Based on a literature review, this article discusses the possibility of analyzing religious fundamentalism using psychoanalytic theory. It aims to define the notion of aggressiveness using Freud’s formalizations about the death drive, and based on that theoretical framework, to approach the way ideologies with a fundamentalist-religious bias function and perform. This approach is justified by the fact that today, fundamentalist trends are widespread in various political and social spheres, which are constantly looking for means and strategies to strengthen and expand those ideological currents. This study emphasizes that the aggressive, destructive and dominant urge, inherent to man, is present and active even where religious values and ideals are cultivated, since the death drive and its possible devastating effects are an inherent part of human nature.
Key words:
Aggressiveness; death drive; fundamentalism; ideology