Sigmund Freud Theory Of Human Nature w4b53

Sigmund Freud Theory of Human Nature: Pansexuality and Psychoanalysis                  

Born in Freiburg, Moravia on May 6, 1856 Died in London, 1939 He spends his life in Vienna with his Jewish family when he’s three. Freud inaugurated the sexual revolution. He challenged the Philosophical idea of the rational man that dominated from Socrates. Unconscious forces determined our behavior. 1859, Charles Darwin published his book, Origin of Species 1860, Gustav Fechner, Elements of Psycho Physics 1860, Herman von Helmholz, principle of conservation of Energy Helmholz discovery led to the field of dynamics, led to thermodynamics and Einstein theory of relativity. Freud called his new science as Psychoanalysis. A determinist who believed that all behavior is caused by antecedent cause of affairs. Free will is an illusion. 1881, University of Vienna, treatment of nervous disorders. He married Martha Bernays. Hysteria – caused by the imbalance of the uterus. French Psychologist, Jean Charcot, success in treating hysteria with hypnosis. Austrian colleague, Joseph Breuer, catharthic method of theraphy.

Life instincts and Death Instincts           

Behavior is motivated by drives or instincts, the neurological representation of physical needs. Life Instincts – (a) life of individual, seek food and water; (b) life of the species, to have sex. Oomph – powers our psyches, he called libido (I desire) Sex is much important in the dynamics of the psyches than other needs. Sex is the most social of needs. Pleasure principle keeps us in perpetual motion; the goal is to be still, to be satisfied, to be at peace and to have no more needs. The goal of life is death. Every person has an unconscious wish to die. Life can be painful and exhausting, majority of people experience more pain than pleasure. Death promises release from struggle. Nirvana Principle – “blowing out”, non-existence, nothingness.

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The Interpretation of Dreams (1900), one of the classics of Psychology. Dreams are a form of wish fulfillment, deepest desires and secrets locked in unconscious. This has a sexual dimension. Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality (1905), development of sex drive. In the end, we infallibly come to the field of sexual experience. Freud’s fame spread throughout Europe. Carl Jung and Alfred Adler – his disciples that eventually broke with Freud.

The Trinity of Personality   

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Traditional Christianity: body, soul and spirit. Freud: id, ego and superego ID o Provide for the release of energy in the system. o Pleasure Principle – rid or reduce the tension o Primary source of psychic energy and the instincts. o Force that creates pressure on the entire system for release. EGO o Executive of the personality system o Ruling and controlling the id, and maintaining communication with the external world. o Creates harmony and efficiency, while if id and superego overwhelm it, disharmony and inefficiency results. o The Reality Principle o Center of rational thinking, learning and wisdom SUPEREGO o Legislative-judicial branch of the personality. o Ideality (what ought to be the case). o Source of morality and law. o Its goal is not pleasure, but perfection or at least, moral goodness. o Ego-ideal – rewards and punishments. o Conscience – feelings regarding success in living by the ego-ideals.

Sexuality   

Sex drive is the most powerful drive in humans. For some, drive is so strong that they cannot sublimate all the impulses; it results to rape, seduction and promiscuity. Other repress the impulses that results to psychoneurosis.

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Civilized Sexual Morality and Modern Nervous Illness (1908), women have weaker sexual drives than men, they tend to contract more psychoneurotic illness Stages of Development o Oral Stage – sucking at mother’s breasts. o Anal Stage – pleasure in defecation is at odds with its need for self-control. o Phallic Phase – fascinated by the genitalia. Boys priding their penis while girls wishing they had one (Penis Envy) o Oedipus Complex – boys become attached to their mother o Electra Complex – girls are attached to their father

Consciousness and Unconsciousness   

We are conscious of only a small part of our experience. Most of desires, beliefs, desires and phobias are beneath the surface of consciousness. Psychoneuroses such as obsessive-compulsiveness, paranoia and narcissism are caused by unresolved problem in psychosexual development.

Dreams as Wish Fulfillment      

The interpretation of dreams is the royal road to knowledge of the unconscious activities of the mind. A wish-fulfillment must bring pleasure. The manifest content is what the dreamer re of the dream. The latent content is the hidden content which gives the dream its meaning. Freud is a materialist that denies the existence of the soul. Freud is an Epiphenomenalist.

Religion   

In the Future of an Illusion (1927) Religion is an illusion God is the projection of father’s image.

Civilization and its Discontent       

Freud follows Hobbes rather than Rousseau, in depicting that human nature as violent and unstable. Homo Homini Lupus “Man is a Wolf to Man” Civilization offers many benefits, but causes enormous frustration of our id. A person becomes neurotic because he cannot tolerate the amount of frustration that the society imposes him. Guilt is an internal authority, a product of superego. Our desires are insatiable. Part of the secret of happiness is to learn to be contented.

Rival Psychoanalytic Theories        

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Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) and Alfred Alder (1870-1937); both broke up with Freud because of what they felt was his fixation to sex. Adler, born and trained in Vienna, broke with Jung in 1911. Inferiority Complex Jung, Swiss-born son of Protestant minister, thought Freud misunderstood and underestimate the power of religion at overestimated the role of sex in life. For Jung, unconscious was populated with cosmic archetypes; for Freud, all symbols are essentially sexual. Freud’s direction is from the general idea and types of object to particular (the sexual symbols) Jung’s theory goes in the opposite direction, from the particular to general. Jung’s three level of consciousness: o Present consciousness o The personal unconscious o The deep collective unconscious Freud is closer to the tragic vision, while Jung to the utopian vision of life.