Analyse this and Red 224

Sadly yesterday was the final session of Philosophy and Psychoanalysis course at the CityLit  -it was an incredibly wide ranging tour of the subject and (perhaps by its nature) at times un-satisfactory and fragmented but Scott Biagi  did an excellent job of engaging us with what are often difficult topics (personally and intellectually).

As they say 'it does what it says on the tin..'

Of course by our nature we enter such explorations with preconceptions which are generally diffused even if the least I have taken from this course is that we hide some of our past experiences not only from others but also from ourselves then it's been worthwhile.

In fact I have got much more  and having looked a little at Lacan (I found this a very illuminating piece in School of Life/book of Life)  and now with Marcuse I'm starting to see some areas of thought  where there is something of a convergence of Politics, Philosophy and Psychoanalysis.

Much as Greece and Rome had led thought in earlier times Central Europe was significant in the period between the wars especially Austria and Frankfurt-  why this should be so is I guess a complicated mix of circumstances.

My two major takeaways are (1) that Freud is easy to dismiss as a one trick pony but is much more than the topic he's primarily associated with ( 'sex') and that (2) talking therapies are, if conducted thoughtfully likely to help troubled people.

I hope to look again at these topics in time and I'll certainly be reflecting on the field.

Red 224

Not necessarily a favourite shirt but a red one