How Would Rousseau, Nietzsche, and Freud Assess the Civilizing Process - Essay Example

The Civilizing Process The society over the years continues to experience multitudes of changes, developing life and its confines. Scholars and philosophers, in their endeavor to have understanding of this process of behavioral and affective life changes create the line of thought, which they describe as the civilizing process. The concept of civilization within the context of the society resulted in evaluation of the social interactions, behaviors, interests and beliefs creating the social constructions as they exists today. The various codes of conduct that the society defines as the supposed and expected conduct between individuals or societies define the entire aspect of the civilization. Philosophers, among other related professionals express their versions of the process of civilization exploring its course and discourse as applies in the society. Such include the theories and definitions of the civilizing process as defined by Rousseau, Nietzsche, and Freud in their various publications on the subject. Sigmund Freud: Civilization and its Discontents The propositions concerning civilization process as Sigmund Freud presents in his publication of Civilization and its Discourse intrigue the reader with its persuasive approach to the subject. Assessing the concepts and contemplations of Freud on the subject from this publication, it is evident he seeks to elaborate on the very structures and stratifications that society considers as civilization and evaluate their impact on humanity. Thus, he approaches civilization from the perspective of whether it is a plus or a negative to humanity. In his discussion in the publication, Freud presents several and vied arguments and elaborates accordingly of their relational and application in the civilization constructions. However, he fails to provide a conclusive standpoint of his own; instead, he leaves the discussion for the reader to take a side. According to his discussion, he explains the evolutionary development of human beings as they strove to survive and coexist hence contributing to the current civilization experiences as they occur today. Freud sights three different factors that constitute the dangers leading to man constructing constraints leading to this civilization process. In his citations, he refers to the dangers that people face from the external world, posed to the society, causing them to lean in certain direction to curve their survival. The external factors that he cites from nature do not include aspects of floods, storm and earthquake but rather, factors such as extreme cold, danger of other living creatures and diseases among others (Sigmund, 13). Secondly, he cites the dangers emanating from within the weak selves, including the aspect of allowing the person to get sick and eventually die. Additionally, he views the dangers that come from other human beings as contributory to the social constructions that humanity defines as civilization, constricting their behavioral and affective lives. According to Freud, as he defines his various viewpoints in the subject of civilization, he is keen to state that the civilization process as people purse aims to create happiness in their lives. Thus, they dispel the factors contributing to their unhappiness by developing and adopting confines that restrict the freedoms of people to exercise certain liberties. Thus, in understanding the purpose of the civilization process from the presentation of Freud, he cites benefits such as that human civilization protects the humans from nature, providing related and relevant lines for defense of this course (Sigmund, 45). Further, civilization helps in adopting and adjusting to the mutual relations among human beings, as the established conventions that constitute the codes of civilization and human organization and interactions restrict the people from violating certain rights. Thus, in this course, as humanity seeks to achieve happiness, it is keen to implement guidelines to protect their own. For instance, he cites the concepts entailed in the social construction of relationships. The sexual relations as he defines in his illustration are to fulfill the happiness of the people in the relationship. Therefore, to protect this faction, the society introduces the concept of rights against rape, homosexuality, among other stratifications related to this field. Thus, the civilization process leads to establishment of factions that help in regulating and maintaining harmony among the members of the society. Moreover, the rather pragmatic factor of utilitarian argument, civilization promotes factors that seem useless such as beauty, rules of cleanliness among others (Sigmund, 51). Thus, civilization facilitates producing of luxuries and enhances the quality of life. The practice of these civilization constructions results in the development of establishments that foster the individual development of the members of the society. Thus, from this perspective of the practices and associations of civilization process, Freud notes that the process is positive to humanity and the societies. Therefore, from this perspective in his writing, he realizes the factor that civilization improves society. In relation to the negatives of the process of civilization, Freud presents several factors citing the factors that civilization affects the society and its confines. To begin with, he cites that the individuals in the society adopting this procedure of civilization deprive them off several powers for the sake of the group. Thus, he alludes to the practices that the strong find their way while the weak remain marginalized as they concede to the greater and stronger individuals that determine the direction of the civil processes. Secondly, in defining the practices that civilization process brings, it diminishes the liberties and freedoms of the individuals. It is essentially clear that the social institutions that people define to promote and protect the liberties of the people limit the people hence, causing lose of considerable pleasures (Sigmund, 58). Therefore, much as civilization process aims to protect and guard the