Between Reason and Passion: The Psychic Life of Societies

Abstract

The tension between reason and the passions is a recurrent theme in Enlightenment thought, particularly in Kant's moral and political project. This tension underpins his conception of human nature, which is fundamental to his philosophical precepts. In this sense, this paper seeks to problematize this vision of the inner world of the human through the conception of human nature proposed by Sigmund Freud, thereby exposing some of the limitations of the kantian’s Enlightenment State project. It is affirmed that there are some particular dispositions of the psyche of man that prevent the enlightenment project from achieving the desired results, so it is necessary to formulate new alternatives that are more in line with the dynamic relationship that exists between the affections and reason.