Freud

Freud is no longer viewed as medical research in today's society as it is dangerous, unscientific and not medical science. He believes that you are defined by how you were when you were young. Work addresses a problem the misery of the human condition. We feel unhappy because we are divided and alienated from ourselves, this is the point that Marx also started off with. Freud wanted to explain everything we do and everything we are. He decided that the answer was psychoanalysis as its influence is staggering.

He started off as a psychiatrist in Vienna and then moved to London to listen to people with big problems where he decided we are troubled and unhappy. His career was based around trying to come to a conclusion as to why this is. His conclusion was that we don't know we are controlled we think we are rational and do the things that we do because we think about them. Freud says we do not know why we make decisions as it plays a secret part in our lives that dictate why we do things. We cant escape psychoanalysis.

WH Auden decided that we live in a Freudian world weather we like it or not. We speak and learn in a Freudian way. Freud was an atheist he was born to a Jewish family in Vienna in the mid 1850s which was the place to be during this period. It was viewed as the centre of all intellectual life. He fled to come to London because of the Nazis and the war. There is a museum in London for Freud that contains a huge amount of archaeology and artefact's of the human mind. People say things they don't mean to say as its a Freudian slip which means you speak your real thoughts even if you don't really want to.

Freud loves to study dreams and believes your dominant thoughts are shown within them. They illustrate the real problem as you cant access this part of your real brain usually because you don't know about it. He thinks that if you aren't treated by someone like Freud himself you are neurotic and a danger to yourself. Likewise he thinks the right treatment to have is Neurosis. Freud is the reason why the media and adverts think sex is important. He damaged our idea of ourselves as being noble creatures 'man is the measure of all things.' Shakespeare- 'What a piece of work is a man' it was a challenge to the enlightenment.

At the centre is a deep pessimism, he admitted he was a pessimist. He said when you think of my ideas think of Rembrandt- a little light but a lot of darkness (his personal experience). His theories are a dark vision of humanity. It is useful to consider the times that he did live in to try and understand his negativity. The Nazi party and German State were highly aggressive. There was a lot of fear from the Jewish community which highlights his pessimism. In the late 1920s and early 1930s the great recession took place where there was a large amount of unemployment. Freud at this time was suffering with cancer of the mouth so he was in a lot of pain and was fearful for his family and society.

Attack on Plato

Freud followed Plato’s idea of the tripartite, self-reason, spirit and desire. He divided ourselves into these three parts. The immediate satisfaction and in control of everything is reason our rational mind, ability to control our desires, the priority and dominant force.

Plato on the other hand believed that reason couldn’t rule the other two and is the weakest part as people are irrational. Freud disagreed as he believed we are driven by desire even though we don’t realise we are being controlled.

Attack on Marx

He thinks of the self via the tripartite self natural, alienated species of self. He also believed in communist society where the needs of species of self would finally become dominant through the history and we will come to a communist state. We will evolve as we have the ability to evolve. We have the potential to become a better person and overcome.

Freud rejects Marx ideas as he says they are to idealistic as basic needs are not benign.  The deepest needs are aggression as we want to hurt others to seek our own destruction in the Death Wish Hobbes. Freud takes Hobbes view of Machiavelli’s view in terms of human nature. It is all against all like a war scene where we need to kill and hurt others. He is more consistent with this view than of Plato and Marx view as he has the confidence to dismiss them because he thinks he has found the problem and solution- psychoanalysis.

The Freudian personality

The reality of human nature is viewed as pain and suffering. The mind is divided into three distinct processes that are in deadly conflict.

The ID is the dominant personality part of us which we have from the beginning. Basically we are born with this and it is a reservoir of the unconscious. Sex and aggression are like a 'cauldron of seething excitations' always bubbling away, demanding expression and fulfilment. But we still aren't aware of its dominance and power.

The Ego or self is the reality principle it is the least powerful part of the personality, the voice of reason, moderation and common sense. It is the reality of living in the real world. But is is hopelessly embattled and besieged as it is not in control.

Superego is the internalised rules that are learnt from parents or society. We aren't born with these values or ideas so they are totally irrational (same as the ID). It develops after birth through socialisation and is the internal idea which has impossible standards of perfection. It punishes with guilt on the morality principle and often uses religion. It is like the parent that wants you to do well and punishes you with guilt when you don't do what you are supposed to. It has impossible standards of perfection and puts a picture of our personality into conflict it is the reason we are unhappy and suffer.

Society is full of unhappiness

It is also full of pain, Freud gives a number of reasons for this;

1. Our decaying body as we grow older is because of nature
2. Nature and the external world- slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
3. Greatest pain is our everyday interaction with other people because it is loaded with pain. People are out to get us, to hurt us but we are irrational beings and are inclined to hurt others. This is similar to Aristotle as we excel in society and do well. Freud was against this idea.

His answer to this was psychoanalysis but not to everyone as it is expensive therefore only a certain amount of people could have it as there were a limited amount of people who were trained to give this treatment. It was also needs to strengthen the Ego and masses will continue on their destructive path.

He came up with some coping mechanisms to contain these urges however he doesn't recommend them. He decided you needed to try and control them and distract yourself away from them. His first idea was chemical solution, intoxication, drinking and drugs, but only temporarily. He decided that it would be good to isolate yourself as well but this was also temporarily. Religion was seen as a type of sublimation a distraction to control the constant demand of the ID. It is a mass delusion. He decided that sublimation was needed to find a socially acceptable release for our aggression such as sport or work. It cant be too mild compared to the satisfaction we derive from the crude and the instinctive urges as it is socially acceptable. However he decided what would give you the best satisfaction would be to beat up the person you most hate really badly.

Civilisation is a collective superego and it is imposing moral limits on the ID. The civilisation makes us do things a certain way. Religion 'love our neighbour as ourselves' and 'love your enemy' were confusing as Freud was saying the best satisfaction would be to kill your enemy 'we are animals and not capable to meet this divinity', 'man is wolf'. Marx says if we change the systems everything will change.

The key to psychoanalysis is that you are hiding something from yourself. Freud said he found a way to deal directly with the ID. Hypnosis is a free association and dreams (royal road to unconsciousness) as during sleep the ego is asleep and dreams are therefore a way for the ID to show itself. Ultimately methods were a way to let off steam as we can never escape the unconscious. He believed aggression would never be eliminated.

Freud and literature 

'The poets and philosophers before me discovered the unconscious, discovered scientific method by which the unconscious can be studied.' People cant ignore him and cant kill off his ideas as he is a popular fiction full of childhood. James Joyce decided that Freud was influential to him as the unconscious would come to the surface. One way to release the aggression was to create things Freud argued. Biographies today are all obsessed and based on childhood and sexuality and are still a popular read today.

Attacks on Freud

Science and Popper use the falsifiability test to decide that the predictions could be proved wrong as they were so vague and cant be tested. You hate your mother has no proof and Freud was subject of a great deal of religion. He was not the discoverer of unconscious, repression, childhood and was discussed in academic circles in the 19th century.

Schopenhauer considered the intellect, control, sexual urges as 'the will is the secret antagonist of the intellect.'

Reich believed the complete opposite to Freud as he said the unconscious forces inside the mind were good and it was their suppression by society that distorted them and made people dangerous (like Rousseau). He believed the underlying energy was sexuality and if this was released then humans would flourish. 

The Reichan therapy decided that you needed to scream and let it all out of your system. He said it would  damage you if you were to keep everything inside. He was the opposite to Freud who said everything inside you is to dangerous to be let out so it must all be kept inside. This influenced sexual revolution.