Conscience - Freud

J.H Newman?

- Conscience is an immediate inner voice rather than our own reasoning. - Argues our experience of conscience is a key part of our psychology in the same way as memory and imagination might be. - Essentially God's voice speaking to us directly.

What are the weakness of Freud (no philosophers) ?

- Freud linked morality to upbringing to surely we would expect greater differences in moral values. Moral values are largely shared.

Karl Popper criticism?

Freuds work on the unconscious mind is unfalsifiable. Therefore Freudian psychoanalysis is not really science at all.

Dawkins?

Given an evolutionary account of how conscience could arise based on the idea that co-operation and treating others well would be a desirable trail that would be passed generationally.

Freud on guilt?

Guilt is a psychological phenomenon that we might overcome.

Aquinas on guilt?

Guilt is merely a by-product of acting against the way your conscience directs you.

What is conscience (to freud)

conscience is a process of internalising parental prohibitions and demands, creating the super ego.

" the super ego....

the super ego 'retains the character of the father'

What is the ego?

the thinking we are more conscious of. Mediates between the id and the demands of social interaction. The ego mediates the desires of the id with social acceptability.

What is the ID?

unconscious self, basic desires and drives. Ego is our reasoning but the id is our basic passions. Superego is something within the ego.. Immediate impulses that seek satisfaction.

How did Freud link conscience and the super ego?

- Freud saw conscience as an aspect of the superego. - - The voice of the superego symbolically internalises the sense of a father figure and the regulations of society. -The more the Oedipus complex is suppressed the stricter the superego is. - Guilt occurs when we go against our superego.

Strengths of Freud?

- He attempts to ground it in empirical facts. - Recognises the importance of childhood and the role of parents in moral development. - Explains why all our morals are so different because they are affected over time.

What are the weakness' of little Hans?

- If Hans did have Oedipus complex it only proves one child had it. Freud believed it to be universal. - It lacks population validity - How can the Oedipus complex be applied to children from single parent families or modern families or children who live in care. - Freuds view of conscience is found in a faulted study.

What is the primal horde?

- Refers to a myth about a group of sexually frustrated men who rebel and kill their leader. - The men gain free access to the women of the tribe and realise that discipline has to be imposed for balance. - The men see the point of the leader's rules and this leads to guilt. - This collective guilt is the origin of the guilt that we feel.

How does sex link to Freud's conscience?

- The ID. - According to Freud we go through psychosexual development as children. 1. Oral stage: love of breastfeeding. 2. Anal stage: Using bowels 3. Phallic stage: fascinated by our sexual organs.

Who is Freud?

Austrian Psychologist. Rejects the idea of God and soul. Mind = Machine and psychology is the process of studying the machine.

Erich Fromm Authoritarian Conscience?

Authoritarian Conscience: Conscience begins with fear of authority. We fear and obey the authority's rules even when they are absent. In a bad authoritarian conscience such as Nazism obedience becomes the supreme moral value and fear of punishment overrides other feelings.

What are the three psycho dynamic layers?

Ego, Id , Superego.

What is little Hans?

Freud case study that led to his conclusions on the Oedipus complex. -5 year old boy with a phobia of horses - Freud linked the fear of horses with a fear to the horses large penis - Hans father linked the horses with black harness to symbolise his moustache. - Hans showed interest in 'widdlers' and his mother threatens to cut it off unless he stops playing with it. - Hans resolved this conflict as he fantasised himself with a big penis married to his mother.

Erich Fromm Humanistic Conscience?

It is our own inner voice reacting to how well we are functioning in life. It is the reaction of ourselves to our own behaviour, Fromm argues that this conscience is a higher and more developed conscience.

Piaget?

Linked morality and conscience with childhood development. At ages 5-9 children look for a heteronomous morality - the child looks beyond themselves for a higher moral authority and rules must be obeyed.

Where does Freud believe guilt originated?

Men's collective guilt for their sexual instincts. Guilt is the internal conflict of the mind the desire between what you feel and what you should do.

What is Freuds view of conscience?

Sees it as a product of the unconscious mind. It is not a real existing thing but an umbrella term covering various factors such as our upbringing and psychological development.

What is the super ego?

Set of moral controls, given by authority, internalised ideas from parents and society that try to make the ego behave morally. Super-ego stops us from breaking rules because of fear of punishment and feelings of guilt. So conscience is just feeling guilt because of the super ego.

What is the Oedipus complex?

a boy's sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father. These feelings are repressed and cause guilt and shame. Female complex is Electra complex. (little hans)