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8/14/2019 What, In Your Opinion, Has Been Freuds
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What, in your opinion, has been Freuds most far-
reaching or significant contribution to the theory of
psychoanalysis?
Module: Metapsychology, PS387
Lecturer: Dr. S. J. Costello
Student: Alan Cummins, 1165236
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PS387 Metapsychology Dr. S.J. Costello, Alan Cummins 1165236 Page 2 of 9
The theory of the ego, id and superego is Freuds most far reaching and significant
contribution to the theory of psychoanalysis. This essay will discuss why this second
structural theory of the mind has been chosen over and above Freuds first structural theory
of the unconscious, preconscious and conscious. Freuds other metapsychological concepts of
repression, life and death drives, pleasure and reality principles, mourning and melancholia,
narcissism and instincts or drives will be discussed in relation to how the ego, id and
superego all play an intertwined part in mental functioning and therefore must be considered
as vital to the understanding of psychoanalysis.
In choosing the ego, id and superego we must make reference to the topology of the
unconscious, preconscious and consciousness that preceded it. This first theory was discussed
in (Freud, 1912, 1915a) and gives a description of how a psychical act goes through several
phases before coming into full consciousness. Censorship is applied to a representation or
idea as it firstly passes from the unconscious to consciousness and then secondly from a
holding ground of preconsciousness to consciousness. This lays the groundwork for his future
conception of the ego, id and superego but it is insufficient on its own to describe how the
mental apparatus functions and therefore cannot be seen as Freuds most far reaching
contribution. It should be noted that these two models of the mind are not mutually exclusive
and each intermingle. One does not replace the other, the second model extends the first and
adds to formulate a more complete model of the mind.
In the Ego and the Id (Freud, 1923) we are reminded that psychoanalysis is based on
the premise that there is a conscious and an unconscious, that there are ideas that remain in a
latent state unconsciously but are ready to be brought forward or those that have been
repressed and require the work of psychoanalysis to remove these resistances. This interplay
between states of consciousness and unconsciousness are described by examining the
topological, dynamic and economic relationship between ego, id and superego. For Freud
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there is a coherent organisation of mental processes; and we call this his ego. It is to this
ego that consciousness is attached; the ego controls the approaches to motility it is the
mental agency which supervises all its own constituent processes. He expands this further to
note that the ego has parts also in the unconscious something in the ego itself which is also
unconscious, which behaves exactly like the repressed.. The ego is connected with the
organs of perception, linked to the external world via stimuli impinging on the senses.
Beneath this external surface, but not wholly separated from it rests the internal, the id which
is unconscious. The ego represents what may be called reason and common sense, in
contrast to the id, which contains the passions. The id contains the passions, instincts, all
that we inherit from birth, those things innate in us. The repressed is cut off from the ego and
can be communicated via the id, allowing the unconscious to be brought forth to the ego.
the ego is in the habit of transforming the ids will into action as if it were its own. The
superego is the character of the father the outcome of two highly important factors the
lengthy duration in man of his childhood helplessness and dependence, and the fact of his
Oedipus complex.. giving permanent expression to the influence of the parents it perpetuates
the existence of the factors to which it owes its origin.. The superego is the ego ideal, the
representation of what one ought to do, a conscience and answers to everything that is
expected of the higher nature of man Religion, morality and a social sense. It is an
internalisation of parental prohibitions, prescriptions and ethical ideals, built up with
unconscious identification with significant others, societal norms, conventions and customs.
There are two sub-facets to the superego, namely the ego-ideal, a positive encouraging force
and the ideal-ego as a narcissistic sado-masochistic negative force of punishment. The Ego as
a whole is the process of the ego trying to reconcile the demands of the id with the superego
and the tensions and conflicts around these forms the basis upon which personality is formed.
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Morality is defined in terms of id as amoral, ego striving to be moral and the superego as
super-moral.
The second theory of the mind bears important relation to the concept of the pleasure
and reality principle and later to the concept of the life and death drive as put forth by Freud.
