Civilization / Aggression

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Instincts / Drves
Civilization/Happiness
Nature of Happiness
Paths to Happiness
Civilization / Aggression
Civilization/Eros
  1. Eros, in the form of solidarity, loyalty, and patriotism is not enough to inhibit human aggressiveness
    1. It is strongest with smaller groups but becomes weaker as the objects of eros grow larger
    2. A second source of moral action and concern for the common good is conscience and the sense of guilt, which arises from the resolution of the Oedipus complex.
      1. In early life, children obey their parents out of fear of punishment.
      2. But, with the development of the Oedipus complex, children come to obey their parents out of a feeling of guilt.
  2. The Oedipus complex: an introductory outline.
    1. Notes on this outline.
      1. In this outline, I will look at the Oedipus complex form the point of view of little boys.
        1. The situation with little girls is roughly the opposite
        2. Complications arise, however, due to the nature of more or less patriarchal societies.
          1. Child care was, until recently, primarily carried out by women.
          2. The opportunities afforded women in the workplace were, until recently, very restricted.
          3. These two factors make for important different in the Oedipus experience of boys and girls.
          4. The most persuasive account of this difference is, to my mind, found in Dorothy Dinnerstein’s book The Mermaid and the Minotaur. Dinnerstein argues that patriarchal societies are, in fact, largely the result of the fact that early child has been carried primarily by women. She also argues that shared parenting will change both men and women in very important ways. A fascinating and extremely important book that discusses both theoretical and practical applications of these ideas is a recent work by Isaac D. Balbus, entitled Emotional Rescue.
      2. This is an outline of what happens on average. It describes the kinds of tendencies that are found in most relationships between parents and children. Each child’s relationship with his or her parents will be unique. The unique nature of that relationship will result from the particular character and goals of the child and the parents (as well as that of siblings and others). Each child responds to his or her parents and the parents will respond to each child in unique ways.
      3. This outline is vastly oversimplified.
        1. In particular children have both erotic and aggressive feelings for both parents.
    2. The Oedipus complex develops, initially, roughly between the ages of 4 and 6.
      1. Children come to have particularly intense erotic feelings for their opposite sex parent.
        1. These feelings are erotic in that the child wants a special, close relationship with that parent. He or she wants to receive special care from that parent, spend time with that parent and so forth.
        2. The are also likely to be sexual in nature, in that the child will want physical closeness with the parent, will kiss and hug the parent in more intense ways that they had done up until now.
          1. Parents often think of these physical desires as inappropriate in a parent-child relationship.
          2. Sometimes, when children recognize that these physical desires are thought to be inappropriate, they will transfer them to other adults of the same sex as their opposite sex parent. This prefigures one of the out comes of the Oedipus complex.
        3. Why, in general, is erotic feeling stronger for opposite sex parent?
          1. Freud must explain, not assume this, since he assumes that we have no marked genetic propensity to heterosexuality.
            1. And, in a more complete account of the Oedipus complex, he points out that erotic feelings are felt for the same sex parent.
          2. Such feelings are, in general stronger for the opposite sex parent for a number of reasons.
            1. The most common is that in most, but not all cases, children identify with the with the same sex parent and thus expect to have erotic relationships with the opposite sex parent.
      2. Children also come to have aggressive feelings for the same sex parent, who is seen as a rival for the affections of the opposite sex parent.
      3. Conflict arises in the child.
        1. His aggressive feelings towards his father conflict with his need for care from the father, as well as with his erotic feelings for the father.
          1. A little boy fears that, as a result of his aggressive feelings, his father will no longer love him.
        2. A little boy also recognizes the vastly superior strength of his father, and thus comes to see that he can not hope to have an exclusive relationship with his mother.
      4. At some point, the child comes to recognize that his erotic feelings for his mother are considered to be improper or morally wrong.
      5. His feelings for the mother are then repressed and he enters what Freud calls the latency period
        1. Repression of a desire means that it
          1. Is not longer capable of becoming conscious.
          2. It no longer is directly acted upon.
        2. In this case, repression particular means that,
          1. The opposite sex parent is given up as a conscious love object
          2. Children develop a lack of interest in, and in some cases,, distaste for members of opposite sex of their own age.
        3. Attachment to the opposite sex parent is, however, retained through internalization
          1. The ideas about the right and the good come to be part for the child. They are, as it were, an internal voice that tells the child how he or she should proceed. This internal voice is called by Freud the super-ego (a translation of the German über-Ich or above / over I).
            1. The parent’s voice contains both:
              1. Moral prohibitions, that is, commandments not to do certain things.
              2. Ideals about how to live.
          2. Instead of loving the object, children come to love an internal representation of the object
            1. In doing so, they come to love a part of themselves as well.
          3. The super-ego which is the psychical agency that is the basis of conscience
            1. Content of conscience given by ideals and moral prohibitions of parents, supplemented by those of teachers
              1. Oedipus complex is, to some extent, played out with other close relatives and teachers as well as parents
        4. Strength of super-ego determined by the extent of aggression turned back against the self or ego
          1. What is the "strength of the super-ego?
            1. A strong super-ego harder to disobey. The feelings of guilt are stronger when the a strong super-ego is disobeyed.
            2. Flexibility of the super-ego. People with a weaker super-ego find it easier to revise the conceptions of morality and an ideal life inherited from their parents.
          2. Aggression turned back against the self because children fear expressing aggressive feelings for the same sex parent.
            1. We master ourselves instead of the outside world.
      6. Oedipus complex returns at end of latency period, when sexual feelings are heightened by puberty
        1. But the conflicts described above. returns as well.
        2. In response to these conflicts, a child begins to turn away from parents.
          1. Erotic desires return, but are directed at other members of opposite sex other than opposite sex parent
          2. Children gain greater independence from their parents
            1. They act with much less supervision
            2. Begin to develop independent aims and goals.
        3. The content and strength of super-ego firmly established at this time.
    3. How plausible is Freud’s account of the origins of conscience? Two kinds of evidence support it:
      1. His theory gives an account of phenomena that we can all observe, if we pay attention:
        1. The increasing attachment of children to their opposite sex parent at ages 4 to 6.
        2. The development of a conscience around the same period of time.
        3. The distaste of boys and girls for each other during the latency phase.
      2. Freud’s theory also helps explain two variations in the pattern of super-ego development. The first one is particularly strong support for his theory because it is in counter-intuitive.
        1. A less indulgent upbringing often creates a weaker super-ego than a more indulgent upbringing.
          1. We tend to assume that parents who are indulgent will spoil their children and thus have children with weak super-egos
          2. Freud argues that, on average, the opposite is the case.
            1. Children who are indulged have a stronger erotic tie, and greater dependence, on their parents.
            2. As a consequence, they find it harder to express aggression towards them.
            3. Thus they turn aggression inwards, strengthening the super-ego.
        2. Children raised without love are likely to have a weaker super-ego.
          1. They find it easier to express aggression against their parents, thus less aggression is turned inwards and the super-ego is weaker.
          2. This is a particular problem for children—and especially boys—in severe poverty who are both fatherless boys and have mothers who—due to their young age, are not good caretakers of their children.
            1. Such children are raised with little love and thus direct their aggression outwards.
            2. Moreover, they do not fear the authority of their mothers—and their father is missing. This makes it even more likely for them to turn aggression outwards and have a weak super-ego.
    4. A relatively strong super-ego generates feelings of guilt if we have desires that violate its rules, not just if we act in ways that violate its rules.
    5. The super-ego is responsible for the control of our satisfaction of instinctual desires, both erotic and aggressive.