The Age of Guilt The Super-Ego in the Online World -(2023)

BHow Freud's concept of the super-ego can help us to understand the harsh cultural climate of the digital age/BBR / BR / Cancellation, scapegoating, raving on Twitter. How did the Internet, which began as a place for open thought and exchange, become a forum for cruelty and judgment? Can a whole culture become mentally ill? How do we understand and respond to this problem?BR / BR / Mark Edmundson views contemporary culture and discourse through Freud's concept of the super-ego, the moralistic and frequently irrational inner judge. The poet William Blake was attuned to this "dark pressure of self-condemnation," and Nietzsche knew its power as well. One way to mitigate (temporarily) the self-judgment of the super-ego is to aim it outward instead, judging and even punishing others for supposed infractions. Naturally these targets fight back, resulting in a cascade of bitterness and even hatred. Edmundson traces the destructive passion of the super-ego on politics, race, gender, class, education, and more, drawing on psychological studies, classroom experience, and the work of Adam Phillips and Slavoj Žižek. Edmundson proposes ways to manage the super-ego and even to transform it into an affirmative power.BR / BR / In IThe Age of Guilt/I, Edmundson renews the promise of Freudian theory as he explores our unique social moment with psychological insight, humanity, and erudition Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 Preface: The Unwelcome Guest 12 ONE: DIAGNOSES 26 What Is the Super-Ego? 28 Did Freud Discover the Super-Ego? 36 The Super-Ego’s Public History 1: Nietzsche 40 The Super-Ego’s Public History 2: Arendt 44 The Personal History of the Super-Ego 51 The Future of the Super-Ego 54 Super-Ego Dreams 59 The Post-Modern Super-Ego 62 Death and the Super-Ego 66 TWO: SUPER-EGO CULTURE 70 Politics and the Super-Ego 1: Hypnotized! 72 Politics and the Super-Ego 2: Social Justice 79 Politics and the Super-Ego 3: The Blessed and the Damned 83 Are the Kids Alright? 87 Identity! 94 Super-Ego Drugs: Adderall and Amphetamines 98 Internet! 106 The Super-Ego and the Sense of Time 114 Beauty and the Super-Ego 119 Patriarchy and the Super-Ego 123 The Super-Ego and Race 129 THREE: FIGHTING BACK 134 Crack a Joke 136 Get Lucky 141 Get Drunk 145 Take a Pill 150 Get Religion 153 Get a Shrink 1 157 Get a Shrink 2 161 FOUR: BEYOND THE SUPER-EGO 166 Embrace the Ideals 168 Bibliographic Essay 184 Acknowledgments 190