Freuds Civilization and Its Discontents - Essay Example

In his psychoanalytic perspective of writing, Freud had through his keen observation passed prophetic statements of the currents of destruction that flowed through the veins of human civilization and Adolf Hitler’s rise to power based on the democratic majority.
From my point of view, I feel, that though Freud had made a keen and clear observation by comparing both the “civilized” and the “savage” points of view to bring out the salient meaning of what civilization is all about, yet to me the writing seemed to be pessimistic which in turn reflected the widespread and devastating experiences suffered during World War 1.

In his work “Civilization and its Discontents,” Freud makes a pertinent attempt to correlate his theories based on human civilization. Being an avowed atheist himself, to him religion was nothing more than a “collective neurosis” (The Future of an Illusion, Freud, 1927) In his work “Civilization and its Discontents” he tries his best to tone down and refine his analysis drawn between religion and psychoanalysis and also between an individual and civilization. Here I feel that Freud is somewhat biased about religion because he is an atheist who does not consider God as a superior being. Where religion is concerned I am against Freud’s theory because to me and most other people God is an omnipotent figure and is omnipresent watching over us humans on Earth.

In trying to make an understanding of the phenomenon of spirituality, Freud states that it is "a purely subjective fact, not an article of faith." Further proving his atheist attitude towards religion, he states that humans look for paternal affection during childhood and this manifests itself in the adult stages as “fear of the superior power of Fate." In his views on the relationship shared between civilization and human misery, he says that civilization is what is responsible for all our misery because we get ourselves organized into a civilized society to escape misery and suffering. I do not agree with Freud’s idea because I feel that the more we organize ourselves, the more we would behave in a civilized manner.

Freud also brings out the antagonism of society towards sexuality because it aims to build a communal bond between couples as society endorses it to be the most stable. Freud feels that such an attitude of restriction mutilates and kills people's love choices and this cannot be called civilized. But according to my point of view love and sex are personal choices and it's best left to how people want to react to it. I think a deeper sense of love and understanding could be built when shared with a chosen partner instead of having the freedom to cohabit with different people placing our health and lives in jeopardy. Read More