Freud's Civilization and Its Discontents Term Paper

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Civilization instills certain necessary checks to contain sexual and aggressive impulses, like feelings of guilt. The original, Oedipal anger of the boy against the father is turned inward, against himself, given that he is taught that it is 'wrong' to want to hurt his father and desire his mother.

Civilization and its Discontents is partially an argument against utopian philosophies like Marxism. Freud's concept is that society is inherently masochistic in nature, dependent upon feelings of guilt and sacrifice to function. A utopia is impossible. The innate impulses of desire and aggressiveness of the individual will always be in conflict with other individuals and the collective. To be truly 'happy' in an ecstatic sense would mean destroying the rights of others. If everyone lived by the law of the id, then only the strongest would survive. Society aims for moderation: a moderate satisfaction of the desires of all people through some sense of guilt and limitation through the power of the super ego. If there was no law and no sense of guilt, then some people would suffer in extreme pain, subject to the will of others.

The fundamental problem with communism, according to Freud, is that economic acquisition is not the root of all evil: desire for others and the primitive aggressive impulse also causes conflict. Economic disparities are one of many types of latent sources of anger -- consider how neighboring peoples, Freud says, are constantly at war with one another, as if warlike behavior is stimulated by the presence of others, and needs no other justification.

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Scarce resources is put individuals and collectives at odds for land, food, and love.

Reformers, whether communists, feminists, or those who would make a claim for sexual liberation may be right in finding fault with the injustices of society but they must acknowledge what must be overcome when creating a so-called perfect civilization. Unneeded suffering may be unwelcome, but civilization, through the process of creating its necessary structures, inevitably causes some unnecessary as well as necessary sacrifices and pain for some individuals. Conflict and pain are unavoidable, and acceptance of these facts is essential to obtain some measure of psychological health.

Critics would say that Freud is a pessimist; others would say he is a realist about the scarcity of resources and the inevitable opportunity costs to the individual due to the process of civilization. But it could be argued that Freud was too accepting of the limits placed upon members of his society, such as women, the members of the working classes, and different ethnic and racial groups. Even if perfection is not possible, this does not mean that all social laws must be accepted without question and change is impossible......

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