Note: questions are assigned based on alphabetical order.
About 50-75 words. You should reference page numbers (p. X).
Last names:
A-G: Articulate the Pleasure Principle (positive and negative)
H-M: What are the Three Sources of Human Suffering?
N-P: Is Civilization as a Source of Our Unhappiness, Our Malaise or Discontent? (How Does Civilization Emerge?)
Q-Scott: Explain the Aggressive Instinct and the Generation of the Super-Ego
Shirley-Stewart: Explain the Super-Ego and the Sense of "Guilt"
Stvartak-Z: What are the implications of Freudian theory?
According to Freud, aggressiveness is an innate characteristic of the human being. It is an instinctual element of behavior, one that humans strive to satisfy by taking it out on their neighbors. “…this cruel aggressiveness waits for some provocation…” that reconciles their subsequent actions with the super-ego, which has been trained to “love thy neighbor” (p. 69). After the act of aggression is completed, the super-ego reassumes control of the self because the need for an outlet was satisfied. This super-ego is originally generated in order to keep civilization from falling apart; it balances humans’ instinctual aggression by suppressing it and encouraging cooperation with society (p.70).
ReplyDeleteFreud claims that "what decides the purpose of life is simply the programme of the pleasure principle." This principle is why we think the way we do, but it is impossible to be carried through because regulations make men unhappy (p.25). To avoid unpleasure, Freud lists many methods, including the satisfaction of every need, voluntary isolation, and, the most effective, intoxication (p.27). Even a man who has been unhappy for years can find pleasure in chronic intoxication (p.36). There is no rule for what brings happiness though; every man must find out in which way he will find pleasure, whether it be intoxication, sexual relations, or religion (p.34).
ReplyDeleteFreud defines the "Pleasure Principle" (p.14) as the pursuit of happiness, which has two aims, both a positive and a negative aim (p.25). Although I believe Freud wants us all to decide which is positive and negative for ourselves, the aim he suggests is more positive is the aim "at the experiencing of strong feelings of pleasure," while the more negative aim is the one "at an absence of pain and unpleasure" (p.25).
ReplyDeleteFreud says the three sources of human suffering are “the superior power of nature, the feebleness of our own bodies, and the inadequacy of the regulations which adjust the mutual relationships of human beings in the family, the state and society.”(p.37) He says that we will never be able to completely control or understand nature or our bodies since they are part of nature. The third source should be under human control, yet no person can fully escape social suffering.
ReplyDeleteFreud theorized that our guilt was the result of “fear of an authority, and… fear of the super-ego” (pg 89). The super-ego is, in Freud’s opinion, our conscience. It is “… aggressiveness… introjected, internalized… (and) sent back to where it came from-that is, it is directed towards his own ego”(pg 84). So, this super-ego is part of us that branches off from our self and causes us to seek punishment and feel guilt when we do something it considers bad
ReplyDeleteThe Pleasure Principal was Freud's term for man's basic need and want to find happiness. Freud believed there were three basic ways to find pleasure. You could either actually seek out pleasure, for example, by having sex; you could avoid "unpleasure," for instance, by staying away from bad situations; finally, in what Freud calls "The crudest, but also the most effective among these methods," you can become intoxicated (p.26).
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ReplyDeleteThe sources of human suffering according to Freud are "superior power of nature, the feebleness of our own bodies, and the inadequacy of the regulations, which adjust the mutual relationships of human beings." (p. 37) Freud goes on to say that we must just submit to the first two sources as we cannot "completely master nature," and our bodies are part of nature. (p. 37) Therefore we cannot overcome the suffering caused on those accounts. As for the final reason we have control, but choose to allow it to cause suffering instead of blessing.
ReplyDeleteFreud theorized that the sources of all Human suffering came from three things, and stated it thusly: “the superior power of nature, the feebleness of our own bodies and the inadequacy of the regulations which adjust the mutual relationships of human beings in the family, the state and society.” Pg. 37 While Freud believed that we would never have control over the suffering caused by nature or our bodies, being part of nature; he also believed that we should never stop trying to improve our lot in life, saying: “If we cannot remove all suffering, we can at least remove some” Pg.37
ReplyDeleteFreud believes that civilization is a source of unhappiness, malaise, and discontent--hence the name of his book. He states, "what we call our civilization is largely responsible for our misery." (pg 38) Freud thinks that civilization emerged because "a fairly large number of people were now able to live together in a community." (pg 55) He believes that people were first able to form a community due to man's sexual desires and the need for a dominant father figure. However, Freud states that civilization hinders these two things which are man's greatest instincts, sexuality and his "inclination to aggression." (pg 72) On page 73, he says, "If civilization imposes such great sacrifices not only on man's sexuality but on his aggressivity, we can understand better why it is hard for him to be happy in that civilization." (pg 73)
ReplyDeleteThe super-ego serves as a watchdog function for the ego. The super-ego acts in the form of conscience, counteracting the impulse the ego feels towards acting out aggression. The conflict that this counteraction creates is the sense of guilt. We feel guilt for many reasons: doing something we think is bad, thinking about doing something bad, or whatever causes the loss of love. The fear of guilt also causes the need for punishment. (pgs 84-88)
ReplyDeleteThe Freudian theory suggests that the human mind is divided up into the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious (p. 4-5). All play a crucial part in the way the mind works. In Civilization and its Discontents, Freud discusses in-deep the analysis of the human brain and was the first to do so. His theories on pleasure, happiness, ego, suffering, discontent, super-ego, guilt, and a few more are all very intriguing and set the ground work for future studies.
ReplyDeleteFreud's thought on the super ego was that it was a way of sensing external authority. In a sense, the super ego contributes to our feelings of anxiety and guilt. He says that "the super-ego torments the sinful ego with the same feeling of anxiety and is on the watch for opportunities of getting it punished by the external world." p. (86). He goes on to explain that basically when good things happen, your ego is happy, when bad things happen, your ego finds guilt.
ReplyDelete(I read the Kindle edition so I don't have page numbers, only percentages)
ReplyDeleteThe super-ego and the generation of the super-ego was created by a set of factors that led to aggression becoming pent up in the people of society. (63%) Instead of being able to allow their aggression out, humanity began to suppress it. By definition civilization requires its denizens to control their aggressive urges, so the super-ego is created. (45%)
Freud felt that civilization caused people to be unhappy because to be part of a society means to putting oneself second and one's society first. Humans feel as though they must control their aggression while in a society and it creates an unhappiness caused by society.
ReplyDeleteFreud proposes that aggression, or the "Death Instinct," is an essential part of the human mind. Freud states that this aggressiveness is capable of "revealing man as a savage beast to whom consideration towards his own kind is something alien" (p.69). This inherent hostility between men is a constant threat to civilized society, according to Freud. The Super-Ego is the antagonist to the aggressiveness. The Super-Ego essentially keeps our aggressive natures in check, by directing the aggression inward to the conscience and our sense of guilt. Freud believes without the Super-Ego our "Death Instinct" would be the decisive instinct in the human mind.
ReplyDeleteFreud's theories imply that mankind cannot be both free of damaging neuroses and civilized at once, because by necessity civilization quashes fundamental human drives like sexuality and aggression (p.49) in the interest of creating order. This is parallel to his assertion that pleasure can only be found where there is a marked contrast between pleasurable and normal feelings -- we are disorderly, and perhaps worse, at heart.
ReplyDelete