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, 2009THE ROLE OF SOCIETY ON PSYCHE DEVELOPMENT AND HEALTH, PART2
April 3rd, 2009Libidinal development, in which society plays a big role, coincides with the development of the ego. According to Freud, sexual impulses are extraordinarily plastic; they can take on different forms, and if external reality does not allow one of them to be realized, the satisfaction of another can provide complete compensation. The form that these desires take, with the cathexis of the libido to a certain object or aim, is partly a result of biological growth. However, the society also plays a big role in shaping sexuality, since society is established on libidinal forces diverted from their biological aim and put to work for the continuance of society. ~ The normal libidinal development processes involve oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital phases in that order. The object of the libido is also altered during sexual development; the main sexual object is first the mother’s breast...
THE ROLE OF SOCIETY ON PSYCHE DEVELOPMENT AND HEALTH, PART1
April 3rd, 2009THE ROLE OF SOCIETY ON PSYCHE DEVELOPMENT AND HEALTH
The role of society development and health can be clearly seen in the Freudian theory of the mind and sexuality. Freud claims that humans have to forego some of their libidinal impulses to form a society, so that the tension between social norms and libidinal drive partitions the psyche into two entities: the id and the ego. The ego, which functions controller the desires of the id, is formed and shaped by the moral values of the society. Furthermore, the superego, the ego ideal that watches over the ego, is formed by the resolution of the Oedipus complex and is later influenced by social contact. Since neurosis involves a conflict between the morality of the socially constructed ego, the libidinal impulses of the id and external reality, it stems from social causes. According to Freud psychoanalysis, in which the therapist brings the repressed...
REGRESSION, 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...
CAPITALISM ACCORDING TO MARX AND WEBER, Nr4
April 2nd, 2009However, although Marx thinks that capitalism is contradictory and dehumanizing, it is an inevitable and natural step in the historical processes which at the very end, lead to the ideal state of communism and therefore is rational in the course of human history. Marx believes that capitalism is a step further from feudalism and progressive in the sense that it creates the foundations for communism. Capitalism liberates the individual from the formal bondage of feudalistic exploitation and raises the question of freedom, although it leads to the more subtle and powerful capitalistic exploitation. Feudalistic systems are backed by religion and there is a total lack of science and enlightenment; capitalism is more rational than feudalism because it argues on economic and scientific terms and individuals work for material interests. Capitalism is necessary for communism because it creates machinery...
CAPITALISM ACCORDING TO MARX AND WEBER, Nr3
April 2nd, 2009Unlike Marx who believes that capitalism leads to asceticism through commodity fetishism, Weber claims that the Protestant ethic characterized by worldly asceticism was a strong driving force for capitalism. In the Protestant ethic, dedication to your calling was the will of the God and therefore calling ceased to be a means of subsistence but rather became an end in itself; it had to become your identity, your life-task. According to Weber, the earning of money in a calling became the expression of virtue, therefore the individuals strived to earn more to show their virtue and dedication to God. Since the Protestants’ work was not limited by material needs, they worked hard and consumed little and developed a work ethic that suited capitalism perfectly. In capitalism the more you work and the less you consume, the greater you contribute to the capital, therefore capitalism flourished...
CAPITALISM ACCORDING TO MARX AND WEBER, Nr2
April 2nd, 2009The last form of alienation inherent in capitalism is that of the individual from his fellow workmen via competition. Marx believes that in capitalism, every person tries to sell his product ^ by creating a need in the other and leading him to economic ruin. This clash of interests leads to Vji , alienation. Also, capitalism leads to class formation; the proletariat and the bourgeoisie whose
clashing interests and antagonism lead to further alienation. While Marx shows how capitalism leads to alienation to argue against it, Weber claims that the Protestant and specifically the Calvinistic ethic that serves as the foundation for capitalism creates inner loneliness and is therefore inhumane. Calvinists believed that men were predestined and only a small proportion of men were chosen to eternal grace while the rest were damned. In Calvinism there is no priest who is “so human and...