Humanities exam (part 4)

Question 1

why did Freud always talk about sex?

Answer 1

He wanted to prove and explain why sex is the most repressed thing of all natural human activities.

Question 2

Freud originally wanted to establish what theory parallel to Darwin’s evolutionary model?

Answer 2

a theory of psychosexual development and motivation to parallel Darwin’s.

Question 3

Freuds work led to a more complex theory. What is that theory?

Answer 3

Human sexuality exists at the intersection of biology, psychology, and culture.

Question 4

All the aspects of Freuds sexual Revolution

Answer 4

• stages of sexual development
• The Oedipus complex
• Sexual diversity
• Freud’s Feminism
• Freuds errors: seduction, masturbation, penis envy
• Critique of sexual morality

Question 5

Describe Freud’s thesis:

Answer 5

• Earliest human societies, there were no rules around sex; what mattered was survival. (reproductive success)
• Rise of civilizations was accompanied by growing regulation of sexuality (bodies, relationships, moral prohibitions)
• Some regulation was unavoidable, modern sexual morality is repressive in a way that is both unnatural and irrational.

Question 6

What is Morality?

Answer 6

• Freud means all the moral and social rules and ideas around sex.
• According to ‘civilized’ morality, any form of sexual expression outside of marriage is ‘wrong’, ‘deviant’, or ‘criminal’
• other words, ‘civilized’ ppl are supposed to be sexually ‘virtuous’.

Question 7

Explain Freuds critique of Morality.

Answer 7

• Sexual satisfaction is natural and is essential to a happy and healthy life.
• Repressive sexual morality is harmful to physical and mental health and threatens the future of civilizations.

Question 8

explain Freuds historical explanation:

Answer 8

• Primitive taboos develop into…
• Religious/moral prohibitions, which develop into…
• Modern/Medical concepts
• Other words, morality is primarily about ignorance and power.

Question 9

Explain the problem with sexual repression

Answer 9

• prevents ppl to enjoy sex, but it also makes them feel ashamed (through superego), guilty or even ‘sick’ for having those sexual thoughts.

Question 10

Define Sexual Education and the issues surrounding it.

Answer 10

• As kids, we learn shame and dishonesty around sexuality.
• Doctors and teachers reinforce ignorance, promote abstinence, and define normal behaviour as deviant.
• every relationship involves sexual lies.

Question 11

strict sexual prohibitions leave us with three options:

Answer 11

1. Neurosis
2. Perversion
3. Sublimation

Question 12

define/explain Sexual Neurosis:

Answer 12

• depression and anxiety resulting from sense of sexual shame, guilt, and lack of fulfilment.
• Neurotics experience their sexual desires as problematic or even ‘sick’ and invest a lot of mental energy into suppressing them.

Question 13

define/explain sexual Perversion:

Answer 13

• sexual satisfaction obtained w/o or beyond sex.
• Freud treats ‘perversion’ as a common behavior many of us participate in since we are not allowed to be directly sexual.
• other words, most perversions are the result of perverse social/moral expectations.

Question 14

define/explain Sublimation:

Answer 14

• the act of channeling libido toward non-sexual social/cultural achievements.
• When successful, such achievements allow us to experience something akin to erotic satisfaction.
• consider the popular perception that success, popularity, money, power are ‘sexy’ - perhaps more sexy than sex.