Freud's Challenges to the Moral Argument Flashcards
What does Freud say are the three parts of the mind?
The id, the ego and the superego
What is the id?
The part of the mind where our desire to satisfy our wants and desires comes from. It is subconscious
What is the ego?
The part of the mind shaped by external influences. It is conscious. It balances our desires with the expectation of others e.g. i won’t cry and scream on the floor if I don’t get my own way because no one else does that! Behaving in accordance with others
What is the superego?
Subconscious, where guilt stems from
What is our conscience?
Guilt stemming from the superego (not the voice of God)
What is the oedipus complex?
A boy is jealous of his father because he feels sexually attracted towards his mother. He has feelings of ambivalence towards his father: love and jealousy. This guilt is suppressed by the superego
What did Freud say about religion?
Freud said religion is an obsessional neurosis. We feel guilty so we pray to get rid of the guilt which makes you obsessed - OCD. The afterlife and god does not exist, it is all psychological
How does the oedipus complex challenge Kant?
Society is causing the repression, not something that is inbuilt in to you
What are the strengths of Freud’s theory?
Agrees with Dawkins and cultural relativists that morality is NOT innate (inbuilt). God is a psychological construct. Also there is no objective moral law which also suits cultural relativism. Feuerbach says God is a psychological construct: man projects what he wants to be onto God
What are the weaknesses of Freud’s theory?
The Oedipus complex is controversial and discredited by modern psychologists, neurosis is more complex: modern scientific evidence says neurosis (OCD and mental illness) have biological causes e.g. DNA and does not derive from sexual desires
