Get curated editors’ picks, peeks behind the scenes, film recommendations and more.
In 1906, the young Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung received a collection of essays from none other than the founder of psychoanalysis himself, Sigmund Freud. When the two met in person a year later in Vienna, their first conversation lasted more than 13 hours, according to Jung’s account. And so began a collaboration that would blossom into an intense, albeit brief friendship between two titans of psychology. The duo toured the US together, giving lectures on psychoanalysis. They analysed each other’s dreams in depth. Twenty years his senior, Freud called Jung ‘the Joshua to my Moses, fated to enter the Promised Land which I myself will not live to see’. Their bond was so deep that at one point Jung wrote to Freud: ‘Let me enjoy your friendship not as one between equals but as that of father and son.’ Despite their shared interests and mutual admiration, in 1913 their relationship abruptly ended. But what caused their dramatic estrangement? And which one can lay claim to greater influence?
Freud versus Jung is the second instalment of ‘Philosophy Feuds’, Aeon’s original series of short animations, each of which tells the story of a famous – or not so famous – spat, break-up, falling-out or fracas. More than just revealing the hilarious and all-too-human pettiness of the world’s greatest thinkers, ‘Philosophy Feuds’ is about the fascinating ideas behind each of these rifts – and how these ideas continue to matter today.
Director & Animator: Andrew Khosravani
Producer: Kellen Quinn
Writer: Sam Dresser
Sound designers: Eli Cohn, Ben Chesneau, Maya Peart
Narrator: Travis Brecher
video
Earth science and climate
The only man permitted in Bhutan’s sacred mountains chronicles humanity’s impact
22 minutes
video
The ancient world
An ancient Roman’s hilarious (and perhaps relatable) response to a social snub
2 minutes
video
Ethics
For Iris Murdoch, selfishness is a fault that can be solved by reframing the world
6 minutes
video
Death
A hunter’s lyrical reflection on the humbling business of being mortal
6 minutes
video
Love and friendship
After his son’s terrorist attack, Azdyne seeks healing – and his granddaughter
25 minutes
video
Art
More than breathtaking, ‘The Birth of Venus’ signalled an aesthetic revolution
19 minutes
video
Childhood and adolescence
Striking shadow puppetry illuminates a skater kid’s memories of Boy Scout camp
12 minutes
video
Values and beliefs
A Zen Buddhist priest voices the deep matters he usually ponders in silence
5 minutes
video
Rituals and celebrations
Meet the entrepreneur whose business is crafting perfect peak experiences
12 minutes