Freud's Analysis Of Civilisation example essay topic

DOES FREUD'S PSYCHOANALYTIC INTERPRETATION OF THE PSYCHE TURN CIVILIZED EXISTENCE INTO SOMETHING PROBLEMATIC? The question I have chosen is "Does Freud's psychoanalytic interpretation of the psyche turn civilized existence into something problematic?" This question is essentially asking whether what Freud believes about the human psyche (or mind) contradict a belief in an harmonious society, and therefore is civilised existence essentially nothing but a dilemma. I will attempt to answer this question by drawing on what Freud postulated about the psychical. This will then be used to explain why the 'human psyche' is on a constant quest for 'the whole', or satisfaction, and how this only leads only to constant discontent and an unconscious drive for self-destruction, known as the 'death instinct.

' Firstly, Freud proposed many theories about the psyche, the basis of which being the segmenting of the psychical into three sections: the conscious, the unconscious and the preconscious. The conscious is the section of the mind containing thoughts that we are aware of. Conscious experiences can be thought about rationally as well as verbalized. The unconscious is the section of the mind that is not directly accessible to awareness, and has been described as a 'dump box' for thoughts and emotions relating to hurt, conflict and anxiety. Freud argues that these thoughts and emotions have not disappeared but that they are constantly, unconsciously, influencing what we do and the decisions we make. And finally, the preconscious is where ordinary memory is stored.

Thoughts and feelings stored here are neither conscious nor unconscious, however, they are capable of becoming conscious at any time. This division is the foundation of psychoanalysis, and understanding its complexities is necessary when one is to comprehend mental pathological processes. In Freud's analysis of civilisation, he postulated that civilisation has two characteristics, which are inter-dependent upon one another. As stated by Freud in The Future of an Illusion, civilisation 'includes on the one hand all the knowledge and capacity that men have acquired in order to control the forces of nature and extract its wealth for the satisfaction of human needs, and, on the other hand, all the regulations necessary in order to adjust the relations of men to one another and especially the distribution of the available wealth. ' In other words, civilisation is characterised by the knowledge man has gained and used to manipulate the forces of nature with the purpose of satisfying man's needs, as well as the regulations which alter man's interactions with each another and the allocation of wealth.

In Civilisation and It's Discontents, Freud claims that the development of civilisation has only resulted due to the "superego's repression of the psyche's instinctual drives", more commonly known as the 'id'. Theoretically, the satisfaction of the id brings about pleasure, so ironically; "the very psychological processes" that prompted people to fabricate civilisation's great works also inevitably generated displeasure. This understanding of Freud's clearly demonstrates that the problem of civilisation. Freud also claimed that civilisation not only brings with it benefits, but also regulations, and it is here that the predicament of civilisation lies.

Regulations such as social norms, mores and laws are what restrain us as humans from behaving freely and impulsively, which results in discontentment with civilisation, our society and ourselves. In Chapter 8 of Civilisation and Its Discontents, Freud states that the most significant problem with civilisation is the 'sense of guilt' and the reason for civilised societies increasing unhappiness is the increased 'sense of guilt' we experience. This 'sense of guilt', according to Freud, to a great degree remains unconscious and consequently gives way to man's unconscious need for punishment. Therefore, Freud claimed, the more civilised we become directly impacts on our increasing unhappiness. And it could be said that those living in primitive societies are, paradoxically, happier than those of us living in civilised ones. In this case, Freud's understanding of the human psyche has turned civilisation into something rather problematic, as the more we develop as a civilised society, the further discontent and unhappy we are likely to become.

Furthermore, Freud argued that in development of the individual there are two urges present: the urge towards individual happiness, called 'egoistic'; and the urge towards union with other humans within a community, referred to as 'altruistic'. In the development of an individual, the egoistic urge is primary and the altruistic urge takes a back seat. In the development of civilisation however, the process is effectively reversed, with the primary aim being the creation of unity with other human beings. The egoistic urge is still present, although Freud claims, that, and I quote, 'the creation of a great human community would be most successful if no attention had to be paid to the happiness of the individual'. Meaning that in order to create a successful human society, the individual's happiness needs to be sacrificed. Clearly this is the problem with civilised existence.

In his works, Freud also reinforces what was said by Aristophanes in Plato's Symposium: that everyone is on a constant pursuit of 'the whole', something they desire which will, once achieve, bring about satisfaction. Freud claims, however, that this constant pursuit is for something essentially unattainable - contentment. Contentment, which I believe, is becoming more and more unachievable in the dynamic technological world we live in today. This unrelenting pursuit, according to Freud, only leads to discontentment, dissatisfaction, frustration and aggression. And it is these emotions - buried deep in our unconscious - that inevitably cause the psychical 'death instinct', which is described as an unconscious drive for self-destruction. Freud claims that unconsciously, the psyche becomes tired and discontent with life because we are constantly dissatisfied.

This leads to an unconscious desire to die, because in death this constant pursuit would cease. We could no longer experience contentment, however, we would also no longer be discontent. This psychoanalytic concept proposed by Freud, again turns civilised existence into something problematic. As I have already mentioned, the more civilised we become, the more unhappy and discontent we are bound to be, and understandably, this increasing unhappiness arouses the 'death instinct'. So to answer the question "Does Freud's psychoanalytic interpretation of the psyche turn civilized existence into something problematic?" My answer is YES. Freud proposes that the development of civilisation only leads to growing dissatisfaction, due to the individual's development of a 'sense of guilt' as well as the sacrifices made for the benefit of the society as a united body, not for the individual.

Regulations that benefit society, and technology that allows for civilised existence, has come at the expense of individual happiness. Although Freud believed that civilisation was worth sacrificing the individual's happiness, his interpretation of the psyche does turn civilised existence into something problematic. The more civilised we become, the more the individual a) desires, and therefore experiences growing discontent while on the constant pursuit of 'the whole' b) endures an increasing sense of guilt and c) consequently, experiences dissatisfaction and unhappiness - all sacrifices of their happiness.

Bibliography

Freud, Sigmund, "Civilisation, society and religion: group psychology, civilisation and its discontents and other works", Trans. James Strachey. Ed. Albert Dickson. (Harmondsworth: Pelican / Penguin, 1985).
Freud, Sigmund, "The Ego and the Id", trans. James Strachey (London: W.W. Norton & Company, 1960).
Freud, Sigmund, "The Future of an Illusion", trans. and ed. James Strachey (New York: Norton, 1961).
Freud, Sigmund, "The Libido Theory", in The Standard edition of the complete psychological works of Sigmund Freud, Vol. 18, 1955.
Griffith Library catalogue). Mandalios, John 2005, Freud lecture 1, lecture to Love, Sex and Truth students, Faculty of Arts, Media and Culture, Griffith University, 12 May.
Mandalios, John 2005, Freud lecture 2, lecture to first-year students, Faculty of Arts, Media and Culture, Griffith University, 19 May.
Marcuse, Herbert, "Eros and Civilisation", Accessed via: web reference / archive /marcuse / works /eros-civilisation / introduction. htm., 1955, Retrieved 21 May 2005.
Google search). Nielsen, Lene and Palmquist, Steve, "Summary of the November 7th meeting of the Hong Kong philosophy caf'e", Accessed via: web H KPC / civilised. html., 11 February 2001, Received May 21 2005.
Google search). Wilder dom, Topography of Mind: Freud's Iceberg Model for Unconscious, Pre-conscious, & Conscious, web (22 Sept. 2003).