The Organization of the Mind : Lessons from Kant and Freud

As a prominent figure of the 18th century Enlightenment, Kant advocated faith in reason and in the possibility of human progress through the development of human beings' rational capacities.In contrast, as the founder of 20th century psychoanalysis, Freud revealed that rationality itself is rooted in the non-rational soil of mental life.For Freud, rational thinking is pervaded with irrational motivations for thinking and acting.For Kant, the capacity to affirm and endorse on rational grounds one's beliefs and actions is the highest capacity in human beings, one that raises them above all other living beings.Those contrasts between the two thinkers have led to countless philosophical manifestos pitting Freud and Kant against each other.Some accuse Kant of having played a central role in the promotion of the hubris of modern rationality, which resulted in the domination and destruction of nature.Others accuse Freud of being a prime culprit in the attacks against reason, progress and the