In reading both Freud’s “Civilization and Its Discontents” and Foucault’s “Discipline and Punish” it is apparent that they have different views on the function of human society. Freud’s general claim in his writing is that the purpose of human life is happiness. Though our current civilization often does not offer direct, intense satisfaction of our carnal desires, it does offer a more stable lifestyle that avoids pain and results in smaller, simpler pleasures. Foucault’s claims, on the other hand, focus more on the mechanics of human civilization. We are given the illusion of choice but are actually being controlled and separated into organized groups that create a kind of hierarchy for the individual to climb. One specific context that …show more content…
Freud quotes the poet, Goethe, to support his point that science and art are superior forms of obtaining happiness when compared to religion (40). Religion is a way to avoid pondering on the questions that we are unable to know the answer to. Religion does not provide happiness, but it does promise happiness to the disciple in the future if he lives a predetermined way. According to Freud, this is would be inefficient because the possibility of this happiness is not certain, especially not in the physical human lifetime.
He specifically elaborates on how science and art satisfy this requirement of sublimation in society because they provide pleasure for one while benefiting many. Art specifically provides pleasure for both the artist and the observer because of the concept of beauty. “Beauty has no obvious use; nor is there any clear cultural necessity for it. Yet civilization could not do without it” (53). Because beauty is not being used to deflect emotions or avoid pain, it is more effective as a method of happiness. The idea of something being beautiful is ingrained in our society; it is a major appeal to visit somewhere or interact with someone. Museums, Beaches, Colleges, including Flagler, use the appeal of beauty to attract people and provide them with visual pleasure that is sought by everyone. The purpose of beauty does not often call for justification because it is simply based upon personal aesthetic appeal.
Throughout the rest of the book, Freud addresses the conflict between civilization and the individual. He starts with the fundamental paradox of civilization: we created civilization as a tool to protect ourselves from unhappiness; however it is our largest source of unhappiness. He also points out that contemporary technological advances have been a mixed blessing for human happiness. He also asks what the purpose of civilization is if it is not to satisfy the pleasure principal. He later concedes that civilization has to make compromises of happiness to fulfill its primary goal of bringing people into peaceful relationships with each other, by making them subject to a higher, communal authority.
throughout the book and briefly in other works. A principle component for Freud was the
Another argument Freud makes is how religion is an attempt to fill in the gaps where civilization and the pursuit of life cannot make individuals happy. "The urge to rectify the shortcomings of civilization which made themselves painfully felt" is fulfilled by religion. (Freud,
Change over time; that is a common theme with everything in the world. The concept of punishment is no different in that regard. In the 16th and 17th century the common view for punishing people was retaliation from the king and to be done in the town square. In what seemed to be all of a sudden, there was a change in human thinking, the concept of punishment changed to a more psychological approach compared to a public embarrassment/torture approach. The following paragraphs will discuss the development of prisons and what in fact gives people gives people the right to punish; as well as the overall meaning and function of prisons. The work by Michel Foucault in Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison will help with the arguments
This part of the paper will provide a comparison with a theorist previously discussed in a lecture. The theorist with whom Michael Foucault’s arguments will be compared to is Emile Durkheim. Durkheim sees crime as functional. He says that if there was no crime, all our values would be dispersed--these values are laws. These laws are observed by sanctions and punishments attached to it. However, in order for these laws to exist, there must be a punishment, thus, for there to be a punishment, there has to be crime. Repressive law, according to this classical theorist was based on punishing for the evil doing of the criminal through revenge. Durkheim believes that a crime is not collective and when one goes against the core values of society, one threatens the entire order of society. Therefore, this theorist would agree with Foucault that when disciplining a criminal, he or she should be stripped of their freedom and when
In chapter 8, Freud analyses the relationship between civilization and individual further. In his view, personal fulfillment still can be achieved under the community culture. He explains, “ Here by far the most important thing is the aim of creating a unity out of the individual human beings. It is true that the aim of happiness is still there, but it is pushed into the background”(Freud 105). In other words, community formed with every single individual and forming a community is the most important objective in the process of society development. Personal satisfaction can be achieved maximize if it is assumed that personal development is independent. However, the fact is not that simple. Individuals were born in community and they grow up in the environment that surrounded by their families and friends. They developed themselves along with the improvement of community. Individual and society are inseparable. So when individual considers about achieving personal fulfillment, the community culture is the first and the most primary restriction because they live in the community and they must obey community rules first. That is why Freud writes that personal happiness is always people pursuing but it is pushed into background when it intersects with community culture. For this reason, individual
