per-Ego, and the Id, the three structures of human personality which must invariably clash in order to produce resultant human behaviors. Freudian aggression can also be described through the Pleasure Principle, and the constructs of the Libido (the drive for pleasure) and of Thanatos (the “death drive”). Jung, the originator of the most prominent variation of Freudian psychodynamics, would have explained aggression through his analytical psychology which comprises the constructs of the Psyche: Consciousness, the Personal Unconscious, the Collective Unconscious, and all of their respective sub-structures. These are the theories by which aggression will be effectively illustrated and explained herein.A Freudian Approach to AggressionThe Roles of the Ego, Super-Ego, and Id in AggressionAccording to Freud, the id is the base of all animalistic instincts, the one thing that humans share in common with their animal brethren. The structures that separate humans from wild animals are those of the Ego and the Super-Ego, which collectively serve to protect man from his own violent nature and thus render him “civilized”. The Super-Ego’s role in the psyche is virtually non-descript, containing morals and values applied to everyday life, and thereby serving the role of the human conscience. The Ego and Id are effectively the sub-conscious portion of the human psyche. The Ego on the other hand is primarily conscious, serving as the “gate-keeper to the sub-conscious”. The role designated for the Ego is therefore to abate the deluge of thoughts socially or otherwise seen as taboo, and hence become threatening to the psyche if allowed to escape the subconscious reservoir of the Id. The mind is thus a battleground between the Ego and Id and therefore requires a very strong Ego to control the backlash of the violent and sexually base nature of the Id. But sometimes the Ego will encounter periods during which it i...
