If you went “beyond the pleasure principle,” where would you be going, and with whom?
(a) the Italian Renaissance with Vasari
(b) the Spanish Inquisition with Loyola
(c) the French Revolution with Saint-Just
(d) the Trojan War with Agamemnon
(e) the American century with Henry Ford
Extra credit:
Although this question has no correct answer, the question mattered to Freud because
(1) The patient’s answer would indicate whether she was an Alice or a Mabel.
(2) When the tide ebbs you can see which bathers are naked.
(3) He had set out to refute Henry Ford’s line that “history is bunk”
(4) He knew that “the present is a future that came through” (Frank O’Hara”)
(5) He was certain that the Great War would have been prevented had they heeded his counsel.
I believe he sincerely felt they would talk themselves out of the war if only they'd get on his couch. -- Raymond Rakubian
Posted by: The Best American Poetry | May 12, 2018 at 11:01 PM