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Freud's Point Of View Of Free Will And Determinism

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The philosophical term free will explains how we are free to choose our actions, and be in control of our behaviors. The determinist approach explains how our actions and behaviors can be predictable because they are caused by prior factors, like our organization. In class, we have discussed Baron d’Holbach and John Stuart Mill’s point of view on determinism and free will. Therefore, I have chosen free will and determinism as my topic to discuss it from Freud’s point of view.
The historian of psychology Mark Altschule said: "It is difficult - or perhaps impossible - to find a nineteenth-century psychologist or medical psychologist who did not recognize unconscious cerebration as not only real but of the highest importance.” Which brings us …show more content…

According to philosophy basics, positivism is the philosophical theory that authentic knowledge is scientific knowledge, and that this knowledge can only come from theories that are proved by scientific methods and facts like measurable evidence. This really influenced the western thought to the belief that people could really know and control both themselves and their environment. However, Freud introduced the theory of the unconscious, which at that time was shocking. Freud suggested that we are not completely aware of ourselves like what we think or what we do. Our conscious thoughts are not always the reasons for our actions. Which means that those claims of free will are nothing but a delusion to Freud. Freud suggested that the origin of our thoughts and actions is far deeper than we think. According to his topographical model of the mind, there are layers to our thoughts, …show more content…

Freud was the founding father of psychoanalysis. Freud used to make his patients sit on his couch and advise them to talk freely about what is on their mind and their symptoms. Freud used Free association in his therapy sessions. Free association is when patients talk freely without censoring themselves, and during this exercise images will pop in the patient's mind. Freud would use those images to analyze the cause of it, which he believes lies in the unconscious. Human behavior can be controlled or determined by inner and outer forces. Freud explained how the unconscious can be a cause for our behavior. Mental illnesses contradicts the concept of free will. Since individuals with mental illnesses lose control over their behaviors. For example, a patient suffering from temper issues loses control over their thoughts, words and actions or someone who is suffering from depression can not control their emotions. In The Psychopathology of Everyday Life, published by Freud in 1901, he used the term Fehlleistungen. Fehlleistungen refers to slips of the tongue. Freud blamed the unconscious and repressed desires for those slips of the tongue. His emphasis on the importance of the unconscious mind is shown in how the goal of psychoanalysis is to make the patient conscious of the unconscious mind. Freud believed that those slips would allow him to access the unconscious mind of the patient and understand it.

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