Freud believed that tension continually exists between civilization and the individual. Civilization curbs the individual from pursuing his or her basic instincts as an animal would pursue. There is an irony here in that humans, in trying to pursue happiness, in building or creating a civilization or society, are actually making themselves unhappy with all the rules and regulations enforced or imposed on them. We are not aware of our repressed feelings unless undergoing psychoanalysis according to Freud. Based on Freud’s belief, society needs to take some responsibility for someone like Manson’s failure to conform. Society, as well as his family, let him down with abuses that Freud would directly blame. Manson’s mother abandoned him, and the state institutions did not protect him or …show more content…
In turn, we have also hurt our planet with our inventions in ways that no other species can take responsibility for. Our minds have created the best and the worst on our planet. In terms of biology, as humans, Freud believes our aim is self- preservation through the reality principle. Animals are more biologically rigid in their behavior and determination. It is interesting to note that Darwin, on the other hand, believed that humans are just one species of animal and that our nature is deterministic and responds to the environment. Freud differs in that he distinguishes humans by our ability for knowledge, to think rationally, and to investigate or analyze or psychoanalyze why people do what they do. For example, steal, murder, write a song, etc. It is Freud who can explain what went wrong with Manson and his mind. Freud stated that humans are driven by their unconscious drives and instincts, which include aggression and sex. This would be true of the animal kingdom as well. However, all humans have an unconscious wish for death, or a death instinct. Self-destructive behavior comes out of the death drive. Aggression and violence is when the death instinct is
Next, Freud discusses man's instinct for war and violence. He says that there are two kinds of human instincts: "those that conserve and unify... `erotic'...or `sexual'...and, secondly, the instincts to destroy and kill." He calls these instincts "Love and Hate." (Freud, 25) I did not, while reading this view, wholeheartedly agree to this until I got to paragraph 30, where I felt the second part of this idea led. Freud clearly and ingeniously states that man is divided into the leaders and led. Therefore, the led (the majority) depend on the leaders to guide them, bowing to their every command, while the leaders (politicians and the Church) make all of the decisions. This has been so since the dawn of man, I believe, yet it has never been clearer to me until reading it in Freud's words.
Freud believed that a human must go through certain stages in their lives or they will not socially develop to their full extent. He also made claims that a human is always struggling between their human, and instinctual nature. This was a very controversial topic because Freud concluded there was a lack of individuality of the human race. If Freud’s theory was the case then humans would have less of a choice in their life, and are truly slaves to their instinctual nature. While an intelligent figure of his time, I believe that Freud went in the wrong direction when approaching his theory. While humans do have a large amount of urges that he described, the person themselves can choose what to do based not solely on society, but their wants and needs as well. Had Freud been alive today I’m sure that his theory would have theorized much different things about the human nature. I think it is important to analyze the distinct cultural setting behi...
In his documentary, A Century of the Self: Happiness Machines, Adam Curtis illustrates that Sigmund Freud had developed a new theory that human beings cannot be trusted with what they wanted. In other words, he believed that people must always be controlled. With the idea that they know what the nation is thinking, those in power used Freuds theory to help keep individuals within their limits. Additionally, if they do not command, individuals and communities will be discontented, which would lead to chaos and destruction. Moreover, Curtis maintained that Edward Bernays, who was Freuds nephew was the first to put his theory to practice. Bernays argued that manipulation was necessary in a democratic society and throughout the documentary, it
“Civilization and Its Discontents” is a book written by Sigmund Freud in 1929 (originally titled “Das Unbehagen in der Kultur” or The Uneasiness in Culture.) This is considered to be one of Freud’s most important and widely read works. In this book, Freud explains his perspective by enumerating what he sees as fundamental tensions between civilization and the individual. He asserts that this tension stems from the individual’s quest for freedom and non-conformity and civilization’s quest for uniformity and instinctual repression. Most of humankind’s primitive instincts are clearly destructive to the health and well-being of a human community (such as the desire to kill.) As a direct result, civilization creates laws designed to prohibit killing, rape, and adultery, and has severe consequences for those that break these laws. Freud argues that this process is an inherent quality of civilization that instills perpetual feelings of discontent in its citizens. This theory is based on the idea that humans have characteristic instincts that are immutable. The most notable of these are the desires for sex, and the predisposition to violent aggression towards authoritative figures as well as sexual competitors. Both of these obstruct the gratification of a person’s instincts. Freud also believes that humans are governed by the pleasure principle, and that they will do whatever satisfies or pleasures them. He also believes that fulfilling these instincts satisfies the pleasure principle.
Born in 1856 in a small European town, Sigmund Freud would grow to be one of the most important thinkers in recorded history. From a young age, he attempted to understand the human mind and explain its tendencies. In doing so, he successfully managed to make countless enemies and critics. His ideas in response to the puzzles of human existence often conflicted with those of his audience, and I am in this number. In his novel Civilization and Its Discontents, Freud presents theories on happiness, none of with which I agree.
