Summary
Freud argues that the psychological basis of taboo—a forbidden action with a strong unconscious inclination to transgress—persists in modern civilization as a compulsive, consciously unmotivated force akin to Kant’s Categorical Imperative. In contrast, totemism is an abandoned religio-social institution whose original meaning Freud attempts to recover through its infantile traces, or reappearances in child development. The two oldest and most important taboo prohibitions—not killing the totem animal and avoiding sexual intercourse with totem companions—correspond, Freud claims, to the central point of infantile wish life and the nucleus of later neurosis, as identified by psychoanalysis. The book treats taboo more exhaustively than totemism, since taboo still exists in our midst, while totemism has left only slight traces in civilized religions, morals, and customs. Readers take away Freud’s psychoanalytic hypothesis that primitive taboos and totemic systems originate in unconscious desires and ambivalent emotions, linking savage psychology to neurotic symptoms and infantile development.
Key concepts
- Ambivalent attitude — The simultaneous unconscious desire to transgress a taboo prohibition and fear of doing so, with fear stronger than pleasure.
- Taboo prohibitions — Forbidden actions for which a strong unconscious inclination exists, with the oldest being the two basic laws of totemism.
- Totemism — A religio-social institution alien to modern feelings, whose original meaning Freud seeks through its infantile traces in child development.
- Categorical Imperative — Freud’s comparison of taboo to Kant’s concept, as both act compulsively and reject all conscious motivations.
- Infantile wish life — The central point of childhood desires that psychoanalysis identifies as the nucleus of later neurosis, reflected in totemic taboos.
- Omnipotence of thought — A concept from animism and magic, listed as a chapter theme, referring to the belief that thoughts alone can influence reality.
From the book
The linguistic customs of these tribes, as well as of most totem races,
For the designations of relationship of which they make use do not take
The explanation of this linguistic custom, which seems so strange to us,
Popular questions readers ask
- If you were to explain the central goal of "Totem and Taboo" to a curious friend who knows nothing about it, how would you articulate Freud's unique approach to "racial psychology" and the "resemblances" he seeks to explore?
- Freud distinguishes his method from W. Wundt and the Zurich Psychoanalytic School. Can you clearly explain the fundamental difference in approach for *each* of these three perspectives, particularly regarding how they relate individual and racial psychology?
- Freud states that his essays "can only be thoroughly understood and judged by those who are really acquainted with psychoanalysis as such." What specific foundational concepts or theoretical frameworks must a reader already grasp to fully engage with his arguments in "Totem and Taboo"?
- Freud hopes his work serves as a "bond" between ethnology, philology, folklore, and psychoanalysts. What unique contributions or new avenues of inquiry could a psychoanalytic lens offer to these allied sciences, and conversely, what might they offer to psychoanalysis?
- The subtitle of the book mentions "RESEMBLANCES BETWEEN THE PSYCHIC LIVES OF SAVAGES AND NEUROTICS." Given the historical context of 1919, what potential ethical, social, or academic controversies might such a comparison inherently provoke, and why?