Critical Summary - Civilsation and its Discontents

Critical Review
Civilization and Its Discontents - Sigmund Freud


Throughout the discourse of Civilization and Its Discontents, Sigmund Freud draws the analogy between the development of civilisation, in this case the city of Rome, and the development of the individual to illustrate his central theme that ‘mans’ instincts and civilisations control/repression of these instincts is the root of our unhappiness. Further to this, Freud postulates as to whether the suffering impeded on man by civilisation/culture, a term Freud uses interchangeably, is really worth it, to which he lets his readers decide.
The work is broken down into eight chapters, beginning with a brief look at religious energy and the link to an “oceanic feeling” (Freud 1961:11) seen to originate in the ego, id and super-ego. In the second chapter, Feud outlines the purpose of life to be the pursuit of happiness/pleasure hence incorporating the pleasure principle as the drive to obtain happiness as ...