This article integrates psychoanalytic theory with contemporary neuroscience to explore depression. It contrasts Freud’s concept of melancholia with modern models emphasizing neurotransmitter imbalances and cortical-limbic dysregulation. Bridging classical ideas and current research, it highlights neuropsychoanalysis—drawing on Mark Solms’ and Jaak Panksepp’s work on affective circuits—and employs Karl Friston’s free energy principle to view depression as a failure in predictive coding. The discussion underscores the roles of unconscious conflict, internalized aggression, and existential despair, advocating for integrative treatments that combine pharmacological, neuromodulatory, and psychodynamic interventions to recalibrate both neural circuits and maladaptive internal narratives.

Combining historical analysis, literary critique, and neuroscientific insights, this article critically examines the persistent phenomenon of child abuse and the systemic adult hypocrisy that perpetuates it. It traces abuse from ancient practices through modern institutional failures, highlighting how cultural norms, religious misinterpretations, and political inaction reinforce cycles of violence. Dostoevsky’s stark portrayals, coupled with evidence of trauma’s long-term neurological impact, underscore the deep-rooted nature of abuse. Ultimately, the work argues that despite incremental improvements, entrenched power dynamics and societal denial ensure that true reform remains unlikely, calling for urgent individual and collective moral accountability.

This article examines violence as an intrinsic aspect of the human condition by integrating political philosophy, literature, and neuroscience. It explores Machiavelli’s pragmatic use of violence in statecraft, Nietzsche’s revaluation of aggression as an existential force, and McCarthy’s stark portrayal of brutality in Blood Meridian. By uniting classical thought with modern neurobiological insights, the study reveals how violence functions both as a tool for power and an evolutionary impulse, shaping cultural identity and political dynamics, while urging innovative strategies to mitigate its destructive impact.