"Normally, there is nothing of which we are more certain than the feeling of our self, our own ego There are cases in which parts of a persons own body appear alien to him and as not belonging to his own ego; there are other cases in which he ascribes to the external world things that clearly originate in his own ego and that ought to be acknowledged by it. Thus even the feeling of our own ego is subject to disturbances and the boundaries of the ego are not constant."" "Freud.
Freud starts of by stating his view on the ego and how it works and is affected.
To understand how an individual is affected by society (civilization) one must first understand the importance of the ego. The ego plays a big role in weather or not an individual is happy or unhappy. When the human ego is disturbed, unhappiness usually results. Situations in society can disturb the ego making the individual unhappy. .
Freud believes that unhappiness is easier to experience then happiness. Freud points out that we are "threatened with suffering from three directions:-.
• From our own bodies, which is doomed to decay and dissolution and which cannot even do without pain and anxiety as warning signals.
• From the external world, which may rage against us with overwhelming and merciless forces of destruction.
• From our relations to other men.
Having to deal with these situations of society can defiantly make an individual unhappy. It is our relations to other men, Freud points out, that is the most difficult to deal with of the three. He goes on to say that when we reach a satisfaction of instinct we experience happiness.
(My next understanding of the Freud reading is somewhat vague but I will give my interpretation any way.) Freud is basically saying that humans are blaming their.
inability to fulfill there needs/demands on their society (civilization.) He gives different view of different groups about how they can make a society that everyone would be relatively happy in.