ABSTRACT
In general, Freud is not considered to be a political philosopher, although some of his insights have been brought into philosophical positions that seek to address political issues. The effort to understand how a social bond is forged and maintained leads us to Freud’s view that it is Eros that compels us to create and sustain human bonds, even to elaborate increasingly complex human bonds. Until 1920, Freud maintained that psychic life was governed by pleasure, sexuality or libido, and it was only when he encountered forms of war neurosis that he began to consider that there were symptoms characterized by compulsive repetition that could not be explained by wish-fulfillment or a drive towards gratification. Freud finds two interconnected descriptive terms in Le Bon quite useful for understanding what crowds do under conditions of disinhibition.
