Overview
This lecture explores Sigmund Freud's theories on the sources of human unhappiness, the structure of the mind, childhood development, and his psychoanalytic approach to understanding and treating neuroses.
Freud's Life and Career
- Sigmund Freud was born in 1856 to a middle-class Jewish family.
- His early career included failed attempts at medical research and promoting cocaine as medicine.
- Freud founded psychoanalysis, a new field of psychological medicine.
- His major work is "The Interpretation of Dreams" (1900).
- Despite professional success, Freud often struggled with anxiety and self-doubt.
Core Theories of Human Nature
- Freud believed the Pleasure Principle drives us toward easy rewards and away from unpleasant tasks.
- The Reality Principle forces us to adapt our desires to societal expectations and constraints.
- Improper adjustment leads to neuroses, mental struggles arising from repressed desires.
Structure of the Mind
- The mind is divided into three parts:
- ID (pleasure-driven)
- SUPEREGO (society's rules and morality)
- EGO (mediates between ID and SUPEREGO)
Psychosexual Stages of Development
- THE ORAL PHASE: Infancy, dealing with eating and dependence on others.
- THE ANAL PHASE: Toddlerhood, learning control through potty training and authority.
- THE PHALLIC PHASE: Early childhood, development of sexual feelings and the Oedipus complex.
The Oedipus Complex and Relationships
- Children develop unconscious feelings for one parent and rivalry with the other.
- Mixed parental love and disturbed behavior can cause lasting confusion in adult relationships.
- Difficulty merging sex and love can stem from early family dynamics.
Society, Neurosis, and Psychoanalysis
- Society imposes rules that can contribute to collective neuroses (e.g. taboo, delayed gratification).
- Freud saw civilization itself as neurotic due to these pressures.
- Psychoanalysis examines dreams, Freudian slips (parapraxes), and jokes to uncover hidden desires.
Key Terms & Definitions
- Pleasure Principle — The drive for immediate gratification of needs and desires.
- Reality Principle — Adjusting desires to fit societal rules and constraints.
- Neurosis — Mental distress caused by repressed or unresolved internal conflicts.
- ID — Part of the mind driven by basic urges and pleasure.
- SUPEREGO — Internalization of societal morals and rules.
- EGO — The rational mediator balancing the ID and SUPEREGO.
- Oedipus Complex — Unconscious attraction to one parent and rivalry with the other during childhood.
- Psychoanalysis — Freud’s method for uncovering unconscious conflicts.
- Wish Fulfillment — Dreams expressing unrealized desires.
- Parapraxis (Freudian Slip) — Mistakes in speech or writing revealing unconscious thoughts.
Action Items / Next Steps
- Review Freud's major works, especially "The Interpretation of Dreams."
- Reflect on how the pleasure and reality principles show up in daily life.
- Prepare to discuss examples of Freudian slips and their meanings.