However, such a moral transformation in the patient would not be effective without a social transformation. Psychoanalysis can only alleviate symptoms or delay them, since the patient learns about his repressed desires and is introduced to an alternate more flexible morality by the psychoanalyst. If the society is still as conservative, then the patient will still face a decision between satisfaction of his deviant libidinal impulses and social acceptance. In time, the ego that has gained strength and flexibility through psychoanalysis, will become rigid again through social influence so that the patient will still hold onto his high moral ideals. Since the development of ego is a social process, it is very hard for the patient to reject the moral values of his society to follow his deviant sexual desires and employ a liberated morality. Therefore, a complete cure to neurosis would not...
THE ROLE OF SOCIETY ON PSYCHE DEVELOPMENT AND HEALTH, PART4
April 3rd, 2009REGRESSION, EGO INSTINCTS AND TRANSFERENCE
April 3rd, 2009REGRESSION, EGO INSTINCTS AND TRANSFERENCE
In these chapters, Freud discusses how sexual frustration can lead to neurosis through regression and repression and how the patient can transfer his sexual conflicts onto the psychoanalyst in a process called transference. Freud claims that if the libido is not satisfied during childhood, these frustration moments can be fixated; again we see the importance of childhood and sexuality in human development. Later on in life, the individual can return to the moment of fixation, leaving the genital organization that is characteristic of the adulthood phase, and show the perverted sexual desires of childhood. In the previous chapters, Freud had introduced the concepts of libido and sexual organizations and in This chapter Freud develops them further under a very systematic approach to uncover the causes’ the hysteria. Freud believes that these external...
ON FREUD’S INTRODUCTORY LECTURES ON PSYCHO-ANALYSIS
April 3rd, 2009ON FREUD’S INTRODUCTORY LECTURES ON PSYCHO-ANALYSIS
In Lectures XIX, XX and XXI of the book Introductory Lectures on Psycho-analysis, Freud carries out his analysis of neurosis in a scientific manner. He starts out by introducing the problem of resistance of the neurotic to psychoanalysis, and claims that these forces are the same forces of repression that cause the symptoms. Later he makes the interesting claim that the repressed are the sexual instincts and the symptoms are a way of satisfying them. I found Freud’s argument very organized and convincing; he gives an account for all phenomena and even answers to possible questions so that every argument is linked together in a logical network. Freud also tries to provide real life examples whenever he can, such as the behavior of children, sexually deviant people and even Ancient Egyptians when he explains the phenomena of finger...
Chinese religion, nr5
April 3rd, 20093- In the art of the Han, representations of virtuous figures from the past were often intended to show the correct social code for behavior and set examples to the society. For example the carvings of virtuous women and filial piety on the walls of the Wu Liang Shrine all show virtuous characters who behave in an exemplary ways. The women in the pictures are chaste, obedient to their husbands, self-sacrificing and wise; they have the qualities which the Confucian society favors. Therefore they are intended to show the society how to behave. These figures are representations of social codes rather than personalized portraitures whose main purpose is to depict a person’s features. We can understand this from the lack of details and individualism in the pictures. The lacquer paintings decorating the famous basket of Lolang also illustrate figures which embody the virtue of filial piety...
Chinese religion, nr4
April 3rd, 20092- (b) Module systems are excellent ways to create objects of great variety in large quantities. In module systems, there are several kinds of modules which serve as the building blocks of objects. These modules are then combined in various possible combinations to make up objects. I think the terra-cotta figures do not contradict Ledderose’s theory of the module system because they are made up of distinct building blocks assembled together in different combinations. For example, the hands are made up of standardized, prefabricated parts like thumb and palm put in a limited amount of different combinations. The hands are all the same size but since they are put together in different ways they, have different functions. Therefore we see the module system in hands; they are made up of standardized parts. Module system is also evident in other areas of the body in terra-cotta figures....
Chinese religion, nr3
April 3rd, 20092-(a) The first emperor considered himself to be the strongest man in the world and he was a ruthless dictator who would subject people to the crudest punishments and keep them in terror. But this mighty emperor had a weakness. He was scared of death to the point of obsession, his biggest wish was to be immortal. He built the underground tomb in order to live an eternal posthumous existence. The purpose of the terra-cotta army was to protect his necropolis and himself from the ghosts of the dead and evil spirits. He could have made this army out of real human soldiers -he was so powerful and cruel that he would not mind sacrificing thousands of people in order to ensure his safety- but he chose terra-cotta figures instead. The reason is that the emperor knew that human bodies would rot and they would not be durable, so they would not be able to protect him for long. But clay sculptures would...
Chinese religion, nr2
April 3rd, 2009l-(b) Ancestral worship was very important in Shang culture, it was the focal point of religion. Therefore the main purpose of the bronze objects during the Shang was to serve as ritual vessels and provide a means of communicating with the world of the dead ancestors. So Shang bronze ritual vessels were usually decorated with symbolic imagery related to the world of the dead like poisonous snakes and dragons symbolizing death, enigmatic elephants transcending beyond reality. While the Shang culture worships ancestral ghosts fervently, the Zhou culture honors heaven and people. In Zhou times, if a person made an achievement, he would dedicate a bronze object to an ancestor as a commemoration of his glory. So the focus moved from the ancestor for whom the sacrifice was made to the devotee who makes the sacrifice. The bronze objects became narratives and commemorations of worldly events and...