![]() ![]() People become neurotic because they cannot tolerate the frustration which society imposes in the service of its cultural ideals. This process, argues Freud, is an inherent quality of civilization that gives rise to perpetual feelings of discontent among its citizens.įreud addresses a fundamental paradox of civilization: it is a tool we have created to protect ourselves from unhappiness, and yet it is our largest source of unhappiness. Thus our possibilities for happiness are restricted by the law. As a result, civilization creates laws that prohibit killing, rape, and adultery, and it implements severe punishments if these rules are broken. Many of humankind's primitive instincts (for example, the desire to kill and the insatiable craving for sexual gratification) are clearly harmful to the well-being of a human community. The primary friction, he asserts, stems from the individual's quest for instinctive freedom and civilization's contrary demand for conformity and repression of instincts. Freud enumerates what he sees as the fundamental tensions between civilization and the individual. ![]() ![]() ![]() Exploring what Freud sees as the important clash between the desire for individuality and the expectations of society, Civilization and Its Discontents is considered one of Freud's most important and widely read works. ![]()
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