Hedda Bolgar Series
Todd McGowan, PhD
(Burlington, VT)
Friday, September 13, 2024
From Death Drive to Aggression
7-9pm: (CST): ZOOM Presentation & Discussion
About the presentation: There is no way to avoid violence. The only question is where we direct that violence—whether we aim it externally or internally. The psychoanalytic concept of the death drive enables us to understand aggressive violence not as a primary phenomenon but as a deviation of an internally directed violence. Our response to increasing outbreaks of aggressive violence should focus on the priority of the self-destruction inherent in the death drive and the deleterious effects that result from its avoidance.
Todd McGowan teaches theory and film at the University of Vermont. He is the author of Embracing Alienation, The Racist Fantasy, Emancipation After Hegel, Capitalism and Desire, Only a Joke Can Save Us, and other works. He is also the cohost of the Why Theory podcast with Ryan Engley.
Learning Objectives
1. Participants will be able to theorize how the death drive relates to aggressive violence.
2. Participants will be able to interpret social and political violence in terms of the death drive.
This is an Intermediate Level Presentation
Fees
CCP members: free with annual $195 membership, payable at registration.
Students:free with annual $175 membership, payable at registration.
New Fellows / Ongoing: free with annual $250/$300 membership, payable at registration.
Non-CCP members, single admission: $50
Continuing Education
This program is sponsored for Continuing Education Credits by the Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis. There is no commercial support for this program, nor are there any relationships between the continuing education sponsor, presenting organization, presenter, program content, research, grants or other funding that could be construed as conflicts of interest. Participants are asked to be aware of the need for privacy and confidentiality throughout the program. If the program content becomes stressful, participants are encouraged to process these feelings during discussion periods. The Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis maintains responsibility for this program and its content. CCP is licensed by the state of Illinois to sponsor continuing education credits for Licensed Clinical Social Workers, Licensed Social Workers, Licensed Clinical Professional Counselors, Licensed Professional Counselors, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapy Counselors and Licensed Clinical Psychologists (license no. 159.000941 and 268.000020 and 168.000238 Illinois Dept. of Financial and Professional Regulation).
Professionals holding the aforementioned credentials will receive 2.0 continuing education credits for attending the entire program. To receive these credits a completed evaluation form must be turned in at the end of the presentation and licensed psychologists must first complete a brief exam on the subject matter. No continuing education credit will be given for attending part of the presentation. Refunds for CE credit after the program begins will not be honored. If a participant has special needs or concerns about the program, s/he/they should contact Toula Kourliouros Kalven by September 12, 2024 at: tkalven@ccpsa.org
References/Suggested Readings
Boothby, R. (1991) Death and Desire: Psychoanalytic Theory in Lacan’s Return to Freud, London: Routledge.
Freud, S. (1955 [1920]) Beyond the Pleasure Principle, trans. J. Strachey, in The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, vol. 18, ed. J. Strachey, London: Hogarth Press.
Freud, S. (1961 [1930]) Civilization and Its Discontents, trans. J. Strachey, in The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, ed. J. Strachey, vol. 21, London: Hogarth Press.
Lacan, J. (1978 [1973]) The Seminar of Jacques Lacan, Book XI: The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis, 1963-1964, ed. J.-A. Miller, trans. A. Sheridan. New York: Norton.
Zupančič, A. (2000) Ethics of the Real: Kant, Lacan, London: Verso.
Presented by
The Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis/CCP Program Committee: Toula Kourliouros Kalven, Alan Levy, PhD, Zak Mucha, LCSW
The Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis is an IRS 501(C)(3) charitable organization, and expenses may be tax deductible to the extent allowed by law and your personal tax situation.