Prior to the Enlightenment period, many individuals relied on God to spare man from igniting the evil spirit within their conscious. Whereas, the nineteenth century sparked a turning point in the ideology that characterized individuals as their own saviors. This idea stemmed from the Counter Enlightenment Movement. These Counter Enlightenment thinker’s believed that previous policies have damaged man, misguided individuals from fulfilling their true destiny. Intellectuals began to redefine the self and strip all external banisters from existence. The key for Counter Enlightenment thinkers was to reveal the damages of the Enlightenment period and offer a solution. During the Nineteenth century, two thinker’s emerged Nietzsche and Freud. The …show more content…
By understanding the principle of morality the philosopher attempts to outline a fictional history concerning the terms good and evil. Not only does Nietzsche question the history of these terms, but Nietzsche questions their value. In the first essay, ‘Good and Evil’, ‘Good and Bad’ Nietzsche desires to provide a historical background of the categories of good v. evil and display, there are no metaphysics in the universe because man created the force of evil, thus only humans can destroy the force. The theories of ‘evil’ and ‘bad’ emerge from the word ‘good.’ Originally the categories were divided in sections of good v. bad, which Nietzsche relates to historical figures. These categories are dependent on one another and cannot be separated. Furthermore, Nietzsche aims to show that by examining the meaning of the term ‘good’ in various languages, the word is used in the same context in spite of the language distinction. Most areas in their vocabulary relate the term ‘good’ with the color white, which infers a sense of purity and cleanliness. Nietzsche characterized the ‘good’ individuals in society to be spiritual noble aristocrats. These nobles were sophisticated individuals who were well respected in society due to their …show more content…
As opposed to Nietzsche, Freud believes that evil is fundamentally apart of humans and it cannot be eradicated, “his aggressiveness is introjected, internalized; it is, in point of fact, sent back to where it came from- that is, it is directed towards his own ego.” This reveals that the Ego and the Superego are dependent on one another. The Superego fuels the feeling of guilt, which corrupts the Ego. The principle of raissonement is ignited by the individual experiencing guilt. A French thinker known as, Lacan is recognized for bringing back the psychologist theory of sublimation, which explains the principle of guilt will suppress human desires. This policy of guilt in Freud’s ideology is located in the Superego, where individuals judge themselves for failing and feel remorse for their actions. There is no conscious because the force of evil is not a temptation to be feared, but a definition of self. This absence of conscious relates to the general will becoming a complete negative principle. If the Ego principle was not formulated then the individual would resort to evil tendencies. In relationship to Freud’s philosophy, he refer’s to the Id as instincts, which he believes are apart of everyone and have always been apart of humans from
In Beyond Good and Evil 21 Nietzsche argues that an autonomous agent requires being causa sui. The problem with this requirement is that nothing can be causa sui, Nietzsche says that, “the concept of a causa sui is something fundamentally absurd” (BGE 15) and because of this no one can be an autonomous agent. In the following line, Nietzsche asks, “Consequently, the external world is not the work of our organs?” If this is true, that causa sui is absurd and the external world is of our organs, then is it possible that we are autonomous agents or have any sense of agency and responsibility? Nietzsche would say so it seems.
On Evil, Guilt, and Power by Friedrich Nietzsche is one mind blowing story!! I have to say every sentence within the story has multiple meanings. I am extremely excited and terrified to analyze this story. First, because I like to go in depth in the meaning of the sentence and as I stated in my previous journal; I like to look at the back story, character mind set, and different points of view. In this story my opinions are endless. (I am going to have to walk away from this story multiple times before I go insane.) When reading the story in truth is not like a story; but more like the rambling of a politician, religious leader, or anyone trying to be an authority figure. I came across a few meanings for “master morality” and “slave morality”.
"The line between good and evil is permeable and almost anyone can be induced to cross it when pressured by situational forces"~Philip Zimbardo. It is hard to not cross the line between good and evil because if someone is getting you mad, you might want to harm them in some way. But you have keep your cool and let it go. Being good or evil is your own choice. Even if you are good, you always have an evil side. This quote fits perfectly because it talks about how evil is really only in people under certain situations. People are essentially good, but under certain circumstances, turn evil.
Friederich Nietzsche suggests an answer to these problems. In Beyond Good and Evil, one of his attempts to sum up his thought--indeed, throughout his philosophical work, as far as I can tell, Nietzsche describe...
