Essay on Freuds view of civilization - 2416 Words

Freud’s view of civilization emerges from his understanding of the struggle between Eros and Death. Freud expresses the existence of two contrary instincts, Eros and Death, via starting from the speculations on the beginning of life and biological parallels. While Eros preserves the living substance and joins it into larger units, such as societies, Death dissolves these units and brings them back to their primeval state. The death drives appear to be regressive, striving for a return to a less differentiated, less organized state of tensionlessness. In contrast, Eros (which embraces sexual and life-preserving instincts) is progressive in seeking ever more differentiated forms of organized life and even the widening of differences in it†¦show more content†¦While we originally entered society precisely to be protected from nature, escape the forces of mutual aggression and self-destruction, the necessity to thwart our aggressive instincts has caused great unhappiness and development of guilt. In addition, Freud supports that the civilization is largely responsible for our misery and we should be much happier if we return the primitive conditions. Because the aggressiveness caused by death instinct is tried to repress by the rule of law, imposition of the authority or ongoing result of these, superego. Freud identifies an overwhelming sense of guilt as one of the central problems threatening modern civilization since individuals have consequently begun to rebel against civilization with an aggression that exceeds the level of aggression originally suppressed, threatening the disintegration of society, and attributes it to the operation of the superego, an internal psychical agency that monitors the intentions and actions of the ego, keeping the aggressive instincts of the latter in check. Essentially, the aggression that was initially directed outside of the self is redirected into the self. A part of the ego separates from the rest to form the superego. Conflict between the ego and superego creates guilt, a need for punishment. Another term for the superego is conscience. Freud traces the formation ofShow MoreRelatedCivilization and Its Discontents, by Sigmeund Freud Essay example840 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"Civilization and Its Discontents† is a book written by Sigmund Freud in 1929 (originally titled â€Å"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 uniformityRead MoreThe s Quest For Meaning1122 Words   |  5 Pagesembedded in this Buddhist parable serves as the platform for Leo Tolstoy (A Confession) in his quest for meaning. It offers a simplistic illustration of the common predicament faced by all of mankind, to which Tolstoy and fellow thinkers, Sigmund Freud (Civilization and Its Discontents) and C.S. 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