He originally hypothesised that unconscious mental processes strive towards gaining
pleasure; psychical activity draws back from any event which might arouse unpleasure.
(Freud, 1911), forming the pleasure principle. Reality and the external presented in the mind
no longer what was agreeable but what was real, even if it happened to be disagreeable and
formed the Reality principle. These work with and against each other via the process of
repression to exclude those things that produced unpleasure and held with the reality of a
situation. This relates to the second topology in terms of the relation of the pleasure-ego
which can nothing but wish, work for a yield of pleasure, and avoid unpleasure and the
reality-ego need do nothing but strive for what is useful and guard itself against damage .
The pleasure principle (as id) as unconsciousness and the reality principle (as ego) as
consciousness gave early indication of the importance of the ego, id and superego in mental
life and by understanding why people engage in phantasy, day-dreaming, the content of
dreams, the primary motivations for psychical acts and the means and wherefore of
repression the work of psychoanalysis could begin. Taking this work further Freud, 1920
further illustrates that under the influence of the egos instincts of self-preservation, the
pleasure principle is replaced by the reality principle and that the ego perceives pleasure and
unpleasure. The resistance put up in a person is done so by the ego and it operates under the
sway of the pleasure principle. Freud states that the essential subject of psycho-analytical
study are the result of a conflict between the ego and libidinal cathexis of objects. The
concept of pleasure and unpleasure was taken a step further to relate to the death drive or
destructive instinct as opposed to the life drive or Eros. However the life and death drive exist
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not in one of ego, id and superego but exist and have effect everywhere. In attempting to
relate the life and death drives, Freud mentions the earlier concept of ego and object instincts
(1915a). Ego instincts are related to self-preservation in a defensive conflict and are in
opposition to sexuality, with the ego as a repressing, defensive agency. The life and death
drives relate to love and hate and the starting point of stimuli internally or externally from the
ego is of important consideration and only once the component instincts have been
synthesised within the total ego can love be a consideration.
Carrying on the discussion of (1915a), Freud talks of the rejection based on
judgement (condemnation) with repression a preliminary stage of condemnation with this
being one of the vicissitudes of instincts. Repression is a cornerstone of psychoanalysis but
repression is not a defensive mechanism which is not present from the very beginning, and
that it cannot arise until a sharp cleavage has occurred between conscious and unconscious
mental activity that the essence of repression lies simply in turning away, and keeping at a
distance, from the conscious. Repression and the unconscious are correlated and the
superego acts as the repressing agency. Repression creates substitute satisfactions and
formations in the psyche, it tries to move away from unpleasure but in doing so leaves behind
symptoms or if an instinct is not sufficiently repressed brings about anxiety. It is via the
return of the repressed that the psychoanalyst works.
Narcissism is defined by Freud as libido that has been withdrawn from the external
world [and] and has been directed to the ego.(1914) He describes being in love as an
impoverishment of the ego with parental love being a search for immortal ego achieved by
taking refuge in the child parents narcissism born again. Narcissism relates to repression
and the formation of an ego-ideal with the formation of an ideal a conditioning factor of
repression subjects narcissism displaced on to this new ideal ego seeks to recover it .
The narcissistic structure of ones self, in terms of ego, id and superego and the relationship
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to others, to object choice, and childhood formation of sexuality constitute human relations
for adult-life. The formation of an ideal in the superego heightens the demands on the ego
and this in turns favours repression or the use of sublimation to avoid repression. Freud sees
conscience as a special psychical agency which performs the task of seeing that narcissistic
satisfaction from the ego ideal is ensured. This formation of an ideal ego is under the
influence of internalisation of parental rules, hopes and aspirations which falls under the
narcissistic tendencies of the parents. The development of the ego consists in a departure
from primary narcissism and gives rise to vigorous attempt to recover that state by means
of the displacement of libido on to an ego ideal imposed from without; and satisfaction is
brought about from fulfilling this ideal. Analysis aims to work with such narcissistic egos
and deconstruct it to discover the underlying full-speech of the patient. Freud also points to
the fact that the conception of an ego ideal opens avenues into the discussion of group
psychology, families, class and nations.
