Lear
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Lear on Freud: the Uncontainable Nature of Desire
The U.S. philosopher and psychoanalyst, Jonathan Lear, saw human beings as restless animals, whose defining trait was the uncontainable nature of their desire. No utopia that we can imagine will ever fully satisfy us – we will always want more. Lear’s interest in our irrepressible urge to transcend ourselves was already apparent in the first… Continue reading
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Lear on Freud: the Transformational Power of Love
Jonathan Lear, who died in September 2025, was relentlessly curious about the human condition. His curiosity led him to become a philosopher and then a psychoanalyst – a very rare combination. His thinking was constantly evolving and would no doubt have continued to do so if he had not died at the relatively early age… Continue reading
Wittgenstein and Freud 