In the 20th century numerous philosophers and historians sternly criticized Western civilization. This paper aims to show that psychologists who were also influenced by the traumatic events of recent European history formulated their own, supposedly, universal theories of human civilization — mainly from the standpoint of psychoanalysis. Sigmund Freud’s Civilization and Its Discontents and Beyond the Pleasure Principle were most influential. His followers, C. G. Jung and R. D. Laing, in the 1960s, elaborated on his theses, claiming that technological civilization is humankind’s major mistake and the ultimate source of continuing discontent. These attitudes are reflected in many contemporary works of literature.
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