Considerations on the foundations of psychoanalysis in Civilization and Its Discontents

Abstract

The present essay analyses Freud's work Civilization and Its Discontents, focusing on the conception of the human being that presents internal conflicts due to the requirements of society. With the publication of the writings of psychoanalysis, several points of tension between the individual and the civilization induced Freud to substantiatethe concepts of id, ego, superego, principle of reality, among others. These concepts provided understanding of the principles of civilization, breaking with the duality between the individual and collective unconscious aspects. In this work, Freud used recurrent terminology of naturalistic science in line with the adjacent spectrum of knowledge of the humanities, with a view to the junction of theses knowledges, into a coherent whole, would provide greater theoretical scope for psychoanalysis. This article aims to investigate which are the foundations of psychoanalysis in Civilization and Its Discontents and the prospects that Freud had of science in our society.