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I have no idea why thieves would want to steal the ashes of Sigmund Freud. I suppose somebody somewhere is prepared to pay good money for them. Or maybe the thieves who recently broke into Golders Green crematorium were after the ancient urn in which his remains were kept. But all this is somewhat ironic given that it’s an intrinsic part of Freudian philosophy that when we are dead we are nothing, without intrinsic value, and simply a pile of ashes. That someone might give them some financial value probably says more about our celebrity culture than it does about Freud’s worldview. And yet, of course, it was a controversial part of Freud’s argument that, on some level, we all desire death and are held in thrall by what he calls a “death-instinct”. This is not just a reference to the little nihilist buried inside all of us, nor simply a comment about how self-destruction is generally a crucial part of who we are as human beings, it’s also a comment about desire and our longing to be rid of it. For if desire leads, as it so often does, to disappointment, pain and loss, then why not renounce desire and be done with it. Originating in a very Western reading of Buddhism, this was the philosopher Schopenhauer’s view, and it had a huge influence on Freud’s generation of thinkers. On this reading of Buddhism, we all desire some sort of Nirvana or state of nothingness. Nirvana refers to the state of stillness that can exist when all desire has been extinguished. And it is significant that Freud used what he called the Nirvana principle as another way of talking about the death instinct. This is what makes the attempt at stealing Freud’s ashes seem like such a peculiar sort of joke. Stealing is all about desiring what you do not have. The death instinct is all about eliminating desire itself. Of course, in contrast to this very particular take on Buddhism, Christianity feels a bit like it is on the side of the thieves. Indeed, it certainly feels the case that Christianity wants to steal death away from valuelessness and give it some newfound purpose. In contrast to the theology of renunciation, Christianity always seems like a rage against the dying of the light, a struggle against death, a desire to outsmart it. Understood like this, Buddhism seems like acceptance and Christianity like denial. I know that some people will insist that being in denial is all about not facing reality - but somehow I don’t particularly care. The struggle against the impossible feels like a noble task, and I would prefer to lose the fight kicking and screaming than to give up the fight and accept how things apparently are. For the desire to steal back life from death is as deep within us all as it ever was. I may not have the metaphysics to explain it, but I absolutely refuse to give up the struggle. I’m on the side of the thieves.