CONSCIENCE: FREUD Flashcards
What is conscience not based on according to Freud?
Rational decision-making.
What is conscience based on for Freud?
It is a product of psychological factors that influence human beings.
What theory did Freud develop?
Psychosexual development.
What is the libido?
Sexual desire, focusing on that part of the body as a source of pleasure.
What are the five stages of development according to Freud?
- Oral
- Anal
- Phallic
- Latency
- Genital
Why have much of Freud’s developments been questioned/rejected?
Lack of conclusive evidence to support his notions.
What did Freud argue the human mind is made up of?
- Unconscious mind.
- Preconscious mind.
- Conscious mind.
What is the unconscious mind?
The repressed thoughts and feelings, including primitive desires.
What is the preconscious mind?
The memories not readily available but accessible.
What is the conscious mind?
The thoughts a person currently has.
What is the id?
Entirely unconscious aspect of personality, the part of the mind containing drive and repressed memories.
What is the id driven by?
The pleasure principle; it seeks immediate gratification (the libido).
What does Freud state about the id?
“It is the dark, inaccessible part of our personality.”
What is central to human personality? (id)
Libido, sexual pleasure and sexuality begins in early childhood.
What is not always possible regarding the id?
To satisfy all of the id’s desires.
What is not socially acceptable?
To seek immediate gratification for all of our desires, and act on the impulses of the id.
What is the ego?
The mediation between the id and social norms.
What is the ego driven by?
The reality principle.
What analogy did Freud use when describing the ego?
Of a horse and its rider, to explain the relationship between the id and the ego.
What is one strategy used by the ego?
Delayed gratification.
What can a good conscience be seen as?
The effective operation of the ego over the id.
What is the super-ego?
The last part of the human psyche, that develops around age five.
What is the super-ego the repository for?
Internalised moral standards.
What does the achieving of these moral standards result in? (SE)
A sense of pride and accomplishment.
What does the super-ego dominating over the ego result in?
The greater extent to which a person avoids actions that might result in them breaking rules.
What are religious and moral feelings and conscience related to according to Freud?
The Super-Ego.
Who can you use to criticise Freud?
Fromm
What does Engler state?
“they represent a variety of different processes, functions, and dynamics within the person.”
What did Freud believe about religion and God?
“constructs of the mind”.
What is the issue with Freud and religion?
Religious people would still see God as the origin of conscience - God provided the structure in which the conscience develops.
What is the issue with Freud’s perspective on religion?
No reference to God…he was an atheist, seeing religion only as a construct of the mind.
How does Freud support the idea that conscience exists?
Sees it as an aspect of the super ego - a construct.
Where is there proof that the conscience is linked to the unconscious mind?
A person might have right knowledge and can use reasoned thought to make moral decisions but the unconscious mind may lead them to act immorally.
What is religion based on for Freud that makes his theory differ to Aquinas’?
The idea of God causes neuroses and prevents us from becoming psychologically whole.
According to Freud which part of the human psyche stops us from breaking rules because of the fear of receiving punishment, criticism or feelings of guilt?
Super Ego.
Freud believes that when you are rewarded you bank this in your superego as a good act and vice versa. This is based on which theory?
Behaviourism.
