Civilization and Its Discontents (1930) is one
of Sigmund Freud's most notable and influential books. The book discusses the fundamental
tension between the individual and civilization. The basic split between civilization and the individual results
from the individual desire for freedom and satisfaction of instinctual needs which
collides with society's need for conformity and obedience, manifested in
repression. The tragic paradox of humanity, Freud holds, lies in the fact that
many of our most basic needs and wants are harmful to our existence as a group
if manifested completely. Man has a need to fulfill his sexual or violent
drives (see "Beyond the Pleasure Principle" ) that must be contained of society is to
function (we can't have people running around f**king and beating the crap out
of everyone they want). That's why every civilization creates laws and
regulations preventing murder and rape accompanied by severe punishments in
order to deter offenders. That's all fine and nice but it also means that we
are always left discontent, unsatisfied and repressed. Feeling frustrated isn't
an anomaly, it's human nature in civilization.
Freud's Civilization and Its Discontents picks
up from where his The Future of an Illusion (1927) leaves off in
exploring the nature of human religion. Chapter one of the book is devoted to
what Freud calls the "Oceanic Feeling" of being boundless, an
early pre-self sentiment associated with Religion. Chapter two of Civilization
and Its Discontents
expands on the religious theme and suggests that the ego is formed as a need to
distance one from external reality, making the pleasure principle work in
manners more complex. Chapter three discusses the paradox by which civilization
which is designed to protect man from unhappiness is the predominant cause of
this unhappiness. This tension if for Freud the cause of many neuroses. In
chapter 4 Freud ties in his theory from Totem and Taboo which holds that the
development of civilization is connected with a collective Oedipal complex resulting
from brothers conspiring to kill their father. In chapters 5 and 6 Freud brings
in the death drive as something that unlike the Eros or libido which tie people
together is something that drives society apart and therefore needs to be
repressed. In the seventh chapter of Civilization and Its Discontents Freud discusses the neurosis associated
with the clash between death desires and civilization's repression. The
internalized social moral demand in the super-ego which subordinates the ego
into fending off its id by means of guilt. In other words, guilt in the prerequisite
sentiment for belonging to society.
Other articles and summaries about Freud:
Books of interest:
