Life Against Death

Life Against Death: The Psychoanalytical Meaning of History

Cover of the first edition
Author	Norman O. Brown
Cover artist	Harry Zelenko
Country	United States
Language	English
Subject	Sigmund Freud
Published	1959 (Wesleyan University Press)
Media type	Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages	366
ISBN
Followed by	Love's Body

Life Against Death: The Psychoanalytical Meaning of History (1959; second edition 1985) is a book by American classicist Norman O. Brown, in which Brown offers a radical analysis and critique of the work of Sigmund Freud, tries to provide a theoretical rationale for a nonrepressive civilization, explores parallels between psychoanalysis and Martin Luther's theology, and draws on revolutionary themes in western religious thought, especially the body mysticism of Jakob Böhme and William Blake. The result of an interest in psychoanalysis that began when Marcuse suggested to Brown that he should read Freud, Life Against Death became famous when Norman Podhoretz recommended it to Lionel Trilling. It has been compared to works such as Frankfurt school philosopher Herbert Marcuse's Eros and Civilization (1955) and philosopher Michel Foucault's Madness and Civilization (1961).

Though Life Against Death has been called one of the great nonfiction works of the 20th century, some critics have found it of lesser weight than Eros and Civilization. It has been suggested that, despite his objectives, Brown's arguments imply that sexual repression is biologically inevitable. Brown eventually repudiated Life Against Death: he called parts of it "quite immature" and wrote of his Love's Body (1966) that it was written to confuse any followers he acquired due to Life Against Death and destroy its positions.

Brown, whose background was in classical studies, became interested in psychoanalysis because of Marcuse, a philosopher associated with the Institute for Social Research based in Frankfurt. Marcuse had little direct concern with Freud while in Frankfurt, but devoted more attention to psychoanalysis in the 1950s, and in 1953 suggested to Brown that he should read Freud.