Freud On Civilization

Freud on Civilization

Sigmund Freud's views on civilization mostly deal with how it affects man and how it affects the human mentality. Freud used sexuality to describe that human happiness is derived from personal pleasure. For example, when humans have physical sex, they receive an overwhelming amount of pleasure and therefore hold the opposite sex in high regard to happiness. Keeping happiness is the sole desire of man. Although civilization restricts desire, Freud believes it is necessary to maintain interaction or else happiness would have no value. Civilization restricts happiness because it restricts liberties. When an individual elects to join a civilization they understand that they are surrendering certain liberties because human nature is too intense for ordered society. In a civilization, man cannot just go around and do what he feels will make him happy. There is a set of rules that everyone must abide by. In fact, civilization is only around to keep order. It doesn't care about human pleasure. Civilization would put a restriction on sexual intercourse if there was a more efficient way to reproduce. Civilization restricts happiness but puts more of an emphasis on private property. If we didn't live in a civilization, private property wouldn't have as much value. But sense it is valued in civilization; human nature uses that competition to release one of his primal instincts, aggression. If this aggression vent is taken away as is in a communist society, then it is human nature to move on to another strong instinct. Freud believes that it is possible for this instinct to be sexual desire. This is why communist society wouldn't be good because we do not know how a civilization based on sexual desire would interact. Freud believes civilization is a good thing. It might not improve the quality of life for an individual, but it does for a majority. If humans weren't in