Dr Jon Mills is a philosopher-psychoanalyst and Honorary Professor at the University of Essex, whose work bridges Hegelian philosophy, psychoanalytic theory, and contemporary existential threats facing civilisation. With over 35 books to his name—including five Gradiva Award winners—Jon has spent decades developing what he calls "dialectical psychoanalysis," a rigorous philosophical framework for understanding the unconscious mind. His latest work, which we're discussing in this episode, confronts an uncomfortable question: does humanity possess a collective death drive that propels us towards self-destruction? _______________ You can find Jon's work at: Website: https://www.philosophypsychoanalysis.com Publications: https://www.philosophypsychoanalysis.com/academics-psychoanalysis-philosophy _______________ In this conversation, I sit down with Jon to explore the darkest questions about our species' future. We examine whether humanity harbours a death wish, diving into the multiple existential crises threatening civilisation—climate change, nuclear weapons, AI risks, geopolitical conflict, and overpopulation/demographic collapse. Jon brings his formidable philosophical toolkit to bear on these challenges, drawing from Hegel, Freud, and his own dialectical framework to understand how good and evil operate simultaneously in human affairs. We debate techno-optimism versus existential pessimism, explore the psychology behind apocalyptic thinking, and we talk about my previous episode on secular eschatology and we discuss what that reveals about our relationship with mortality. We're left with the question of whether our species can transcend its self-destructive patterns or whether we're inexorably drawn towards catastrophe. _______________ ⏳Timestamps 00:00 James's Intro 01:21 Claude AI's intro to Jon 02:16 Jon's prolific output 02:59 Does humanity have a death wish? 04:13 The collective forces at play 05:57 Collective and the collective unconscious 09:03 What we mean by humanity - metaphor or reality? 11:03 The crises facing humanity today 12:25 What Jon wanted to achieve with the book 15:45 Universal pessimism? 19:41 James on demographic collapse 23:29 Poverty decline globally 25:21 Optimism on climate 26:09 China and the Thucydides Trap 27:45 James on AI concerns 28:16 Negative trends in prejudice and freedom 31:03 The psychology of the Thucydides Trap 34:35 Good and evil are operative at once 36:43 James's secular eschatology thesis 41:45 Why are most apocalypse predictions Western? 43:26 Apocalypse as death-cope 44:39 Apocalypse as unmet need gone rotten? 45:35 Jon's relationship with death 48:18 Jon's guest recommendation: Michael Montgomery