Saturday, January 12, 2013

Freud Museum and #33 Causality

Freud Museum
 On Friday I visited in Hampstead, North London what was Sigmund Freud's final home and is now the Freud Museum in London. Freud was the father of Psychoanalysis and his work was carried forward ( by his daughter Anna she was noted for her work with children's  psychoanalysis.

Another blue plaque
I really found the visit interesting and moving- you can get a taste of the place here- if the weather had been better (Spring /summer) it would have been possible to look a the garden too. You need to consider that this was home to Freud for only the last year of his life when conditions in Nazi occupied Austria made life there unbearable for him. The fact that Freud was forced to leave when in when in his 80's and suffering from poor health is an example of the inhumanity of the Nazi occupation of Austria and the strong anti Semitism.  As this was a short part of Freud's life the interest in the museum is in the artefacts and the way that his Austrian practice conditions were recreated in London. The Video that's shown in the Museum describing his exile to London was very moving for me and was a great example of London providing exile to a  brilliant thinker. Freud's grandchildren included Clement Freud  the one time Liberal MP (Ely) and chef as well as Lucian the celebrated artist, his great grandchildren include Emma and Matthew who are both well known, Emma as a broadcaster and Mathew as a figure in PR.

Idea number 33 is Causality

Causality relates to the cause of an event and is the cornerstone of determinism although proof of this is difficult (as recognised by Sceptic Scot Enlightenment Philosopher David Hume) there can be a relationship that is referred to  as a 'constant conjunction'.
Quantum Physics has even removed the basis of causality from science.
Below is a video that might get you thinking about causality