Civilization and Its Discontents

proletariat to miserable living conditions, because they have no alternative. Marx is concerned with oppression, while Freud is concerned with repression. However, both reflect on the principle that this stifling of the individual creates misery and discontent in society. While Marx believes this misery can be overcome by overhauling the pattern of social order, Freud seems to believe that the maladies found in society are more or less unavoidable. In Freud’s view, suffering comes from three sources:

super-ego in Civilization and Its Discontents. How does Freud explain and characterize the relationship between super-ego and ego in the individual? Cite examples of the interaction between Virgil and Dante and compare closely with Freud’s discussion of the psychical agencies, super-ego and ego: To what extent does the dynamic between Virgil and Dante illustrate the same pattern or features? Freud meets Dante: Ego and Super-Ego in Inferno In his book Civilization and Its Discontents, Sigmund

impulses, Freud narrowed it down to four main drives: Self-preservation, aggression, the need for love, and the impulse to attain pleasure and avoid pain. These topics along with the model of the psyche embedded within the principles of pleasure and civilization form the most

and finds himself depressed as a result of allowing civilization to suppress his innermost desires or instincts, “like so many others I had become a slave to the IKEA nesting instinct” (Fight Club). Freud asserts that the purpose of human life is the pursuit of what makes one happy (Freud 25), thus Freud implies that our perception of reality is built from the incline toward satisfying our natural instincts. Freud argues that even though civilization was initially developed to protect us it has turned

Engels present their view of human nature and the effect that the economic system and economic factors have on it. Marx and Engels discuss human nature in the context of the economic factors which they see as driving history. Freud, in Civilization and Its Discontents, explores human nature through his psychological view of the human mind.      Marx states that history "...is the history of class struggles" (9). Marx views history as being determined by economics

they saw in society was just a reflection of their own biases and personal inner feelings. Freud and Marx it can be argued were both, as individuals, dissatisfied with their societies. Marx more plainly than Freud, but Freud can also be seen as discontent in certain aspects such as his cynical view of human nature. Each were great thinkers and philosophers, but both seemed unhappy. Perhaps the social ills and trouble each perceived in the world about them were only the reflections of what each of

Describe and assess the explicit (and sometimes merely implicit) notions of freedom and unfreedom we find in the texts we have read by Marx, Mill and Freud. Use the esoteric traditions we have examined thus far (from the Book of Job to Plato) as a comparative yardstick, or point of reference, but without letting them take over the foreground in your paper -- the latter should be reserved for these three figures. Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, and John Stuart Mill are three authors who tackle the topic

European Imperialism created a rift within the world. European powers saw the use of Imperialism, as well justified and a mean of spreading their influence and securing their strength. However the nations which found themselves under rule of an imperialistic power did not share the Europeans view on the favors they were giving. European nations saw themselves fit to divide the uncivilized world, almost in a pie like manner, to be placed under their reign. With this came many mistreatments of indigenous

Sigmund Freud’s Assessment of Civilization In Civilization and Discontents, Sigmund Freud analyzes the relationship between individuals and civilization and how it relates to his theory of instincts and the individual psyche. The viewpoint of civilization and the individuals residing in it changed after the First World War when death became anonymous with the use of new war tactics and weapons such as trench warfare, machine guns, and tanks. Many were left unsettled at the savagery that the modern

Since the dawn of human civilization, there have been governments. As a species, we have always attempted to efficiently and systematically maintain order. However it is not uncommon for those same governments to turn on the people it protects, as evidenced by the countless tyrants and authoritarian regimes that plague our history. When studying the complex subject of a free or oppressive government, it is rather interesting to look at the stark contrasts between how both of these organizations handle