Friedrich Nietzsche’s “On the Genealogy of Morality” includes his theory on man’s development of “bad conscience.” Nietzsche believes that when transitioning from a free-roaming individual to a member of a community, man had to suppress his “will to power,” his natural “instinct of freedom”(59). The governing community threatened its members with punishment for violation of its laws, its “morality of customs,” thereby creating a uniform and predictable man (36). With fear of punishment curtailing his behavior, man was no longer allowed the freedom to indulge his every instinct. He turned his aggressive focus inward, became ashamed of his natural animal instincts, judged himself as inherently evil, and developed a bad conscience (46). Throughout the work, Nietzsche uses decidedly negative terms to describe “bad conscience,” calling it ugly (59), a sickness (60), or an illness (56); leading some to assume that he views “bad conscience” as a bad thing. However, Nietzsche hints at a different view when calling bad conscience a “sickness rather like pregnancy” (60). This analogy equates the pain and suffering of a pregnant woman to the suffering of man when his instincts are repressed. Therefore, just as the pain of pregnancy gives birth to something joyful, Nietzsche’s analogy implies that the negative state of bad conscience may also “give birth” to something positive. Nietzsche hopes for the birth of the “sovereign individual” – a man who is autonomous, not indebted to the morality of custom, and who has regained his free will. An examination of Nietzsche’s theory on the evolution of man’s bad conscience will reveal: even though bad conscience has caused man to turn against himself and has resulted in the stagnation of his will, Ni...
We have grown weary of man. Nietzsche wants something better, to believe in human ability once again. Nietzsche’s weariness is based almost entirely in the culmination of ressentiment, the dissolution of Nietzsche’s concept of morality and the prevailing priestly morality. Nietzsche wants to move beyond simple concepts of good and evil, abandon the assessment of individuals through ressentiment, and restore men to their former wonderful ability.
Sigmund Freud was born in 1856 to Jewish Galician parents in the Moravian town of Pribor in the Austrian Empire (“Sigmund Freud” n. pag). During his education in the medical field, Freud decided to mix the career fields of medicine and philosophy to become a psychologist (“Sigmund Freud” n. pag). During his research as a psychologist, he conceived the Structural Model Theory, which he discussed in his essay Beyond the Pleasure Principle. The theory states that the human psyche is divided into three main parts: the id, ego, and super-ego (“Id, Ego, and Super-ego” n. pag). He concluded that the id was the desire for destruction, violence and sex; the ego was responsible for intellect and dealing with reality; and the super-ego was a person’s sense of right and wrong and moral standards (Hamilton, n. pag). Freud argued that a healthy individual will have developed the strongest ego to keep the id and super-ego in check (“Id, Ego, and Super-ego” n. p...
Friedrich Nietzsche is recognized for being one of the most influential German philosophers of the modern era. He is known for his works on genealogy of morality, which is a way to study values and concepts. In Genealogy of Morals, Friedrich Nietzsche mentions that values and concepts have a history because of the many different meanings that come with it. Nietzsche focused on traditional ethical theories, especially those rooted in religion. Not being a religious man, he believed that human life has no moral purpose except for the significance that human beings give it. People from different backgrounds and circumstances in history bend morality's meaning, making it cater to the norms of their society. For example, the concept of what is "good" in the ancient Greek culture meant aristocratic, noble, powerful, wealthy, pure, but not in modern era. Meaning, in the past the term “good” was not applied to a kind of act that someone did but rather applied to the kind of person and background they had. Nietzsche’s project was to help expand one’s understanding by re-examining morality through genealogy of morality; helping one to be more aware of a potential confusion in moral thinking. He feels that the current values and concepts that have been instilled into a society are a reversal of the truth, forcing him to believe that one’s moral systems had to have been created within society. In the works of genealogy of morality, Nietzsche traces out the origins of the concepts of guilt and bad conscience, which will be the main focal point, and explaining its role in Nietzsche’s project against morality. It will be argued that guilt and bad conscience goes against Nietzsche’s role against morality because it can conflict with the moral co...
In addition to Freud’s stages of development his best-known concepts are those of the id, ego, and superego (Crain, p. 268). The id personality called ‘the unconscious” is the personality that focuses on maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain through reflexes and drives such as hunger or bladder tensions (Crain, pp. 268-269). The id concept is impulsive, chaotic and unrealistic.