Freud mainly focuses on human nature and questions the desire, ideas ,and beliefs that shape a human, he then further analyses them. We see in his literature, Civilization and its Disconnect, that he questions religion and the belief in God. He himself does not believe in God, but wants to know why many people follow and trust something that they cannot see. He also questions the concept of human relationships. Knowing that a two person relationship and interaction is inevitable and that it is a part of life, but he does not know if a third relationship, and further on, is necessary. Regardless, human relationships are a part of society, and one of causes of civilizations, which Freud defines as “the whole some of achievement and the regulations which distinguish our lives” (Freud). With one of the achievements
Foucault address the changing definition of crime and how power is exerted through the enforcement of punishment. During the monarchy, kings and queens showed their power and authority of the people by determining what punishment someone would receive for their actions. In the current political system, judges and juries are in the position to make these decisions. Judgement is the current system is based on motives and intent rather than on the severity of the crime alone. We care more about the psychological state of the individual and want to be able to change the person's soul to better respect society. The quote below addresses how punishment uses a variety of specializations and how the individual's mental state is molded to fit into standards we have created today.
Throughout reading the two books on Sigmund Freud and Foucault we can infer that they have many views, standpoints on various ideas, points about certain aspects also as to why we act like we do. One standpoint both philosophers have, is the idea of restraint. Restraint is a measure or condition that keeps someone or something under control or within limits. As it can also be unemotional, dispassionate, or moderate behavior; self-control. Both Freud and Foucault have their very strong opinions on the subject of Restraint. Freud talks about restraint through your libido and super ego. While Foucault talks about restraint as
The Bible is a sacred text that has guided men and women in life to stay on this path of goodness and selflessness. According to Freud the Bible may be the cause of civilization’s unhappiness. Mankind’s freedom has been stifled because of the restrain society has put on our “primal nature”. Anything that goes against the structure the Bible has made in society has been repelled and ignored because it is no longer something that can be thought of as real or taken seriously. Freud believes that the happiness we cannot attain is due to the freedoms we lack. This belief of lacking in freedom is not correct based on the Bible’s chapters. Mans inability to be happy or remain happy is due to his or her need of having something to prove. This
Consequently, it is apparent that though Freud is in no way campaigning for religion, the very
Freud gives his insights about what he defines as religion and how the societal neurosis called religion can be expunged from our lives. Freud, in his book The Future of an Illusion gives his psychoanalytical theory in trying to explain religion and postulates that the phenomenon called religion is an imagination, a mere illusion that goes beyond questioning. He suggests that science will provide us with knowledge and explanations to do away with the religious neurosis and live a life where science will be able to prove everything. The following reflects the testimony of Sigmund Freud, if he was to be called upon as a witness in the trial of Warner v. Boca Raton.
In his ground-breaking book Civilization and Its Discontents, Sigmund Freud postulates that society, despite ostensibly being set up to protect us from unhappiness, has a net negative impact on human happiness. According to Freud, the three most important causes of suffering are the natural world, our own bodies, and our interactions with other people (Freud 44). In addition to identifying these as the main causes of suffering, Freud also states that the suffering that comes from other people is the worst of the three. Given how civilization has changed since Civilization and Its Discontents was published, however, this belief simply no longer holds true. Freud’s belief that interaction with other people in society is the worst cause of human suffering is no longer valid in today’s world because of the net benefits of society’s protection, because of society’s benefits to the human body, and because of advances in society’s ability to satisfy human happiness.
So, Freud speculates on the conjecture that our universe or our world was created in such a way, that we are not be able to live happily for a prolonged time (Farrell 11). He introduces the Principle of Reality, the negative way of achieving happiness, when man strives to avoid
The main ideas of Discipline and Punish can be grouped according to its four parts: torture, punishment, discipline and