Nietzsche and the Medicine of Culture
An appreciation of the influence of the philosophies of Arthur Schopenhauer and Friedrich Nietzsche on the origins of Psychoanalysis, emphasizing the exaltation of existence defended by Nietzsche, the "yes to life", and the medicine of culture."In our events, we problematize compulsion as a source of suffering, and explore the possibilities for the individual’s maturation away from compulsion, towards greater autonomy and responsibility."Ready to join us?
Online Seminar
This seminar offers a deep and accessible immersion in the foundations of psychoanalysis within the philosophy of its time, in the connections among Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and Freud — and in the essential role of art and myth as symbolic paths for the affirmation of life.
Knowledge that will be transmitted:
How Freud considered that psychoanalysis could benefit from contributions from philosophy.Nietzsche’s positioning as a vital response to Schopenhauer's pessimism: the “yes to life” as a transformative attitude.The role of symbolic culture and art as therapeutic elements that allow us to favor the restoration of human dignity.Why can the denial of symbolic life (myth, art, spirituality) be considered associated with dehumanization, violence, and social exclusion.How does the healthy recovery of the symbolic dimension strengthen the individual in the face of social narratives against his or her dignity, and thus offer protection against psychological suffering.
What is new in this seminar?
To understand the importance of symbolic creation in the same way that Schopenhauer and Nietzsche saw the importance of art, it is necessary to mention, even if briefly, the history of ideas from the Enlightenment to Freud’s Vienna. It becomes possible to observe that, in its origins, psychoanalysis has a heritage shared with the German-language philosophy of the time, which opposed British empiricism. In this scenario, the emancipatory character of psychoanalysis appears to us in a renewed and enlightening way, mainly through the challenging questions posed by Friedrich Nietzsche. We see how pertinent the transformation of suffering is through the reinterpretation made by artistic Dionysus, which was central to Nietzsche as a medicine of culture that provided the affirmation of life. This enables us to ask: what would be the medicine of culture today?
Schedule:
October & November 2026Modality: Online, via Google Meet
Workload: 4 hours (divided into four one-hour sessions)There will be four groups; the dates will be different, but the content will be the same. Participants only need to enroll in ONE group.:Group 1: Los Angeles time;
Group 2: New York time;
Group 3: London time; and
Group 4: Budapest time.Session Dates:
Group 1: October 26, 28, November 2 & 4 (Mondays and Wednesdays), from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., Los Angeles time.Group 2: October 27, 29, November 3 & 5 (Tuesdays & Thursdays), from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., New York time.Group 3: November 9, 11, 16 & 18 (Mondays and Wednesdays), from 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., London time.Group 4: November 10, 12, 17 & 19 (Tuesdays and Thursdays), from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., Budapest time.Join us for the live seminar and gain access to a digital booklet containing comprehensive supporting material on the subject, written for this seminar, along with a certificate of participation.Register by September 24: only $69.00.
From September 25 to the event date: $79.00We'll send the booklet as a PDF on the day of the event.How to subscribe: deposit the corresponding amount ($69 or $79) to the PayPal account [email protected] and send the proof of payment to [email protected], with your name and preferred group.Only 25 spots per group — once a group is full, it's closed.SECURE YOUR SPACE NOW!Contact the professor directly for questions or concerns: WhatsApp: 55 21 99936-8339; E-mail: [email protected]REGISTER BY SEPTEMBER 24 and receive a rare 1967 publication from the Otto Rank Association — 88 pages of unpublished conversations between Otto Rank and fellow psychoanalysts from a 1930 seminar. Never commercially released, now available for the first time - only for early bird registrations!Subscribe now!About the professorProfessor: Julio Roberto Costa, former professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; member of the Existential Psychoanalytic Institute and Society - EPIS (USA).
A psychoanalyst and sociologist, he conducted research on “Freud's Theory of Society” with a grant from the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) at the University of Brasília (UnB), which he completed in 1992. He was a professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-RIO), A.E.U.D.F. (Brasília, Brazil), and UPIS (Brasília, Brazil). He was invited to teach at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, Hungary. Since 2016, he has been a member of the Existential Psychoanalytic Institute and Society (EPIS (USA), with peer-reviewed publications on Otto Rank, existential psychoanalysis, and the philosophy of culture. Since 2014, his book “To Be More Person: A Reading of Otto Rank” has been considered a great contribution to Psychoanalysis and Philosophy. Today, with over 30 years of research on the subject, he works as a psychoanalyst, researcher, and writer, with a strong focus on the articulation between clinical practice, symbolism, and philosophical thought.