Throughout time, many psychologists have had their own views about different theories. Theories direct and guide our perception of thinking. The similarities and differences can be broken down through different forms of development by Erik Erikson, Sigmund Freud, and Albert Bandura. Sigmund Freud emphasized the influence of the id, believing that the ego acts only out of borrowed energy and acts best as a commander. Sigmund Freud perceived aggression as a universal human behavior. According to Freud, we, humans are unaware of its presence because we are suppressed by the superego. In Erikson’s theory, he explains how the ego is the part of the mind that gives coherence to experiences, conscious or unconscious. Erikson agreed with Freud that the ego is responsible for human behavior and aggression. On the other hand, social learning theorist Albert Bandura suggests that behavior is learned through observation either accidentally or on purpose. This paper examines how Erikson’s psychoanalytic theory of the Ego compares and contrast to Bandura’s social learning theory.
Sigmund Freud is best known for his development and use of psychoanalysis. The theory of psychoanalysis focuses on the concept of how our unconscious thoughts, feelings, and emotions play an active role in our daily lives. The id, ego, and superego are the three mental zones that encompass our psyche. Each zone has a specific function: The id functions on the pleasure principle; the ego on the protection of the individual; and the superego on protection of society. The degree of which each zone has been developed can be broken down and then analyzed. These three zones can be visualized by imagining a pie cut into three slices.
Nietzsche repudiates the above view, saying that it is obvious that “the judgment ‘good’ does not stem from those to whom ‘goodness’ is rendered” (Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morality, page 10). Instead, Nietzsche considers morality as ultimately derived from strength and superiority, saying that “it was ‘the good’ themselves, that is the noble, powerful, higher-ranking, and high-minded who felt and ranked themselves and their doings as good, which is to say, as of the first rank, in contrast to everything base, low-minded, common, and vulgar” (10). In other words, morality is the strong simply being strong, exercising their own strength over those who are weak. Even on an etymological level,
Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory was based on the belief that human personality is made up of three components: the id, ego and superego. These three components are arranged in a hierarchy order with the id at the basal end, the ego in the middle and the super ego at the pinnacle. The id at the base, seeks instantaneous pleasure and fulfillment, driven by the pleasure principle. The id wants what it wants, when it wants it regardless of whether or not it is possible to satisfy that particular want or need. The presence or logic of reality or societal behavior has no effect on the id. For example, if an infant is thirsty and sees a bottle of water, he will take the bottle and drink even if it belonged to someone else and he did not have permission to drink, all that matters is that the needs have been met.
“Psychological - or more strictly speaking, psychoanalytic -investigation shows that the deepest essence of human nature, which are similar in all men and which aim at the satisfaction of certain needs... [are] self-preservation, aggression, need for love, and the impulse to attain pleasure and avoid pain...” At its simplest form, this quote perfectly explains Sigmund Freud’s theory on human nature. Human beings, according to Freud, are in a constant state of conflict within themselves; trying to satisfy their animalistic instincts, while also maintaining a socially appropriate life. Freud termed these animalistic tendencies that we have, the Id. The Id is essentially our unconscious mind, it is the part of us that has been there since the day we were born and is what drives our life’s needs and desires. The Id simply aims to satisfy our sexual or aggressive urges immediately, without taking into account any further implications. On the other hand, Freud used the term, the Superego, to describe man’s conscience and sense of morality. It is the Superego’s job to keep the Id in check by combatting the desire to satisfy urges with the feeling of guilt or anxiety. Finally, the Ego, is the conscious representation of the constant battle between the Superego and the Id. It must work to satisfy human’s instinctual tendencies while taking into account their conscience and doing what is rational and acceptable. Freud argues that these internal process that are constantly at work in our mind are what shape humans to do the things that they do. Thus, he believes, the goal of human nature is to satisfy our basic aggressive and sexual desires while adhering to cultural and social standards.
Over the years, people have wondered what goes on in a person's mind that guides them to meet their needs. Sigmund Freud developed a system of personality that boldly attempts to explain the course of personality and what was it origins. Freud theory assumes that one's personality is shaped and some powerful inner forces motivate one's behavior. According to Freud, personality differences commence from the different ways in which people deal with their underlying drives. By picturing a continuing battle between antagonistic parts of personality, Freud was able to develop three systems that make up the total personality. The three systems of personality are the id, ego, and the superego. If the three systems work together in harmony and unite together to form one complete organization, it enables one to create a positive transaction with the environment. If the systems are fighting with each other, one is said to be dissatisfied with himself or the world. By examining the ego, the id, and the superego, one should see how these three systems of personality play an important role in the development of one's personality. In doing so one should understand what conscious and unconscious, and the functions of the id, ego, and superego.