ABSTRACT
Sigmund Freud's thought exults in one's finding the object again, not in just any incarnation but specifically in the real world or in some manifestation that connotes the object's real existence. Some realities are too important or emotionally charged to preimagine or accept fully. People hanker to see the "real" thing when they have no special interest in the thing's history or other associations. Freud's thought occurs, however, when neither belief nor acceptance is in question. Despite the fact that one knows and fully accepts that the Acropolis exists, one might find oneself professing surprise at its existence when one saw it. Freud was classically educated and interested in antiquities as a hobby. Walter Benjamin suggests one reason why people need to experience the authentic versions of things: The authenticity of a thing is the essence of all that is transmissible from its beginning, ranging from its substantive duration to its testimony to the history which it has experienced.
