put-downs. Beautifully written.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably more 3.5 stars. Insightful synthesis and reconstruction of a wide array of thought but in the end I was left wanting. There wasn't enough of an argument. The argument is all in the footnotes over subtleties and sensibilities. There were tantalizing hints at a thrust here and there but in the end it felt more like a literature review. But it was a stable thread that helped me see these thinkers hang together in a new light.

The endnotes are half of the book...so I recommend physical media here.

[Jonathan Rößler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chapters 1-3 (Freud, Loewald, Lacan) offer an amazingly free-of-jargon defence and re-interpretation of Freudian drive theory, and at least to me have been a great introduction to Loewald and (parts of) Lacan. Chapter 4 and 5 (Adorno & Horkheimer, Marcuse) are less strong and appear more like an add-on or case-study to the previous theoretical work (still worth reading).