Beyond The Pleasure Principle Analysis

I have always been curious about the dynamics of the human mind and how immensely different it can be from person to person

Psychology and Philosophy offer different dimensions to human behaviour, notably deviant behaviour. Psychologists have long been interested in explanations for crime. In Freud’s essay, Beyond the Pleasure Principle, he proposes that we have a ‘death drive’ known as Thanatos, which is the reason for our compulsive behaviour, and also explains the rush of exhilaration we get from things like bungee jumping or riding on roller coasters. Psychologists Gottfredson and Hirschi, however, argue that it is likely that the two main factors related to uncontrollable desires to commit crime are ineffective parenting and biology,

an idea that removes the blame from the individual’s personality and subconscious. In a different field of academia, Philosopher Emile Durkheim suggests, in his novel Suicide, that the act of suicide is sui generis; a by-product of society. This implication is that our underlying philosophical consciousness as a community is partially responsible for encouraging self-destruction. It is also interesting how distorted interpretations of religion can lead to crime. Every day there is news of violent acts committed in the name of religion, particularly Islam. I would be very interested in further investigating how religion is sometimes used as a warrant for destructive behaviour.

The accredited ‘bible of social psychology’, The Social Animal by Elliot Aronson, has immersed me into the social science behind human aggression.

Aronson reflects on how desensitised he feels he has become because of the constant presence of aggression and violence in everyday life. By comparison, children are, albeit naively, much more optimistic, and therefore largely affronted by aggression. This demonstrates how integrated violence and social deviation is in the adult world, and highlights the stark contrast between adults and children. Yet the media seem to be clouding the younger generation’s minds with aggression more every year. Perhaps it is the normalisation of aggression that means we subconsciously accept destructive behaviour as simply another component of the social spectrum. This extends the great debate of deviant behaviour and its origins; nature or nurture. Do we inherit these genetic abnormalities or do we absorb them from the environment around us?

To further my field of knowledge on the science of crime my Extended Project Qualification will focus on violence against women in the 21st century. My main focus will be gender roles and how or why men and women may differ in power, which can sometimes leads to violence. I will also be looking at violence in cultures where oppression against women is widespread and in these cases religion is frequently the excuse for this violence. My choice to take on a research project, I feel, reflects my skills in time management, independent work, and

self-motivation.

Whilst Philosophy has taught me about reality and logic, English Literature has allowed me to escape it, and Psychology has shown me the different realities in each of our minds, all of which give me a more rounded sense of what it means to be human. For this reason I would love to take on a course that explores what it really means to think.