Why War? * Warum Krieg?

EINSTEIN, ALBERT & SIGMUND FREUD.

Imprimerie Darantiere for the International Institute of Intellectual Cooperation

Dijon

1933

Together two volumes. First English and First German editions. Each one of 2000 numbered copies.

The famous exchange on the root causes of war by two of the greatest thinkers of the 20th-century. “In 1932, Albert Einstein, invited by the League of Nations to address a letter on any subject to any individual, chose to correspond with Sigmund Freud on the possibilities of avoiding war. Einstein maintained the importance of establishing an independent judiciary body to mediate conflicts. Freud agreed with this idea but also felt that “there is no likelihood of our being able to suppress humanity’s aggressive tendencies,” and that war is the ultimate expression of man’s distaste for the restraints of civilization. By the time of publication, Hitler had risen to power and the world moved closer each day toward a global conflict. Meanwhile Einstein, the committed pacifist, had resigned from the League of Nations over its inability to confront Nazi militarism.” (Historicana.)