History and context of journalism; Lecture/seminar 5

Freud;

Like Marx and Hegel, Freud presented a theory of everything and aimed to address a problem – the misery of the human condition.

He believed that our unhappiness was to do with the fact that we were divided, which causes us to become alienated from ourselves. This unhappiness became Freud’s starting point, but emphasised the idea that we have no clue what we want; what would make us happy. This is where Freud began to develop his ideas and theories surrounding psychoanalysis.

Psychoanalysis, for Freud is a method in which we can access the unconscious mind. The unconscious is really what controls us, but we believe that it is the conscious mind – we are unknowingly being controlled.  Freud believed that he discovered the unconscious mind and that that its secrets needed to be excavated. Freudian slips, dreams and neurotic symptoms are ways in which unconscious shows itself. Our dreams are seen to be the royal road to the unconscious and illustrate the real problem. If the unconscious isn’t dealt with, Freud believed it would send us neurotic.

Freud’s ideas were seen as a sexual renegade and put sex at the centre of everything – this changed the view of the noble creature, challenging ideas during the enlightenment. He emphasised that we are not ruled by our rational mind and takes away thoughts of us being noble. From this we see that Freud held a very pessimistic view of human nature and his theories are based around the dark views he had.

The tripartite that Plato believed in (reason, spirit and desire) was a structure Freud followed. Plato believed that reason is control of spirit and desire, but Freud disagreed because he believed that the rational mind was not in control. Instead he believed that reason was the weakest of the three and that we are driven by desire of which we cannot control – we’re unaware that we are not in control and we are alienated.

Marx also took on the tripartite structure – natural, alienated and species self – our alienation means that we need to seek something better, communism, and that will only happen with the progression of history. Marx believed that we had the power to evolve as history progressed to allow us the potential of becoming better. Freud rejects this and believed that his ideas are too idealistic – he believes that there is a part of ourselves that we cannot escape and will forever be dominated by. This is aggression. Freud’s Hobbsian/Machiavelli view of human nature leads him to conclude that we  only want to hurt  others and ourselves.

His confidence in dismissing the ideas of Plato and Marx comes from his confidence in his own ideas/theories – he believed he had discovered the remarkable by finding the problem and the solution to the problem – psychoanalysis – something that wasn’t there before.

Human nature, for Freud, is pain and suffering caused by internal division. There are three distinc parts to ourselves;

1.       Id – our instincts aimed at gaining pleasure and avoiding pain and can be described as a reservoir. Sex and aggression are fused in the Id and they dominate the personality but we have no idea of it but it is always demanding.

2.       Ego/Self – reality principle – the least powerful part of our personality – the rational self. It is hopelessly embattled and besieged.

3.       Super Ego – the internalised rule of parent/society – it is totally irrational (like Id) and develops after birth. It has internal ideal and impossible standards of perfections, punishable with guilt. It is a morality principle and often uses religion.

All three are our personality in conflict, within ourselves.

Society, for freud, was full of suffering and pain because;

-          Our decaying body; nature.

-          Nature – external world – slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.

-          Our everyday interaction with others = pain. Other people are out to get us, to hurt us. But we are also irrational and are inclined to hurt others.

The answer to this pain is psychoanalysis – though it is not open to everyone. The masses will continue in their destructive self. Psychoanalysis makes the ego stronger.

Freud also suggests coping methods for Id, but these are only temporary distractions.

Chemical solution – intoxication.

Isolation – temporary and for only a few.

Religion as a type of sublimation – it is a mass delusion.

Sublime solution - finding society acceptable releases for our aggression, such as sport or work. Though these are too mild compared to the satisfaction we derive from the crude and instinctive urges of destroying an enemy that gives us real satisfaction.

Civilisation is a collective super ego, imposing moral limits on the Id. The ways to access the Id are hypnosis, pressure method, free association and dreams. The methods suggested to ‘let off steam’ will never mean we escape the unconscious and aggression will never be eliminated.