Civilization and Discontent by Sigmund Freud

Flashcards covering key vocabulary and concepts from Sigmund Freud's Civilization and Discontent.

Eros

The love-drive; the desire to connect with others, build relationships, and create communities.

Thanatos

The death-drive; the urge for destruction, aggression, and self-harm.

Super-Ego

The internalized moral authority that governs behavior through guilt and societal expectations.

Pleasure Principle

Freud's theory that suggests humans seek to maximize pleasure and avoid pain.

Sublimation

Redirecting desires into socially acceptable activities, transforming urges into productive efforts.

Oedipal Complex

Freud's concept where a child feels desire for the opposite-sex parent and jealousy toward the same-sex parent.

Incest Taboo

A universal social rule prohibiting sexual relations between close family members, fundamental for social order.

Neurosis

Psychological symptoms that arise from the suppression of natural desires, leading to suffering.

Civilization

Freud defines civilization as the achievements and rules that separate humans from animals, regulating relationships and protecting from nature.

Guilt

The emotional experience of feeling bad for violating one's moral standards, often imposed by the super-ego.

The Oceanic Feeling

Freud's term for a sense of limitless connection to the environment, commonly associated with religious sentiment.

Religious Feeling

Freud relates this to an infant's early sense of oneness with the world before developing a separate self.

Civilization's Trade-Off

The balance between personal freedoms and societal order; as civilization advances, individual freedoms are more restricted.

Infantile Sexuality

Freud's theory that sexuality is present in infants and undermines the traditional myth of childhood innocence.

Civilization and Aggression

The constant need for civilization to regulate human aggression, which is seen as inherent to human nature.