WHY WAR

A psychoanalytic exploration of the intrapsychic, the interpersonal and the intersocietal.

When in 1932, after the devastating and terrible effects of the First World War, Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud had a legendary correspondence dialogue, one of the most relevant experiences of ethical-political debate in history was born. It was about one of the most complex and inextricable issues of our civilisation: Why war? For Einstein the fundamental question was: "Is there a way to free human beings from the fatality of war?" A question which, together with our wish and need for peace in the world, summons us once again with strength, almost a century later, in this privileged context of the EPCUS, in order to think together about "the most important question posed to civilisation (Einstein, 1932)”.
The most intrapsychic primitive instinctual impulses, which are expressed and deployed on the interpersonal plane and, more broadly, on the intersocietal, are neither good nor bad in themselves, but acquire this quality according to the destination or end towards which they are directed. In this sense, the intervention of the social environment and, specifically, of the parental figures or their representatives, are basic for the constitution and elaboration of these motions.
In this way, it is not a question of eliminating human aggressive tendencies, but of trying to divert them, so that they do not need to seek their expression in war. Everything that establishes affective bonds between human beings acts against war, just as everything that establishes significant solidarities awakens this type of common feelings: identifications, on which the structure of human society is largely based (Freud, 1932). These identifications are established on the basis of emotional ties that open up feelings of responsibility and interest in other human beings, which allow us to put ourselves in the other's place through identification in order to understand them as they are and as they feel (Klein, 1937).
Through the valuable instruments that psychoanalysis provides us with to think and release ourselves from suffering we will have the possibility to reflect together on the internal and external wars that take hold of human beings and are at the root of the terrible wars that tear our humanity apart.
On behalf of the European Psychoanalytical Federation
Charlotta Björklind, Mercedes Puchol, Martin Teising

European Psychoanalytic Conference for University Students – EPCUS provides the unique opportunity to approach the psychoanalytic way of thinking by listening to prominent psychoanalysts, by meeting colleagues and forming networks, thus gaining perspectives into various aspects of personal development in a distinct atmosphere of learning, exchange and enthusiasm.

Presenters: Jan Abram, Anna Christopoulos, Fakhry Davids, Johannes Döser, Natalia Kigai, Anne Patterson, Gabi Shefler, Sverre Varvin.

This conference is of interest for university students and recent graduates, especially in medicine, psychology and other cultural or language sciences.

All presentations will be in English.

The fee of 50€ is the same for in-person participants at EPF House in Brussels and online participants.

Venue: The House of the European Psychoanalytical Federation in Brussels, Belgium

Date: Thursday 3rd till Saturday 5th of October 2024

For further information, please contact Frank Goderniaux: frank.goderniaux@epf-fep.eu, Charlotta Björklind: charlottabjorklind@hotmail.com, Mercedes Puchol: puchol@futurnet.es, or Martin Teising: teising@t-online.de

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