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Ferre
Cannabis Sacrament Minister.
Joined: 14 Apr 2003
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Location: Amsterdam
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 Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2005 3:22 am Post subject: Einstein and Freud: Why war? |
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Listen to this here (radio documentary)...
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Why war?
by Michele Ernsting, 13 June 2003
In the early 1930s the League of Nations presented the most famous scientist on Earth, Albert Einstein, with a unique opportunity. He could  contact an expert of his choice to discuss a question of his choosing. Einstein chose his friend Sigmund Freud and the formidable question he put to him was: "Why War?"
The question was not surprising given the events of the day. In the 1930s, it was obvious to many that a second world war was inevitable. Einstein had lived through the First World War and remembered the horror he'd felt as a child watching German soldiers march through the streets of his home town.
Einstein felt that it must be possible to avoid violent confrontations between countries. But he also suspected that psychological factors might be behind man's more violent urges.
For this reason he sought the advice of the most famous and provocative psychotherapist of the day, the man who, according to popular belief, knew more about the human soul than anyone else. They began a correspondence on the subject - the physicist and the psychologist - each approaching the issue from very different perspectives.
The Freud-Einstein correspondence predates the establishment of formal Peace Studies. In the post-war period many universities have created programmes in peace studies and many of these have gained enormous respect. But what have we learned from this academic pursuit? To what extent are the assumptions of Einstein and Freud still valid? And how might a professor of peace studies answer the still formidable question of "Why War?"
Two experts offer their thoughts; Georg Frerks, the head of the Conflict Research Unit at the Clingendael Institute in the Hague and the international peace mediator Johan Galtung, considered to be the founder of Peace Studies.
READ MORE...
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