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Judging by The Heart of Darkness and Civilization and Its Discontents, historical positivism was on wane the first decades of the twentieth century. In contrast to the world Freud and Conrad live in, John Scott encountered a world where the imagined future of the Soviet Union justified great sacrifices in the present. Scott lived in a world where in a matter of years whole new cities came into existence. Education was available to almost all people and students given incentives, such as pay raises, by the government to attend school. In this essay I will discuss each author’s different views of historical progress. How John Scott encountered so much optimism in the Soviet Union as a result of the constant change he witnessed, taking place over a short period of time. Conversely how Conrad s views of European imperialism influence his out look on the future. Lastly, why Freud were so pessimistic due to his belief that the more civilized we become the more discontented we are.

In Behind the Urals, Scott was in the thralls of historical positivism. All around him he saw a population of people told in the papers everyday “that they were the luckiest people in the world, and they believed it”. Political propaganda was used by the Soviet Union to build up a nation of people, and to help them accept the suffering that came with building a new future. Although workers worked twelve hour shifts, attended school, survived rough winters, and did not eating enough to sustain their physically demanding lifestyle, their outlook on life was positive. As long as they had the essentials to living, work and bread, they were happy, everyone was suffering together and there was “fairness in suffering”.

It is apparent in the way author John Sco...

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...ly pessimistic outlook in regards to historical positivism he states, “much of the blame for our misery lies with what we call our civilization, and we should be far happier if we were to abandon it and revert to primitive conditions.” This quote in and by itself encompasses Freuds outlook on life, having believed that by becoming more civilized we restrict ourselves from our true instincts that make us happy and the introduction of morality into our actions has made us feel guilty for our natural instincts. However, these restrictions are essential to our survival as a human race. Freud’s pessimistic understanding of civilization however did not end there, for example he states: “ An unrestricted satisfaction of every need presents itself as the most enticing method of conducting one’s life, but means putting before caution, and soon brings its own punishment.”

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