According to Sigmund Freud, what we do and why we do it, who we are
Sigmund Freud believed that society has instilled morality upon us, exterminating our individualism. This morality eventually leads to neurosis, in which it becomes more difficult for us to maintain ourselves through the stress of society’s morality. I disagree with Freud, because I believe that morality isn’t forced on us externally, but internally through reason. As humans developed reason, we also developed a sense of morality through that reason. Freud believes that humans should do what they want because we shouldn’t restrict ourselves on society 's behalf. However, I believe that restriction is an essential part of our character, and allows humanity to advance further than any other race. Morality, like reason, keeps us safe from the
Sigmund Freud once said: “Most people do not really want freedom, because freedom involves responsibility, and most people are frightened of responsibility”. Humans are by nature selfish and cruel, but conceal their inner desires and act in ways accepted by society. When all traces of civil society disappear, humans are prone to express their nature to it’s fullest and act impulsively, unless they possess a strong enough conscience to override it. According to Sigmund Freud, this impulsiveness, it’s opposing force of reason and the combination of the two represent the three main aspects of human nature, commonly referred to
Conformity is defined as behavior in accordance with socially accepted conventions or standards. This is not a good or bad thing, this just is. It exists as a compliment to earlier humans congregating into larger groups, using agriculture and domestication to create sustenance. Also, conformity is essential for life. We need people to share the same ideas, ideologies and a way of thinking in order to work efficiently and effectively. There many examples that exist like, at work or in your house and even within yourself. Sigmund Freud has explained the phenomena of group psychology in a piece titled, Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego. Using Freud’s theory of conformity I will explain the self, what we call “me”,and its different constituents using The Principles of Psychology by
The methods he used to obtain his information and data raised questions by other scientists. His research on children was lacking, as was his use of empirical studies, his research was male-dominated and also lacked universality. The theory of the id, ego and superego develops from birth into childhood therefore the use of case studies on adults and the lack of empirical study does not seem feasible enough to have developed this theory. First of all there is no guarantee that the memories of these adults on their childhood would be accurate, there was not any factual, re-testable data so it lacked reliability and validity secondly each case and person’s experience is different and therefore cannot be use to determine the development of an entire population. Freud’s theory was further biased due to him overlooking social and environmental aspects, which prevent universality; he was a European man who researched other upper middle class Europeans whose everyday living and circumstances differed greatly from others in
... mechanisms are denial, displacement, and rationalization. Denial is refusing to believe or perceive something that took place. Displacement is directing anger from the main target to a secondary target. Rationalization is trying to justify the actions someone did by making up a plausible excuse. (http://www.clinicalsolutions.org/Welcome.html), ((Sharon Heller Freud A to Z), and (http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/freud.html)
“Psychological - or more strictly speaking, psychoanalytic -investigation shows that the deepest essence of human nature, which are similar in all men and which aim at the satisfaction of certain needs... [are] self-preservation, aggression, need for love, and the impulse to attain pleasure and avoid pain...” At its simplest form, this quote perfectly explains Sigmund Freud’s theory on human nature. Human beings, according to Freud, are in a constant state of conflict within themselves; trying to satisfy their animalistic instincts, while also maintaining a socially appropriate life. Freud termed these animalistic tendencies that we have, the Id. The Id is essentially our unconscious mind, it is the part of us that has been there since the day we were born and is what drives our life’s needs and desires. The Id simply aims to satisfy our sexual or aggressive urges immediately, without taking into account any further implications. On the other hand, Freud used the term, the Superego, to describe man’s conscience and sense of morality. It is the Superego’s job to keep the Id in check by combatting the desire to satisfy urges with the feeling of guilt or anxiety. Finally, the Ego, is the conscious representation of the constant battle between the Superego and the Id. It must work to satisfy human’s instinctual tendencies while taking into account their conscience and doing what is rational and acceptable. Freud argues that these internal process that are constantly at work in our mind are what shape humans to do the things that they do. Thus, he believes, the goal of human nature is to satisfy our basic aggressive and sexual desires while adhering to cultural and social standards.
In Sigmund Freud's observation, humans are mainly ambitious by sexual and aggressive instincts, and search for boundless enjoyment of all needs. However, the continuous pursuit of gratification driven by the identification, or unconscious, directly conflicts with our society as the uncontrolled happiness. Sigmund Freud believed that inherent sexual and aggressive power prevented from being expressed would cause our "society to be miserable and the forfeiture of contentment." Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic view of personality theory is based on the perception that greatly of human behavior is determi...
Freud originally attempted to explain the workings of the mind in terms of physiology and neurology ...(but)... quite early on in his treatment of patients with neurological disorders, Freud realised that symptoms which had no organic or bodily basis could imitate the real thing and that they were as real for the patient as if they had been neurologically caused. So he began to search for psychological explanations of these symptoms and ways of treating them.
Throughout Freud’s time, he came up with many different theories. One of his theories was Life and Death Instincts. This theory evolved throughout his life and work. He believed that these drives were responsible for much of behavior. He eventually came to believe that these life instincts alone couldn’t explain all human behavior. Freud then determined that all instincts fall into one of 2 major classes: the life instincts or the death instincts. Life instincts deal with basic survival, reproduction, and pleasure. Death instincts are apparent after people experience a traumatic event and they often reenact the experience. In Freud’s view, self-destructive behavior is an expression of the energy that is created by the death instincts.