Menu
In an era of algorithmic thought and 280-character hot takes, Onfray’s Contre-histoire is a marathon of intellectual rebellion. Volume 16, regardless of its precise subject, represents the heart of his project: giving a voice to the silenced, the hedonists, and the materialists who insisted that philosophy belongs not to the heavens, but to the sweat, laughter, and flesh of human life.
However, the content of Volume 16 is anything but a dry, academic exercise. It is a fiery, passionate, and meticulously argued critique that pulls no punches. The volume is structured as a course, with Onfray's natural, improvised speaking style giving the listener a sense of being in the room with the philosopher. Each of the 13 audio CDs that make up the massive 5-hour and 7-minute recording tackles a different aspect of Freudian theory. The chapter titles alone reveal the scope of Onfray's attack. The course methodically dissects what Onfray sees as the core intellectual fraud of psychoanalysis:
This public link is valid for 7 days and shares a thread, including any personal information you added. This link or copies made by others cannot be deleted. If you share with third parties, their policies apply. Can’t copy the link right now. Try again later.
Onfray responds to these criticisms in later volumes and interviews (some of which are on audio 17). He admits he is not writing academic history; he is writing a manifesto. In an era of algorithmic thought and 280-character
As the Contre-histoire moves into its later volumes, Onfray transitions from the Enlightenment and the "Masters of Suspicion" (Nietzsche, Marx, Freud) into the grueling landscape of the 20th century. Volume 16 focuses heavily on the polarization of thought during eras of extreme political upheaval, totalitarianism, and the collapse of grand narratives. 1. The Critique of Totalitarian Logic
– The hedonistic ethical proposal invites renewed dialogue with contemporary moral psychology, affect theory, and the neurophilosophy of desire.
Michel Onfray - La Contre-histoire de la philosophie Audio 16 Full: A Deep Dive into Alternative Thought It is a fiery, passionate, and meticulously argued
He resurrects forgotten figures: from the Cyrenaics to Lucretius, from Spinoza (the "anti-Plato") to the French Enlightenment materialists like Diderot and La Mettrie. The project is as much a political act as a philosophical one: philosophy should serve the body, pleasure, and immanent joy, not an afterlife or abstract duty.
This is the context for the 16th audio volume. It's crucial to understand that Onfray’s goal is not to provide a clinical judgment on whether psychoanalysis "works" as a therapy. Instead, he aims for a , deconstructing the myths and legends that surround his life and work.
To understand the explosive nature of Volume 16, one must revisit the context of its release. The lectures in Volumes 15 and 16 directly inspired Onfray’s 2010 book, (The Twilight of an Idol: The Freudian Fabrication). The chapter titles alone reveal the scope of Onfray's attack
The and backlash this volume caused in French intellectual circles.
He critiques the "magic" causality of the divan (the couch) and characterizes Freud's reported clinical successes as "paper healings".
