Freud

• Similar to Descartes, Freud was concerned with the misery of human condition. Our unhappiness means that we are undivided and therefore alienated from ourselves this is the same starting point as Marx. We don't know what we want, unhappy inside. Freud therefore came to the conclusion that we're all troubled and so Freud's career was an attempt to answer why the human condition is the way that it is. Freud says we are controlled ( psychoanalysis) even if we don't realise we aren't as rational as we believe to be. Therefore it can be said that Freud discovered the unconscious mind- says he discovered in psychoanalysis the archaeology of the human mind.
• Dreams, Freud said, are the road to your unconscious.
• Seen as sexual renegade- sex is at the centre of our motivation this causes humans to be damaged ideas of ourselves as noble creatures. This is a challenge to the Enlightenment because we aren't the type of people the Enlightenment would want us to be- we're not ran by our rational mind (Newton part of the brain).
• Overall Freud was very pessimistic about human beings. He described his philosophy as being: 'full of darkness but with a little light'.

Attack on Plato

• Freud followed Plato's idea of the tripartite self E.g humans are made up of reason spirit and desire ( the allegory of the chariot). Plato stated that our rationality, our ability to control our mind is of the most importance. However, Freud believed rationality to be our weakest point because we are driven by our desires and we don't realise (alienated-Marx term).

Attack on Marx

• Marx thought of the self as the tripartite self: natural, alienated, species self. He believed that we progress towards a better, happier self. We have the ability to evolve therefore it is possible to overcome the state of unhappiness. Freud rejects this idea by calling it idealistic. Unhappiness is part of us,  the most dominant part of us is aggression which is caused by unhappiness. Unhappiness is a state which will always find ourselves in, can't escape it- consistent with Hobbes.

The Freudian Personality

• Pain is what it means to be human. We are divided, we cannot find peace because we are at a constant war with ourselves. Divided into 3 distinct parts- always in dispute with each other:

1. The Id
2. The Ego/Self
3. The superego

 The Id is the most dominant part of us- at our core from birth. A reservoir of the unconscious, 'a cauldron of seething exoitations'. The Id demands fulfilment, full of aggression an sex- there is an instinct to gain pleasure and avoid pain. The Id dominates our personality even though we don't know that we are dominated by feelings of aggression and sex.

The Ego or Self - reality principle, the least powerful part of the personality- the voice of reason. Moderation, commonsense. It is turned towards reality- the real world. It is hopelessly embattled and besieged. We are all born with the ego.

The Supergo - internalised rules of parents or society, therefore we are not born with the Superego. It is gained and developed from wider society eg external influences. It is irrational just like the Id and is constantly fighting against the Ego.

• Society is full of suffering because it is full of pain:

1. We are decaying, nature.
2. Nature- the external world- the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.
3. The greatest pain is our everyday interaction with other people. Other people are out to get us, to hurt us but we are irrational beings and so we are inclined to hurt others.

• Freud thinks the answer is psychoanalysis- but not open to everyone ( needed to strengthen  the Ego) the masses will continue on their destructive path.
• He outlines some ways to contain these urges- the Id is so powerful that it needs distracting but you cannot control it, too dominant, can only contain it.
• Coping mechanisms are:

1. Intoxication- only a temporary chemical solution.
2. Isolation- also temporary as only for a few people.
3. Religion - a type of sublimation- a way to control constant demands of the Id.

Sublimation is finding socially acceptable ways to release our aggression eg through sport or by working hard. This is the only thing he believes is to give you real satisfaction is to be aggressive.

• Imposing moral limits on the Id ''Love our neighbour as ourselves''. Men are not gentle creatures, they're aggressive forces. Religion puts impossible demands on us, all animals can't reach level of divinity.
• The key to psychoanalysis is that you are hiding something from yourself. Freud claimed he had found a way to deal directly with the unconscious- this is the Id.

Attacks on Freud

• Popper - Freud was vague so Karl Popper believed that his theories couldn't be proven.
  Schopenhauer spoke of similar things such as controlling sexual urges and being controlled by internal, irrational forces therefore it is possible that Freud was actually not the first person to raise these theories.
• Reich believed the complete opposite- the unconscious forces inside the mind are good and it is their suppression by society that distorts them and made people dangerous ( similar to Rousseau). He believed that the underlying energy was sexuality and if this was released then humans would flourish.