Civilization and Its Discontents by Sigmund Freud

Background:  Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) was a Viennese physician and the founder of psychoanalysis.  His key insight consists in the recognition that unconscious psychic processes were the mechanism of neurotic disturbances.  One aspect is his discovery of “repression” which is a device operating unconsciously to make the memory of painful events inaccessible to the conscious ego.  He believed he could trace these through “free association” which would lead the therapist in the interpretation of dreams and in slips of speech.  In his later years, from which this work is taken, Freud applied his theory to culture as a whole.  It is in this form that “Freudianism” has had a profound impact on contemporary Western culture.  Paul Ricoeur has characterized Freud’s (and Marx’s) theory as a hermeneutics of suspicion, because Freud has taught us to “look beyond” overt explanations for behavior (and thereby “suspecting” that they are at least incomplete) to their underlying, hidden, normally unnoticed causes.

Web resources:  For a very rich resource contained a large number of links see Freud on the Internet, maintained by Stanley Feldberg at Brandeis University.  The Library of Congress is exhibiting a site called “Freud: Conflict and Culture” which explores the impact of his theories on Western culture.  The New York Psychoanalytic Society maintains a Freud archive page, which provides what may be termed an “official view” of the significance of Freud’s work.  A History of Freud page is maintained by Homer Stavely at Keene State College.

Discussion questions:

What three sources of suffering does Freud identify? (231)  What does he suspect about the third source?

What are the two purposes (234) served by civilization that Freud identifies when he begins to discuss its nature?

What is Freud getting at when he points to the way in which civilization protects human beings from the forces of nature? (234-5)  Consider his “fantastic-sounding” conjecture about the origin of fire (in note 4).  What is he getting at when he calls most material cultural achievements fulfillments of a wish?  What do you think he is getting at when he calls these wishes a cultural ideal identified with gods (235) and that in these cultural achievements we have almost become god?

Why does Freud turn to a discussion of the “useless” aspects of civilization (236), including desires for beauty and cleanliness and order?

When he turns to his discussion of the “higher mental activities” of humanity, Freud tries to show how these have a “psychological derivation” (237) also.  What does he mean by this?  Why does he believe it is important to recognize this?

Do you agree with Freud’s claim that a decisive step (237-8) in civilization occurred when human beings began to regulate social relationships?  What is the import of his observation that this required the sacrifice of instinct?

What do you think of Freud’s explanation of the development of civilization in terms of individual libidinal development? (239)  What is “sublimation” and how does it fit into his explanation?  Why is the “renunciation of instinct” most important of all?  What role might “compensation” play here?  And psycho-analysis?

What contribution, if any, does Freud’s analysis provide to our understanding of the need or importance of social transformation?  Would such an interpretation fit in with or challenge a view such as Bonaventure’s?  Why?