The Nature Of Happiness

772 Words4 Pages
Lasting happiness and innate human aggression are two facets of human life that society has been trying to control since the conception of civilized communities. While many philosophers and scientists have their own views on the matter, according to Freud, “there are difficulties attaching to the nature of civilization which will not yield to any attempt at reform." (87) He is explaining that human aggression will never be fully nullified and lasting happiness can never be attained. Freud’s argument is considerably persuasive because his use of historical examples, our id, and the nature of happiness as evidence are concrete and unarguable. Moreover, he is correct because society will never be able to please everyone, and as long as there is…show more content…
They are our id and the nature of happiness itself. Happiness, according to Freud, is fleeting by nature. Once an individual experiences an event that gives them happiness continuously, “it only produces a mild contempt.” (82) Our id is our raw instincts: pleasure, survival, and any other basic needs. If we adhere to our id only, ignoring the ego and superego, then we will have raw happiness. This happiness would be pure and satisfying; however, “An unrestricted satisfaction of every need… soon brings its own punishment.” (83) The ego and superego are inside of us to control our id. Since the ego and superego are influenced by one’s experience in society, it can be said that, in actuality, society controls our id. Therefore, society attempting to find lasting happiness is hopeless because the very nature of society is to suppress one’s id, and satisfying the id is the most effective, albeit dangerous, way to attain happiness. Furthermore, whereas society controls our id, it is unable to control our aggression. Freud effectively uses historical examples to prove this. He lived in a bloody time period, and experienced WW1 as an adult. This war, along with other bloody instances such as the crusaders, treatment of racial migrants, or Hun invasions, was enough evidence to show that human aggression cannot be controlled. Society may try to restrain it with new forms of government, such as communism, but…show more content…
To begin, society must be able to satisfy our id for us to find “unrestricted satisfaction of every need.” (83). This comes with a major issue. If the purpose of our id is to satisfy our basic needs and instincts, then it must satisfy our aggression. This is because aggression is an instinctual drive in humans. Therefore, society must give its people an outlet to release this aggression. This may take many forms: hunting, debates, or even sports. However, history has shown that the method that some societies gravitate towards is using an ethnic or minority group as the recipients of the hostility. Therefore, even in the best scenario, you have a split between the people in a community. The majority of the community may be happy and passive; but, a minority is resentful and suppressed. An example of this method being used is in Nazi Germany. The German people were depressed from their defeat in WW1 and the Nazi party predominantly used the Jewish race as the recipient of the simmering aggression and unhappiness of the Germans. The issue with this method is that the aggression and unhappiness of the minority group may continue to build until it reaches a breaking point. At this point the subjugated group will lash out in aggression and anger. This may take many forms, the worst being a civil war. Once one group begins to be aggressive, other groups may take this as an opportunity to be aggressive, either in accordance
Open Document