s the cause of mankind’s problems and misery. Freud attempts to define each human as having two basic instinctive drives: one in the form of aggression, and one in the form of Eros (love). He believes that sexual and aggressive drives are inborn instincts that each person wishes to act on, but that society infringes on these inclinations. According to Freud, our civilization “is largely responsible for our misery, and that we should be much happier if we gave it up and returned to primitive conditions” (Freud, 38). This thought is contradictory to the Enlightenment ideals of optimism and the belief in human progression. However, if man accepts Freud’s views that human’s have desires that they wish to act on, but can’t due to the consequences that civilization has made, then Freud would be right to suggest a regression into primitive times. If sexual love is the prototype for all happiness, and we cannot act on our desires of sexual love because of civilization, then we will be unhappy people. Freud states that, “It is clearly not easy for men to give up the satisfaction of this inclination to aggression. They simply do not feel comfortable without it” (Freud, 72). Man must have found ways to express their aggression because mankind is evolving to become more and more civilized everyday. Freud may not be correct in his assumptions of man, but it is important to take his opinion into consideration, and examine all aspects of his arguments against the tyranny of society. While I agree that society does infringe on the individuality of man, I do not agree that Freud is correct in his reasoning that we should return to primitive conditions. Neurosis may originate from civilization, but this cannot be helped. What better system can we come up with for the good of the general population? We cannot abandon cleanliness or structure that society has created because of minor problems. H...
