Reason, Freud, and Liberal Democracy

FAIN: FR-10316-78

Cynthia G. Shoenberger
Illinois Institute of Technology (Chicago, IL 60616-3732)

To study the relationship of psychoanalytic theory, both classical and more recent, to the assumptions which liberal democratic thought makes about human rationality. Liberal democratic theorists posit that man is a rational political animal, capable of pursuing his individual interests in such a way that an ultimate harmony of interests emerge. Freud appears to favor liberal democracy, yet his assumptions about human nature fundamentally undermine the preconditions upon which it is founded. Study will be published.