1 h 4 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if civilization is only a thin coat over feelings that war can lay bare?
In Reflections on War and Death, Sigmund Freud brings psychoanalysis to two unsettling questions: why civilized nations turn to cruelty, and why our own death feels unreal. Written in 1915, these two essays confront the First World War while two of Freud’s sons serve at the front.
The Disillusionment of the War examines the collapse of shared moral rules, from the state’s use of violence to the impulses beneath civilized behavior. Our Attitude Towards Death turns inward. Freud asks how the mind keeps mortality at a distance, and what happens when war makes that distance impossible to maintain.
What you’ll discover
- Civilization under strain Explore Freud’s argument that shared culture and good manners cannot erase older impulses.
- The state’s double standard Follow his challenge to states that permit the violence they forbid their citizens.
- Old feelings beneath manners Consider a mind where early states remain alongside later habits and moral rules.
- Death kept at a distance Examine Freud’s claim that we struggle to picture the end of our own lives.
- Thought amid grief and anger Meet a thinker responding to war as it happens, in short, direct essays.
Who will love it
For readers curious about how Freud applied psychoanalysis to public life, and anyone who has asked why societies break down or why death feels unreal.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- The war shatters a shared illusion
- The state allows what it forbids
- Civilized behavior is often only a surface
- Primitive impulses never really disappear
- We cannot picture our own death
- Ancient feelings about death and the dead
- War restores death to its true weight
- What the essays leave us and how they are read
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 1 h 4 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 7 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear Considérations actuelles sur la guerre et sur la mort in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Considérations actuelles sur la guerre et sur la mort
by Sigmund Freud · 1915
In wartime Vienna, Freud probes the instincts beneath civilized manners and our refusal to imagine our own death.
ChallengingUnder 2 hours to read25 languages
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
In short
Reflections on War and Death brings together two essays Sigmund Freud wrote in 1915, in the first year of the First World War. The first is called The Disillusionment of the War.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
The war shatters a shared illusion
Freud opens by describing a wound felt by many thoughtful Europeans in 1915. They had believed that the great nations of Europe shared a common culture and a common set of moral rules. They had also believed that science, art and law bound these nations together as one civilized family.
The war broke that belief. States that demanded decency from their own citizens now broke every rule against other states. Treaties were ignored, civilians suffered, and the fighting nations accused one another of barbarism while excusing themselves.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Considérations actuelles sur la guerre et sur la mort
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is Reflections on War and Death about?
It is made up of two essays Freud wrote in 1915. One asks why civilized nations became cruel in the First World War. The other asks why people avoid facing death. Both use psychoanalysis to explain what lies under public and private behavior.
When did Freud write Reflections on War and Death?
Freud wrote the essays in 1915, during the first year of the First World War. They first appeared in a German journal called Imago. They reflect the shock and loss he and many other Europeans felt at that time.
What does Freud mean by civilized hypocrisy?
He means that many people act morally only because society forces them to, not because they have changed inside. When outside pressure falls away, as in war, their suppressed aggressive impulses return and they behave far worse.
The author
Sigmund Freud
1856–1939 · Austrian founder of psychoanalysis
Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) was an Austrian psychiatrist and the founder of psychoanalysis. Born in Freiberg, now Příbor in the Czech Republic, he lived and worked in Vienna before moving to London in 1938. He wrote The Interpretation of Dreams (1899) and Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality (1905).
More by Sigmund Freud
All 8 booksMore like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
Popular in philosophy & ideas
See all
