Sigmund Freud and Political Philosophy - Essay Example

Sigmund Freud and Political Philosophy Sigmund Freud was one of the few contemporary philosophers who actually disliked politics. Unlike most philosophers, he lacks an actual political philosophy, though his various theories about the brain, (the conscious unconscious and precocious) and the human psyche circumnavigate the political sphere. His main theory of the unconscious self, is deemed as one of the most functional universal theories ever developed; with the contention that most people make decisions unconsciously, a theory that has been applied to assist the world understand how some political philosophies work, and why some leaders are cruel or brutal. This is one of the most applied contemporary philosophies, since it explains human behavior, morality and decision-making. The theory classifies motives of people into three broad descriptions, which are the ego, the id and the super-ego. This theory also categorizes various personalities and answers the question why people are different. The main theory that guides this contention is determinism theory, which argues that the past, the present and the future are all interconnected. Arguably, another key theory that is also universally applicable developed by Sigmund Freud, is the human psyche theory. These theories are connectable to various political situations and numerous people have tried to implement these theories in a political context. By nature, most people argue that Sigmund Freud was a conservative. However, throughout his life, he underwent various first hand mistreatments from the politicians, such as the invasion of his house by Nazi Germany troops when he was in his late seventies. Sigmund’s psychoanalytic theory holds a variety of views. Primarily, the philosopher indicates that the nature of decisions we make, or the type of personality we exhibit is located in three parts of our minds, which are the ego, super ego and the id. The id is the primary source of personality, since it is datable back to birth. He associates the id with his other theory, the pleasure principle, which indicates that all human seek pleasure and avoid pain as a strategy to satisfy their psychological and biological needs. The id purses wants, needs and desires for gratification and pleasure, and if left unmanned, it would lead people to engage in socially unacceptable methods to obtain their inner desires. From the id, Freud introduces the ego, which operates under the principal of reality. In this contention, the philosopher argues that the ego works to satisfy the wants of the brain, through socially acceptable ways. As such, the ego is in touch with reality and functions to control our intrinsic desires to a context that is socially acceptable. From the ego, Freud then introduces the super-ego, which is more complex, and acquired as during a person’s lifetime. Behaviors that people in the society view as good or bad are inscribed in our super ego. Thus, the super-ego suppresses our morally unacceptable desires from the id and cultivates good behavior and morality from the ego. It thus works to ensure that the id operates under morality, and that the ego operates on idealism as opposed to reality. Though this is a psychoanalytic theory developed to assist people understand the various desires and personalities of people, it has been a guiding principle in the development of numerous political philosophies. For instance, it is evident that theories such as idealism and realism are derived from this psychoanalytic theory. Freud’s introduction about reality and about idealism are the birthing principles for most political theories. Idealism and realism are two philosophies that could be held by leaders. The philosophy each leader holds determines the social and economic development limits of a nation. Idealists believe that things should be as one wants them to be, hence pushing people to pursue their desires in socially acceptable ways, whereas realism holds the argument that things have to be practical and pragmatic, despite an individual’s inner most desire to have them as one wishes. Likewise, his introduction of individual desires (Id), the socially accepted desires (ego) and the morally accepted desires (super-ego) created platforms for the introduction of various political theories (Ebenstein 864). The psychoanalytic theory contributed to the existing theories of liberalism, socialism and communism in the contemporary context. For instance, liberalism operates on the pleasure principle, and hence is more oriented with the id. Liberalists operate on the contention that self-interest should come first, and should be treated with greater emphasis as compared to the interests of others. Socialists and communists however, operate on the theory of idealism. As such, their traits could be traced back to having a stronger super-ego as compared to liberalists. This is because, they value morality and socially accepted interests as compared to individualistic interests. Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory has been argued by most philosophers to have no political inclination, but this is not the case. His theories, as he consistently indicated, are applicable in a universal context. Analyzing the personality of any given individual is applicable in all contexts, from sociology to business. Other political philosophers envision Sigmund as one of the greatest contemporary theorist whose philosophies are applicable in the political field. In fact, his theories are connected with the greatest political philosopher of all times, Karl Marx leading to the creation of a new political philosophy discipline, Freudo-Marxism (Ebenstein 872). Freudo-Marxism as a philosophy emphasizes on humanization of the society, which thus calls for unification of the society through the development of policies that emphasize the need for considering the entire society and its respective needs. Karl Marx’s theories were mostly centered on discouraging capitalism, which is identifiable with the id – desires of getting wealthy to the extent that they do not care about the effect of their greed for money does to members of the society. Likewise, Karl Marx theories also center on the need for democratic socialism, which involves the including people in the countries politics, whereas promoting unity and creation of policies that emphasize society-oriented goals. This philosophy operates around Sigmund Freud’s contention of the consideration of others (in the ego), whereas considering individual desires (id) to be involved in the making of political decisions. This thus shows that there exists a deep connection between Sigmund Freud and most political philosophies, but none of his philosophies exclusively discuss politics. Most of his philosophies are independently developed, and thus very few philosophers inspired Freud in the development of psychoanalysis. However, neurologists such as Jean de Charcot, whose investigations on hypnosis inspired Freud, is categorized as one the inspiring people who might have led to the development of Sigmund Freud as a theorist. His philosophies are some of the most sensational theories ever developed and as such, he gets much credit for most theories developed after his death. Besides his influences on political philosophies, Freud is the father of psychoanalysis, and possibly a significant pillar to psychology. Work cited Ebenstein, Allan. Great Political Thinkers: From Plato to the Present Sixth Edition. California: Cengage Learning, 1999. Print. Read More