Civilization And Its Discontent, By Karl Marx And Sigmund Freud

In nineteenth and twentieth centuries Europe, Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud published books with radical ideologies that would have great influence and relevance on society today. These two men worked in very different occupational fields, but they were both able to communicate their thoughts regarding society and human nature. Karl Marx is most known for his publication of The Communist Manifesto and the formation of the political ideology, Marxism. Most of his philosophies revolve around societal class structure and the relationship between labor and capital. Sigmund Freud was a medical doctor, who founded the theories and techniques of psychoanalysis. In Civilization and Its Discontent, Freud uses the theories of psychoanalysis to discuss
His pessimistic views led him to the belief that human aggression is apparent in everyday life and the relationships between one another. The unconscious forces in an individual instigate the animalistic instincts and drives, such as sex and aggression, which determine behavior. To further explain his views on humanity, he divided personality, or a human’s psyche, into three different forces: the id, the ego, and the superego. The id is our unconscious mind that is purely instinctual and operates on the pleasure principle. The pleasure principle is the need for immediate gratification for instinctual urges such as hunger, sex, and aggression. One of Freud’s main theories revolves around the libido being the source of all energy, such as aggression, guilt, and the pursuit of pleasure. The libido is part of the id and is the basis for human behavior. As a result of the id, the ego is the rational part of the mind that operates on the reality principle, which is need to satisfy the id in realistic ways. The superego uses morals and societal values to control the impulses of the id, such as sex and aggression. This is the part of brain is responsible for repressing aggressive instincts, which in turn leads the individual to redirect the aggression on their own ego, engendering guilt. Without this repression, individuals act like newborns, constantly wanting instant gratification. When Freud refers to this, he
Although they lived in different time periods, both men had German upbringings and were well educated through universities. Religion also impacted their views on society and human nature. Freud was born into a Jewish family, but in no way felt a connection to religion. In Civilization and Its Discontents, he begins by describing an “oceanic” feeling that is a “purely subjective fact…but the source of religious energy” commonly experienced by many (Freud 24). He states that he has never actually felt this unbounded and limitless feeling that is so common, but he tries to understand what it means from a scientific standpoint. Freud makes other statements about his disdain for organized religion when he refers to it as “infantile” and “foreign to reality” (Freud 39). For the most part, individuals strive for happiness in life and Freud uses religion as a simple way to find this internal happiness. In The Communist Manifesto, Marx does not explicitly talk about religion, but can be inferred that religion never positively influenced his theories. Similar to Freud, Marx viewed religion as a way to escape the hardships of society. He was a materialist, so he denied all notions that societal values and morals stemmed from a religious power. Marxism relied on the suppression of religion in order to control the lives of the