HCJ - Lecture Five

Freud believed in the all encompassing theory which is the theory of everything. It relates to how everything starts off with a problem.
Freud's work addresses these problems, one of these being the misery of the human condition. Freud believed that we create our own unhappiness because we divide and alienate ourselves, a similar approach to Karl Marx.

Freud believes we are all unhappy. We do not know what we want, however we think we are in control but do not know why we make decisions - this is the secret part to ourselves that we do not acknowledge, it is known as the undiscovered country.

W.H Auden described Freud as "he is no longer a name or a person, he has become an outlook" and continued to say "we live in a Freudian world, whether we like it or not".
Freud died in the 1850's whilst visiting in London, he became a celeb-cocaine addict and was well known for his deeply ambitious atheist opinions.

In his memory a museum in London exhibits a huge amount of archaeology artefacts, Freud believed he had discovered in psycho-analysis the archaeology of the human mind - excavating the secrets of the unconscious such as Freudian slips, dreams and neurotic symptoms.

The unconscious does actually exist. It is seen as a sexual renegade, damaging our ideas of ourselves as noble creatures. In the time that the quote "Man is the measure of all things" was voiced, Freud's ideas began to challenge this in the enlightenment era.
At the centre of Freud's philosophy is a deep pessimism. Freud openly admits to declaring himself as a pessimist. He told people to think of his ideas as you would think of the 'Rembrandt',  a painting that consisted of a little light but a lot of darkness, his own personal experience.
His theories are a dark vision of humanity.

The growth of the Nazi parties produced more and more aggression from the German State, causing a great deal of fear from Vienna. The rise of the German state led to unemployment, suffering and great depression. At this time Freud was suffering from cancer of the mouth, leaving him in constant pain that reflects in his theories at the time.

Attacks on Plato; 

Freud followed Plato's idea of the tripartite, made up of three parts; self reason, spirit and desire.  An allegory of the chariot, two horses, one spirit (bravery), one desire (aggression/satisfaction) and the rider who represents reason, who is in control of both.
However there is a crucial difference, Plato believed that reason could rule the others where as Freud thought reason was the weakest aspect to the chariot because he believed people were irrational.
We are driven by our desires that are beyond our control and beyond our concious.

Marx also thinks of the self via the tripartite; he believed it was natural, alienated and the species of the self. He believed that in a communist society the needs of the species would finally become dominant. Through history, in a teleological perspective, humanity would finally access its true expectation.
Marx believes in the infinite potential of human nature - its ability to develop, and to even evolve.
Freud however rejects this, saying that Marx's ideas are too idealistic and our basic needs are not benign.
Freud believed our deepest needs are aggression with a will-full desire to hurt others and to seek our own destruction. This is a very Hobbesian view that Freud agrees with along with Machiavelli's view when debating the subject of the human nature.

Freudian Personality;

Freud believed that the reality of human nature was as pain and suffering arising out of his own internal division and painful interaction.

The ID - Freud's discovery, the answer to our suffering.
From birth, the ID is seen as an animal part - a bundle of instincts aimed at gaining pleasure and avoiding pain. This is the resovoir of the unconscious.
Sex and aggression are fused within the ID and dominate the personality, even though we have no idea how dominated we actually are. Freud described it as "a cauldron of seething excitations" always bubbling away, demanding expression and fulfilment.

The Ego or Self - This is the reality principle, the least powerful part of the personality; the voice of reason. It consists of moderation and common sense and is turned towards reality - the real world. It is hopelessly embattled and besieged.

The Super Ego -  Presented as the internalised rules of parents and society - the policeman in your head. Developed after birth through socialisation, it has an internal idea of impossible standards of perfection. It punishes you with guilt. These morality principles often use religion.
It is a picture of the personality in conflict divided within ourselves; "it is no surprise" says Freud "Society is full of suffering because it is full of pain"

1. Our own decaying body nature
2. Nature - the external world; the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune and fate.
3. The greatest pain of all is our everyday interaction with other people. People are out to get us, to hurt us but we as irrational beings are inclined to hurt others.

The answer is psycho-analysis however not everyone is open to this, it is needed to strengthen The Ego of individuals willing to help themselves. The masses will continue on their destructive path.
Freud outlines some ways to contain these urges, using them as coping mechanisms but does not recommend them,

1. Chemical solution; an intoxication however this is temporary
2. Isolation; again only temporary and only works for a few people
3. Religion; as a type of sublimation however it is a mass delusion.

Sublimation defines finding socially acceptable releases for our aggression, such as sport or work. However these are too mild compared to the satisfaction we derive from the crude and instinctive urges. By venting our aggression, of destroying an enemy this gives us the real satisfaction.

Civilisation is a collective of The Super Ego, imposing moral limits on The ID.
Religious teachings such as "Love thy neighbour as ourselves" and "Love thy enemy" are seen as impossible and absurd by Freud.
Men are not gentle creatures, they are aggressive forces. Man is a wolf.

Marx believes that if we change the system, things will change but Freud believes that we are the system, if we get eliminate property we will not get rid of ourselves.

Psycho-analysis declares that you are hiding something from yourself. Freud claimed he had found a way to deal with the unconscious, The ID.
Hypnosis, pressure methods, free association and dreams are all part of psycho analysis, with dreams being described as "the royal road to the unconscious".
In sleep The Ego is like a sentry asleep at its post, dreams are therefore a way for The ID to show itself.
Ultimately there were methods to release these pressures but we could never escape the unconscious.

Freud and Literature;

"The poets philosophers before me discovered the unconscious. What I discovered was the scientific method by which the unconscious can be studied"  declared by Freud himself.
Many tried to ignore or kill Freud's work however they simple couldn't.
Freud believed that popular fiction was full of childhood memories.
"By free association the unconscious would come to the surface" Joyce, who also went on to say "Be creative, release aggression in a positive way in fiction, what we fear is a Freudian question."
Biographies are now obsessed with childhoods and sexuality.

Attacks on Freud;

Science; falsifiability. Popper believed that scientific predictions could be proven wrong but Freud was so vague it couldn't even be tested. An example being you can say you hate your mother but there is no proof that psycho-analysis works.
Freud was in fact not the discoverer of the unconscious, Schopenhauer was.  He was the founder of The Will.
Reich believed the complete opposite. He believed that the unconscious forces inside the mind were good and the suppression of these by society distorted them and made people dangerous. He believed the underlying energy was sexuality and if this was released then human beings would flourish, believing it was better out than in.