liberties of the people, they limit the pleasures of the people to another extent. Civilization also brings considerable aspects and beliefs that require individuals to renounce their instincts. According to the theory of Freud, the individuals act in various ways from the establishment that they are egocentric. They seek to satisfy their instincts, a factor that many of the civilization processes cause the individuals to renounce. Renouncing these instincts and beliefs may come to haunt the individuals, thus, civilizing process also affects the people by causing them to lose beliefs held dear. With respect to sexuality, civilization process limits the sexuality of the individuals when they define the forms of sexual expressions permissible to the people. Through the censoring processes, humans face the limitation to exercise monogamy, limiting the sexual expressions and gender specifications (Sigmund, 81). Additionally, the subject of gender stratifications as the society defines continues to remain a subject of concern as civilization dictates. Thus, the factor of civilization, as individuals seek to establish stratifications to facilitate pleasure for the greater group, affects the individual members of the society accordingly. Therefore, with respect to the perceptions of Freud approach to the subject of the civilization process, he states the factor of consideration that society ought to respect the stratifications of society that define the expected code of conduct. Freud arrives at the findings that civilization process at the complete exemplification that it results to sacrifice of a greater degree of the egoistic happiness and succumbing to guilt, constituting the discontent of the society with the processes of civilization. Friedrich Nietzsche: Twilight of the Idols Nietzsche presents a relatively varied view and approach to the understanding of civilization. He holds the belief that the concepts that the society defines as relative to the explanation of the civilization, as “concept dummies”. He views the various explanations as derived from history, the aspects of change and life from the perspectives of philosophers as a deprivation of the natural. As he presents his approach to the discussions presented by various philosophers and the descriptions given to the factors of change and civilization as idols; thus, he terms the philosophers that explain these concepts as ‘idolaters of concepts.’ Nietzsche tries to unmask the philosophical “Egypticism”. The publication Twilight of Gods is a representation of the various ways in which humans and philosophers in particular complicate life by providing an analysis of how everything that humans view as civilization denies life and its forces. He presents several maxims into the perspectives of life and changes there in, regarding the subject of civilization. For Nietzsche, synchronizing of philosophical order in civilization shows that civilization as the society presents performs a series of unnatural operations (Friedrich, 3). Therefore, his embodied description of the civilization as the society presents today is ineptness for life. In view of Nietzsche his approach to the changes that the society considers as factors of civilization, he holds the following maxims with respect to the process of civilization. In his writing, he states that, “we have killed God” implying to his discontent with the processes of civilization as they affect the subject of social constructions and individual lives of the members of the society. He unveils that, as affects the factors and developments incorporating civilization process, it creates an aversion towards respect for being and constancy. This he defines with the way civilization results in factors of conceptualized idols that relate to the subject of civilization (Friedrich, 12). People continue to construct various concepts and things that they hold as idols. Moreover, in defining the impacts of society on the relevance and development of the social civilization processes, he presents the view that civilization results in rejection of history and en its place, they worship eternity. Therefore, viewing the discourse as he presents in this publication of Twilight of Gods, Nietzsche argues that civilization only seeks to change the history as it should be, and replace it with the belief that there is eternity as reflects in development of humanity (Friedrich, 21). He argues that the society is quick to institute conceptualizations that reflect to the continual revelation of humanity as existing for eternity. In reflecting to on the discussion further, he presents the belief that civilization results in the factor of deception of the society. Civilization presents the construction of several beliefs and practices that do not present a neutral perspective with respect to benefiting the society (Friedrich, 34). Therefore, from this constriction, it is notable that society relegates the aspect of appearance to deception. Deception is a factor that the society presents in the various constructions that it defines as civilization, reducing the reality of appearance of the natural factors into a deceptive extolment of substances (Friedrich, 42). Additionally, in elaborating, the subject of civilization, it affects the factors of the senses of the body and lead to recognition of reason. Civilization imparts reasoning into the constructions of the society, reflecting negatively on the features of society. Therefore, from the perspective Nietzsche argues that the civilization process is essentially resulting in creation of concepts and stratifications that philosophers and the society observe and worship as idols, yet they affect the development of the individuals negatively. Jen-Jacques Rousseau: The Social Contract or the Principles of Political Right As Rousseau starts his revolutionarily controversial discussion into the subject of life and the societal constructions as they appear today, he makes a rather interesting opening statement. The famously and profoundly states that “man is born free but everywhere he is in chains”; thus, he views the various constructions placed on the society by the aspects considered as civilization as chains that confine the