ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the individual subject and his problematic relationship with the civilisation and culture he lives in. It expresses that today’s subject is discontent, while the civilisation he lives in is doing very well. The pursuit of happiness—this never-ending quest and the unavoidable setbacks and frustrations it meets—runs as a central theme through Sigmund Freud’s “Civilization and its discontents”. Civilisation may develop and grow, but it may also undergo involution, disintegration, and fragmentation; it appears to possess intentionality, directionality, and the power to pursue its aims. One root of the subject’s discontent is therefore the omnipotent promise made by contemporary civilisation—a promise of happiness, health, domination, and an all-conquering love. The Freudian revolution has displaced and decentred the subject so that it is no longer master in its own house. It is understandable that psychoanalysis aspires to cultural acceptance and recognition, to a secure position in the public domain, in the world of academia and intellectual discourse.
