Civilization and Its Discontents

Today's lecture was extremely helpful. Some of the things Freud said about civilization were confusing, so it was nice to get a little background on what theories he is basing this book on. The question concerning someone loving their neighbor as themselves is a tough one. I mean, ideally, it would be great for a person to love the whole of mankind. But realistically, its very impractical if not impossible. I have to agree with Freud when he says that some men are undeserving of one's love. Its a huge waste of energy and effort to try and love everyone, and loving one's enemies can prove dangerous. It's a nice thought and all, but in the end self-preservation wins out. And, if we are as Freud believes, we are generally incapable of it. As he says in chapter five, "The element of truth behind all this, which people are so ready to disavow, is that men are not gentle creatures who want to be loved, and who at most can defend themselves if they are attacked; they are, on the contrary, creatures among whose instinctual endowments is to be reckoned a powerful share of aggressiveness. As a result, their neighbor is for them not only a potential helper or sexual object, but also someone who tempts them to satisfy their aggressiveness on him..." On this point I cannot disagree, there's no denying we are aggressive beings. And because of our tendency to aggressive behavior toward one another, loving all one's neighbors would be to contradict mankind's nature. A depressing thought, I have to admit. But the fact that people try anyway leads me to believe that there is more to human beings than Freud proposes.