Human Hope and the Death Instinct: An Exploration of Psychoanalytical Theories of Human Nature and Their Implications for Culture and Education

by David Holbrook

Human Hope and the Death An Exploration of Psychoanalytical Theories of Human Nature and their Implications for Culture and Education focuses on the study of human nature.The manuscript first offers information on psychology as a form of philosophical anthropology and reactions against the Freudian theory, including the origins of love and hate, death instinct, and metapsychology and negation. The book then discusses human nature and the development of object-relations psychology. Topics include the theories of W. R. D. Fairbairn on love and structure of personality; relationships of psychology, poetry, and science; Fairbairn’s analysis of the logic of hate; and Melanie Klein’s concept of phantasy and aggression.The text evaluates the relationships of identity and social theory, education, culture, and moral development, as well as amorality, progress, and democracy. The manuscript also discusses the connection of psychoanalysis and existentialism, including Jean-Paul Sartre’s concept of freedom and R. D. Laing’s position on existentialism.The book is a vital source of data for readers wanting to study human nature.

320 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1971

About the author

David Holbrook was an English writer, poet and academic. From 1989 he was Emeritus Fellow of Downing College, Cambridge.