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The Psychoanalysis of Fire

by Gaston Bachelard

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424558,751 (3.9)1
"[Bachelard] is neither a self-confessed and tortured atheist like Satre, nor, like Chardin, a heretic combining a belief in God with a proficiency in modern science. But, within the French context, he is almost as important as they are because he has a pseudo-religious force, without taking a stand on religion. To define him as briefly as possible - he is a philosopher, with a professional training in the sciences, who devoted most of the second phase of his career to promoting that aspect of human nature which often seems most inimical to science: the poetic imagination ..." - J.G. Weightman, The New York Times Review of Books… (more)
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Showing 2 of 2
No idea how to rate this one—but it's got me thinking in excellent ways!
  KatrinkaV | Jun 1, 2022 |
Quote: "We have only to speak of an object to think that we are being
objective. But, because we chose it in the first place, the object
reveals more about us than we do about it." [cited by McGrane].
  keylawk | Feb 8, 2007 |
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Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Bachelard, GastonAuthorprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Werle, SimonTranslator and Afterwordsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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We have only to speak of an object to think that we are being objective.
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"[Bachelard] is neither a self-confessed and tortured atheist like Satre, nor, like Chardin, a heretic combining a belief in God with a proficiency in modern science. But, within the French context, he is almost as important as they are because he has a pseudo-religious force, without taking a stand on religion. To define him as briefly as possible - he is a philosopher, with a professional training in the sciences, who devoted most of the second phase of his career to promoting that aspect of human nature which often seems most inimical to science: the poetic imagination ..." - J.G. Weightman, The New York Times Review of Books

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Book description
THE PSYCHOANALYSIS OF FIRE

Gaston Bachelard. (Translated by Alan C.M. Ross.) 1968 (reprint ed.); 115 pp. $15.50. Beacon Press.

Eloquent. Not the physics or ecology, but the poetic imagination of fire. Fire and Respect. Fire and Reverie. Sexualized Fire. Firewater (brandy) and spontaneous combustion. Idealized Fire. Fire and Purity. Original Fire. Now over sixty years old, this short book contains more engaging paragraphs and thoughts about fire than anything before or since. He's pyromantic and perspicacious; thanks, Gaston Bachelard.

"Fire and heat provide modes of explanation in the most varied domains, because they have been for us the occasion for unforgettable memories, for simple and decisive personal experiences. Fire is thus a privileged phenomenon which can explain anything. If all that changes slowly may be explained by life, all that changes quickly is explained by fire. Fire is the ultra-living element. It is intimate and it is universal. It lives in our heart. It lives in the sky. It rises from the depths of the substance and offers itself with the warmth of love. Or it can go back down into the substance and hide there, latent and pent-up, like hate and vengeance. Among all phenomena, it is really the only one to which there can be so definitely attributed the opposing values of good and evil. It shines in Paradise. It burns in Hell. It is gentleness and torture. It is cookery and it is apocalypse. It is a pleasure for the good child sitting prudently by the hearth; yet it punishes any disobedience when the child wishes to play too close to its flames. It is well-being and it is respect. It is a tutelary and a terrible divinity, both good and bad. It can contradict itself; thus it is one of the principles of universal explanation.

"In one Australian tribe the legend is very amusing, or, rather, it is because a bird is being amusing that it succeeds in stealing the fire. "The deaf adder had formerly the sole possession of fire, which he kept securely in his inside. All the birds tried in vain to get some of it, until the small hawk came along and played such ridiculous antics that the adder could not keep his countenance and began to laugh. Then the fire escaped from him and became common property." Thus, as is often the case, the legend of fire is the legend of licentious love. Fire is associated with innumerable jokes.
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An edition of this book was published by Beacon Press.

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