• A doctor, psychologist, and influential thinker in the early 20th
century
• Probably the best-known psychologist in history, although not
necessarily the best
• His theories about human consciousness and efforts to
understand it through the assessment of language and behavior
changed the landscape of psychological treatment
• Dream analysis, talk therapy, behaviorism, and many other
psychological theories developed from Freud’s work
• We just don’t talk about psychosexual development . . .
• The theoretical framework that divides personality into
different levels of awareness
⚬ Conscious: Thoughts a person is currently aware of
⚬ Preconscious: Information a person can easily
retrieve and bring into their awareness
⚬ Unconscious: Thoughts that cannot be easily
brought into awareness
• The theoretical framework that divides personality into the id, the ego,
and the superego
⚬ Id: Personality structure at birth, instinct
￭ Actions are based on pleasure principle and wish fulfillment
⚬ Ego: Satisfies id impulses, but takes into consideration the realities of
the world
￭ Actions are based on reality principle
⚬ Superego: Represents society’s values and standards
￭ Provides ideals to determine if a behavior is virtuous
￭ Powerful superego leads to moral anxiety
"The Atlantic Is An Eldritch God," Dory
Whynot.
• Freud categorized the drives or insticts which
motivate human behavior as either a life drive
or a death drive
• Life drives are often associated with sex (i.e. the
propogation of life)
⚬ Thus, they are called “Eros,” after the ancient
Greek god of love, desire, and procreation
• Death drives are typically externalized and
directed outward as aggression
⚬ the wish to experience death generally
remains unconscious
⚬ Thanatos is the personification of death in
ancient Greek mythology, similar to he grim
reaper
• Freud postulated that the ego mediates between the opposing
aims of the id and superego, as well as the opposing Eros and
Thanatos drives
• According to Freud, this opposition causes tension and anxiety,
which the ego seeks to relieve or reduce with defense
mechanisms.
• Most defense mechanisms are (to some degree) dysfunctional
⚬ Dysfunctional mechanisms serve a short-term purpose and
may relieve tension temporarily, but often cause greater
strain in the future
• Sublimation is the functional mechanism that redirects tension
towards a productive purpose
• Why do you believe some people enjoy the experiences of pain
or fear?
• Why do you believe some people enjoy the experience of
inflicting pain or fear on others?
• Do you believe humans in general are more motivated by Eros
or by Thanatos drives?
• Can you envision an act or situation where a person might be
equally motivated by both Eros and Thanatos drives?
• Do you believe humans in general are more influenced by id or
by superego?