Freud Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Freud - Essay Example It is worthy, first, to understand the need for civilization and its importance in qualitative measures and quantitative measures. Civilizations were established to improve modes of relationships among human beings. This was because, in the prehistoric times, an action of an individual was guided more by his instincts and wishes. Apart from that, civilization was meant to improve material prosperity of individuals. This was obtainable through improvement of science and technology, which in turn increased their economic productivity. Freud argues that the objective of such changes was due to the inherent human trait of search for happiness. The search for happiness is achieved by what he describes as utility and yields of pleasure (Freud 41). However, he states that such an effort is always a futility, as an increase in happiness is never achieved. Civilization is thus not responsible for human happiness. Friedman’s main argument primarily focuses in religion. He describes religion as an imposed delusional feeling that seeks to detach individuals from reality. This feeling, however, cannot be depicted scientifically. It operates in the idea that suffering of the human community can only be alleviated by a trust to an external source of help. In trying to achieve this, individuals escape the reality of their lives. The problem of religion in this case is that it imposes only one way of attainment of happiness. In reality, ways of attaining satisfaction should be many and, thus, the individual is tied to his misery if that one way fails (Freud 32). Second, Friedman also discusses art as a source of unhappiness among individuals. Art’s affectivity relies on the imagination of creative people who release their pieces of work for consumption by these individuals. Through art, individuals try to master reality by creating images of how it