This is a short course encompassing six lectures by Dr. Soumick De that will be held on Mondays from 6:00 - 7:30 PM on November 13, November 27, December 11, January 8, January 22, and February. The fee for participation is INR 4,000 per participant, with a 15% discount available for early-bird registrations before October 16. Twenty sliding scale slots (INR 1,500-2,500) are also available exclusively for current students, those who don’t have full time employment, or those from economically weak backgrounds.
Course Introduction
The ubiquity of depression in late 20th century is undeniable. In fact the term ‘depression’ has undoubtedly emerged as the most prominent face of unhappiness today. By the end of the 20th century depression has gained as much focus as perhaps hysteria had managed to gather by the end of the 19th century. But while hysteria prompted the invention of psychoanalysis which transformed the nature of clinical psychiatry and psychology, depression also seems to carry the traces of definite changes in the field of psychology and psychotherapy. And yet the term remains ambiguous. Depression has what many call a certain ‘plastic’ character which brings within its fold a whole set of ‘disorders’ associated more on the basis of symptoms of psychic suffering. Moreover the term also seems to indicate a whole set of practices – from psychopharmacy to emergence of neurosciences and cognitivism – which have prompted the evident implosion of psychoanalytic institutions.
Rather than talking of the scientific validity of depression as a legitimate form of diagnosis, we shall open these lectures with the simple yet fundamental hypothesis: depression in its many forms today – which gathers together a whole set of psychic conditions – is a symptom. But what is depression a symptom of? Through the course of these lectures we would try to develop the argument that depression is a symptom of a certain crisis of the self within contemporary society which values freedom above everything. More importantly depression indicates a type of society which systematically refuses conflict. The primary objective of theses lectures would be to examine the validity of the following argument: The psychic dysfunction called depression is a symptom of a society of emancipation without conflict.
Schematisation of the problem
In order to expand on this key problem, we shall explore the following points:
What happens to the self or the subject under depression which traditionally, as psychoanalysis teaches us, constitutes itself on the basis of conflict?
It has been argued that repression emerging out of disciplinary society by the end of 19th century was the basis of hysteria. Can we then argue that depression which emerges out of post-world war II control societies is based on the imperative of freedom?
What is the relation and the difference between the set repression-hysteria-disciplinary society and freedom-depression-control society?
The emergence of psycho-pharmacology as well as cognitive sciences, genetics and behavioral studies has been central to the growth of a technicist discourse which is not only damaging to psychoanalysis but it is changing the very nature of psychotherapy. Today an idea of a ‘cure’ is oriented towards seeking immediate relief from psychic suffering rather than long-term analysis. What are the effects of such processes where the figure of the depressed is treated less as a subject and more as a symptom to be eradicated?
Is there a difference between the psychic condition of depression and the social condition of alienation? What is the face of alienation today in the age of globalization and social media where AI and Algorithmic processes have come determining factors of our existence?
Lecture Format
There will be a total of six lectures that would focus on these questions with two lectures each devoted to the concepts of depression, alienation and melancholy. Although we shall draw significantly from the reading materials provided, the lectures would have a internal coherency of their own and would not be simple readings of the texts. However, reading of some of these texts below would prepare the participant to enter the lectures with certain orientation to the central problem to be discussed. A full reading list will be provided ahead of the course; here are some of the suggested readings:
Elizabeth Roudinesco “The Depressive Society” in Why Psychoanalysis? Translated by Rachel Bowlby, Columbia University Press New York 1999
Alain Ehrenberg “Introduction” and “The depressive breakdown” in The Weariness of the Self Diagnosing the History of Depression in the Contemporary Age (McGill-Queen’s University Press Montreal & Kingston · London · Ithaca 2010)
Karl Lowith “Marx’s interpretation of the bourgeois-capitalist world in terms of human ‘self-alienation’” in Max Weber and Karl Marx (Routledge London and New York. 1993)
Soumick De “Melancholy and the World: The Genesis of a Modern Concept” in Abjection and Abandonment Melancholy in Philosophy and Art eds. Saitya Brata Das (Aakar Books 2018)
Fee and Registration Steps
The combined fee for participation in all six lectures is INR 4,000 per participant. Please scroll down this page and you will find a link to book your seat for the course using UPI, debit or credit card. A 15% discount is available if you register before Oct 16 - please use the coupon EARLY-BIRD to avail this discount.
Twenty sliding scale slots (INR 1,500-2,500) are also available on a first-come-first-serve basis for current students, those who don’t have full time employment, or those from economically weak backgrounds. Please use these slots thoughtfully if you need them. When you use the sliding scale option below, you will be able to add an additional amount to the minimum fee of INR 1,500; please choose any additional amount that you feel comfortable investing in your learning.