Civilization and Its Discontents
...be restricted when civilization is implemented. What is there to say that humans do not have the ability to all be entirely happy in an independent state? In other words, do the constructs of civilization offer more to humanity as a whole or can individuals pursuing their own goals and desire have an equal or even more significant influence? Freud believes that civilization is based on a struggle that exists between Eros and the drive of death, where the tendency of death is propelled by human aggression. “This aggressive instinct is the derivative and the main representative of the death instinct which we have found alongside of Eros and which shares world-dominion with it” (82). Is civilization actually able to be influenced simultaneously by these two forces, or would it seem more reasonable that eventually one of these factors will become more important in affecting the ways civilization functions? In the final paragraph of Freud’s work, he opines, “men have gained control over ...