Mourning and Melancholia (1917) gives illustration of the relationship between ego,
id and superego. Inhibition and circumscription of the ego is the expression of an exclusive
devotion to mourning and when the work of mourning is completed the ego becomes free
and uninhibited again. Melancholia displays a larger scale diminution in self-regard where
the patient regards themselves (egos) as worthless. The ego is a reflection of object-loss...
transformed into ego-loss... the shadow of the object. Suicide is explained via the second
theory of the mind. Freud states that the strength of self-love which is wrapped up in our
narcissistic egos is difficult to perceive as self-destructive but that the ego can kill itself
only if it is able to direct itself against the hostility which relates to the objects in the
external world. The ego is overwhelmed both in love and in suicide. Mania comes about by
the ego overcoming the loss of an object and taking that bound energy and rebinding to a new
object.
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The proceeding paragraphs have given brief discussion of how the second theory of
the mind, ego, id and superego are wrapped up in the mental functioning of man. Love, death,
drives, instincts, religion, suicide, mourning, depression, group psychology, conscience,
consciousness and unconsciousness are all indelibly interlinked and described by the
functioning of the ego. For this reason the ego, id and superego have been chosen as the most
far-reaching contribution made by Freud. The model could not have come into existence with
the precursor of the consciousness, preconsciousness and unconsciousness and repression but
it incorporates all his metapsychological works into an over-arching, if incomplete, theory.
Briefly it is important to give some note to the benefactors of the theory of ego, id and
superego. This will illustrate the means by which Freuds work has had a major contributing
factor. Loosely grouped as ego psychologists those such as Hartmann, Spitz, Mahler, and
Jacobson have progressed Freuds initial conception and importance of the ego and expanded
on it. Heinz Hartmann, building on the work of Freuds ego theory and the work of Anna
Freuds defence theory gave rise to a widening of psychoanalytic theory to general human
development through investigating not only conflictual but adaptive aspects of psychic
functioning and the relationship to the environment. Spitz, Mahler, and Jacobson studied
infant behavior and their research described and explained early attachment issues, successful
and faulty ego development, and psychological development through interpersonal
interactions. There have equally been many criticisms of the theory of the ego from both
philosophical and psychoanalytic backgrounds. Lacan sees ego not in terms of dualism but as
a tripartite of Real, Imaginary and the Other. Sartre denies Freuds conception of
consciousness and unconsciousness as a dualistic ego, id and superego and stated
Consciousness absolutely can not derive from anything, either from another being, or from a
possibility, or from a necessary law. Uncreated, without reason for being, without any
connection with another being, being-in-itself is de trop for eternity (Sartre, 1943).
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Essentially he denies consciousness as being a conception but rather an activity and
completely denies personality as being under the control of unconscious processes such as the
id and superego. Descartes sees man as a thinking being, consciousness and by association,
the internal censor of superego and id as falsifications. In summary the model of the ego
functions to carry out reality testing, impulse control, regulate affect, judgement, relation to
objects, enact a defensive mechanism, provide an overall synthesis to personality and the
treatment of symptoms by means of psychoanalytic theory. It has had significant and far-
reaching contributions both to psychoanalysis and more generally psychology.
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References
Freud, S. (1911). Formulations On The Two Principles of Mental Functioning
Freud, S. (1912). A Note On The Unconscious In Psychoanalysis
Freud, S. (1914). On Narcissism: An Introduction
Freud, S. (1915a). Instincts and Their Vicissitudes
Freud, S. (1915b). The Unconscious
Freud, S. (1915c). Repression
Freud, S. (1917). Mourning and Melancholia
Freud, S. (1923). The Ego and The Id
Freud, S. (1920). Beyond The Pleasure Principle
Sartre, J.P. (1943). Being and Nothingness.