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Essay on Freud Civilization and its Discontents
Civilization and its Discontents is the most philosophical of Freud's works. He combines many of his previous ideas to produce a commentary on civilization and life in general, normally the realm of philosophers. Freud's past works hinted at and even addressed some philosophical problems, but here he offers an overview of life based on his extensive psychoanalytic findings. Because Freud wants to address philosophical and existential problems, the book sounds like a work of philosophy. He discusses such issues as religion, aesthetics, ethics, the purpose of life, civilization versus a state of nature, and problems with civilization.
According to Freud, the conflict between sexual needs and societal mores is the source of mankind’s propensity for dissatisfaction, aggression, hostility and ultimately, violence. For Freud, the greatest struggle in life is the connection between our inner world and the society into which we are born. Thus harmony and inner peace can only be attained when we have learned to control our aggressive impulses by resolving this incongruity. However, because Freud believed that destructive forces are present in all individuals, and thus man is by nature, an essentially anti-social and anti-cultural being, it is difficult for many people to accept his premises. After all, describing man as aggressive and out of control is hardly in line with humanity’s superior self-image.
Furthermore, while Freud’s reference to aggression as "an original self-subsisting instinctual disposition in man . . . the greatest impediment to civilization" effectively defines the problem, he fails to offer legitimate solutions as to how to control our aggression and anti-social instinct.
Freud’s ‘death drive’ remains one of the most enigmatic and metaphysically obscure of his concepts.
While it became central to Melanie Klein and Jacques Lacan’s developments of psychoanalysis, many dedicated Freudians baulk at the revelatory tone adopted by Freud in “Beyond the Pleasure Principle,”.................
