Free Will And Freud Essay, Research Paper

People are not free and do not have freewill due to unseen forces within the

human mind and areas of the unconscious not aware to us. There are arguments

that go against the principle of freewill in reference to the unconscious. Many

people who have done studies in this area conclude that the unconscious can be

seen or measured, so it is able to exist. According to Sigmund Freud, the

unconscious does exist and the areas of the human mind control and affect our

behavior. Freud also states because of these forces, freewill is prevented.

Freud proposes three aspects of our personality that prevent freewill. They are

the ID, Ego, and the Super Ego. Many People feel they are free and posses

freewill. They do not feel that because of some mechanism in their mind is the

basis for their behavior and actions. They feel that they have the ability to

size up a situation, think about their options, and choose how they will act.

What we do then, is the result of our own deliberate free choice. There are

unseen forces that prevent freewill. These unseen forces along with other

factors prevent us from acting freely. There are two popular elements, the

conscious and the unconscious. The conscious represents things we are aware of,

and the unconscious represents what we are not aware of. When we are conscious

we are aware from moment to moment in our ordinary everyday experiences. For

example, when at work I am aware of everyone and everything in my environment,

phones, fax machine, co-workers, and computers. I will know who is at work and

who is not, I know who has pictures of their children on their desk and who does

not. The conscious element simply allows me to see, feel, and actively be aware.

The unconscious is a powerful element which affects and drives memories and

motives. The unconscious represents an area that is much deeper that the surface

of our mind. An obvious example of the unconscious is our dreams. The

unconscious says things about our lives through pictures and symbols. This

element if recognized will prevent freewill from occurring and can directly

affect our behavior. Thus, the uncurious is a powerful force that affects almost

everything we do. Sigmund Freud proposes three aspects of our personality

structure that directly effects our decisions. The elements that Sigmund Freud

talks about are the Id, Ego, and Super Ego. These three elements play an

important role in our decisions and support the view of not having freewill. The

Id is the source of our basic drives and all of our psychological energy.

Sigmund Freud also states that we all are born with this element. The Id is also

refereed to the pleasure principle, also represents self-gratification. The Id

has two basic drives, sex, and aggression. The Id is the part of us that is

seeking pleasure through the immediate satisfaction of its needs. For example,

if my professor goes into the teacher?s lounge while having a craving for

sweets and there is a plate of brownies on the table, instead of asking if he

can have one, he just takes some without asking. This would be the working

without the benefit of the ego or super ego. In reference to the Id, it is

always trying to satisfy every impulse whenever and wherever, it knows no

limits. The second element of our personality is the ego; Freud relates this as

the reality principle. The ego is the practical side of our personality; it is

aware of what?s possible and impossible and is able to accept limits and to

act in a practical way. The ego?s main purpose is to figure out appropriate

ways to satisfy the id?s desire. In a since the ego is like congress and the

id is like the president. The president can not take major actions without the

approval of congress. In the case with the professor taking the brownies it

would be the ego saying ?stop? and ask if these brownies are for everyone,

maybe I should ask for permission first. In short the id supplies the power and

the ego supplies the control. The reaction of the two act as a driving force in

which our decisions are made, thus eliminating freewill.