freedoms of man. In his approach to the discussion about the social constructions of civilization in the publication the social contract or the principles of right, he pursues to establish the factors of the legitimacy of political authority. He is keen to exploit the factors that whether a state can exist while upholding the various aspects of liberty and total freedom. In his literal approach to the discussion, Rousseau rejects the idea that the society in its endeavor to facilitate the processes of civilization, can exist with a legitimate political authority that upholds the natural existence of life without placing constrains in life and the expected code of conduct. He describes that the only authority that exists legitimately is that of a father and child as the father protects the child (Rousseau, 34). However, political thinkers seem to have a varied perspective of the factor of authority as they establish confining restrictions to society. The factor of superiority emanates from the perpetuation of force rather than from nature; thus, political authority does not derive its basis from nature, but rather from force. The legitimacy of authority bases on the factors of force. The maxim that “might make right” implies clearly that it is for the weak and obedient to obey the strong. Thus, according to this maxim, it is clear that might which is essentially force determines what is right and what people should obey without giving then an alternative to express their will. Thus, the factors of political struggles and the considerations that society gives by holding elections and those taking authority by dictatorial approach are essentially the same, as those with the might take authority (Rousseau, 54). Rousseau holds that under any circumstances, the social construction of the unit of political authority that the people consider, as civilization is essentially nothing of freedom but rather a way of controlling the weak through might. Thus, as he puts it, Rousseau argues in his publication that political right, as the factors of civilization perceive is a “social contract” forged among the members of the society to foster the rules of tyranny and constrain liberties of the people. Thus, his statement that the man leaves in chains is evident from this explanation. Further, as Rousseau advances his course, he is quick to state that civil peace as the society defines it is of little if any value when the king of the people makes them go to war. Further, it is clear that the symbols of authority, such as this king, take the entire goods of the society for his personal consumption. Therefore, from this perspective, he defines that only someone with a weak state of mind would give up his freedom for nothing (Rousseau, 64). Additionally, covenants made by a lunatic is void; therefore, the covenants as the society makes, defining their collaborations and associations as social contracts to facilitate civilization are null since they do not justify the cause for a person to surrender his or her freedom. In view of these developments in the political contexts of civilization, he holds that it is impossible for a person to have a fair exchange for their surrender of their freedoms. For instance, where people surrender their freedom to the ruler, this is abuse of their freedom rather than installation of morals and significance in the actions of the society. Thus, he concludes this argument by stating that giving up such freedoms is equal to giving up the humanity and morality of the people. The concept of nature is remarkably significant in the philosophical approach of Rousseau. He presents his arguments enlightening on his opposing position to the belief that reason and progress that steadily engulf humankind and its exclusivity. In his publication, he seeks to establish that humanity is better off within its state of nature. He presents a sharp contrast between the ideologies of nature and civil society. In his perception of the civil society, he argues that, the people living in a state of nature congregate and agree on various constrains that seek to benefit them. He suggests that people consent to the governing and absolute guidelines from the factor that they seek regulation and added advantages of convening to the social norms as created by this society (Rousseau, 97). Thus, he presents that there is not complete and actively involving theoretical development in civilization can meet the expected freedoms of the people in the society to their satisfaction. He accordingly calls that the development of these social stratifications emanates from coercion and other related discourses in the society making the people agree on these constrains to their activities. However, he is also liberal to note the possibility that these social constructions of civilization aim at benefiting those that conform to its declarations and expectations. However, there is no equality in these civil constructions, leading to his initial position that civilization process deprives man of his freedoms and puts him in a state of chained life. Conclusion In discussing the subject of the civilizing process and its impact to the individual members of the society experiencing the changing processes, the three writers, Rousseau, Nietzsche, and Freud present the following standpoint. The controversial stratifications that people consider as civilization for the greater good of the society as a group are contracts to sabotage the liberties and freedoms of the individuals. The civilizations, as they seek to unite and create a focal reference point for the society, they in effect create decentralization of the individual pleasures and satisfactions. Thus, the three authors, Rousseau, Nietzsche, and Freud, assess the civilization process from point that it is negative to the individual liberties. Works cited Friedrich Nietzsche - Twilight of the Idols, Translated by Walter Kaufmann and R.J. Hollingdale Jean-Jacques Rousseau., The Social Contract or the Principles Of, Political Right, Citizen of Geneva Sigmund Freud, Civilization and Its Discontents New York: W.W. Norton & Co., Inc., 1961. ISBN # 0-393-30158. Translated from the German by James Stranchey. 92 pages. Read More