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Sigmund Freuds Civilization and its Discontents
1) What is Freuds assessment of civilization and how does that
assessment relate to his theory
of instincts and the individual psyche?
2)
Freuds development of his theory of instincts
3)
Most pressing problem4)
How does he define civilization in relation to instincts?
5)
What is the relationship between civilization and the individual
human psyche?
6)
What is meant by the title of the work from which this excerpt
is takencivilization and its
discontents?
Notes
Religion, Science, Art
3 measures to deal with paino Powerful deflectionscause us to
make light of our misery
o Substitutive satisfactionsdiminish misery
o Intoxicating substancesmake us insensitive to it
Purpose of life lays in religion
Human strive after happiness, to be happy and remain so
o Aims at an absence of pain and unpleasure
o
Aims at experiencing of strong feelings of pleasure
Programme of the pleasure principle decides the purpose of
life
o Our possibilities of happiness are already restricted by our
constitution.
Unhappiness is much less difficult to experience
o Threated from 3 directions
From our own bodywhich is doomed to decay and dissolution and
which
cannot even do without pain and anxiety as warning signals
From the external worldwhich may rage against us with
overwhelming
and merciless forces of destruction
From our relations to other menmost painful
Our mental apparatus has other influences
o Just as a satisfaction of instinct spells happiness for us, so
severe suffering is easily
caused if the external world let us starve, if it refuses to
sate our needs
o
Hope to be freed from suffering
Influencing the instinctual impulsesdoes not work on sensory
apparatus
Sensory apparatus seeks to mater the internal sources of our
needs
Does so by killing off the instinctexample: yoga
Sacrificed life to achieve the happiness of quietness
We follow the same path with a less extreme aim and to merely
control our instinctual life
o
Protection against suffering secured
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Non-satisfaction is not as painfully felt compared to an
uninhibited instinct
However, it diminishes the feeling of happinessa wild
instinctual impulse
untamed has a more intense feeling of happiness
Another technique to fend off suffering
o No sexual desire
One gains the most if one can sufficiently heighten the yield of
pleasure from the sources of
psychical and intellectual work
The programme of becoming happy, imposed by the pleasure
principle, cannot be fulfilled
o Yet, we cannot give up on bringing it closer to fulfillment in
some way
o Different paths to reach happinesspg35
Thinking like historians.
1. What is the value of Civilization and Its Discontentsas a
historicaldocument?
The way in the time period Freud was living in.
Think about the subquestions that are laid out in the first
writing assignment prompt:
2. How does Freud explain the development of his theory of
instincts?
3. What does that explanation tell us about what he considers
the most
pressing problem?
aggressive instinct (not happiness but more on violence and
aggressiveness)
4. How does he define civilization in relation to instincts?
5. What is the relationship between civilization and the
individual human
psyche?(afraid of opinions from)
6. What is meant by the title, Civilization and Its
Discontents
Just for thought
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7. What does Freud say is the purpose of life? What is Freuds
outlook? Is this
obtainable?
8. How does civilization place limits on mans
aggressiveness?
9. Freud doesnt seem to make a distinction between the instincts
of men andwomen. Is this because aggressive instincts plagues women
and men
equally?
10. What would Freud think of violent video games, which allow
gamers to
virtually out their violent, aggressive instincts?
Surpress anger or unleash anger
