Freud's theory subverted tradition and crushed the ethics and morality of human society for thousands of years.
After the publication of "The Interpretation of Dreams", the total sales volume in eight years was only 600 copies. You can imagine how difficult it was to promote it. After the publication of "Three Essays on Sexuality", European society even regarded Freud as full of lustful evil.
The medical establishment even united to boycott him, causing Freud to become the most unpopular person in academia.
It was not until Freud was almost 60 years old that he finally received an invitation from Clark University in the United States to hold a series of lectures in the United States. As a result, his own theories were recognized by mainstream American society.
Freud was very excited at the time. After decades of hard work, he finally got through.
But that's all. The recognition of the United States does not mean the recognition of Europe. Because the United States is a barbaric land of science and art, and third-rate European scholars were treated as honored guests in the past. Freud is still a crooked person in Europe.
It was not until the end of World War I that the psychological trauma caused by the war promoted the prosperity and progress of European psychological research, and Freud finally became a wife.
Why was Freud's academic career so bumpy?
It's very simple. Few people can face their own desires, and they are even less willing to admit their "dirty" side.
The same is true for Zhou Hexuan. He doesn't want to be psychoanalyzed. It would be like being naked in front of others, and all privacy will be exposed. He said with a smile: "When I develop mental illness, I will ask you for psychoanalysis."
Freud said: "Zhou, you have a very wrong idea. Psychoanalysis does not necessarily require mental illness. It can still be performed when you are healthy. It can adjust people's thoughts and emotional states. It is like seeing a dentist regularly.
, this is the maintenance of health. I insist on doing psychoanalysis for myself every day, so my spirit has always been very healthy. Even though I have suffered from oral cancer for nearly ten years and experienced many painful surgeries, I can
Treat cancer with a normal attitude."
"Sorry, I still don't want my spirit to be studied." Zhou Hexuan declined politely.
Einstein interjected: "I firmly support Zhou. People can regulate themselves and do not necessarily need help from psychologists."
Freud shrugged: "Okay, I give up."
Zhou Hexuan smiled and said: "Let's talk about other things, such as history or religion."
Hearing this, Freud said happily: "Have you seen my research works in recent years?"
Zhou Hexuan said: "I have a little understanding."
Freud is almost 80 years old, but his psychological research has never stopped. In these years, the research object has shifted from individuals to religion, society, culture and history. For example, "An Illusion of the Future" is from
When discussing religion from a psychological perspective, it is believed that religion is an illusion and a stage of obsessive neurosis that humans must get rid of. Another example is "Civilization and Its Discontents", which mainly explains the connection and opposition between civilization and instinct.
Freud said: "Zhou, I have read your and Toynbee's "Historical Research" series of papers. You analyzed and elaborated on human civilization from a philosophical perspective. And I tried to study it from a psychological perspective. Civilization serves
The process of love, the goal of love is to combine human individuals, families, races, nations and countries into a large unity, a human unity. This is the true face of human beings. It originates from the instinct of survival, human beings
The instinct of life drives the formation of civilization and society.”
Romain Rolland said: "I very much agree with this view. Human desires promote the development of society and civilization, but sometimes desires can also bring destruction and regression."
"Such as war," Einstein said.
Freud said: "War also originates from instinct. Human beings have two major instincts, one is the survival instinct and the other is the death instinct. The death instinct gives humans offensiveness and destructiveness. The progress of civilization is a kind of struggle and love.
The struggle between God and Death is also the struggle between the survival instinct and the death instinct.”
Zhou Hexuan frowned and said: "But I feel that the previous colonial wars, the European War 20 years ago, and the current Japanese invasion of China are all one group plundering another group. This kind of plundering is a competition for profit space, and it is also a survival instinct.
It's driven and has nothing to do with the death instinct."
"No, no, no," Freud shook his head repeatedly. "There are two types of manifestations of the death instinct, internal and external. Internally, it manifests as negativity, self-exile, self-punishment, self-abuse and even suicide, while externally, it manifests as destruction and attack.
War can be regarded as the ultimate manifestation of the outward development of the death instinct. Although it also contains factors of survival instinct, no matter how many rationalistic motives there are, the desire for destruction occupies the largest weight."
Zhou Hexuan asked: "What if a patriot, in order to defend the country, protect culture, protect family and relatives, spontaneously goes to the battlefield? Is his behavior also driven by the death instinct?"
"The situation you are talking about is very complicated," Freud said. "Before a patriot sets foot on the battlefield, his motivation stems from the instinct of love, that is, the survival instinct. This is an act to curb war. But when
After he sets foot on the battlefield, all the instincts of love will be ignored and become dominated by the death instinct. When you look at this problem, you should not have moral concepts of good and evil, but look at it from a purely academic perspective. Instinct is
Instinct is the most primitive desire of human beings, and it should not be divided into good and evil. However, the impact of the love instinct is mainly positive, while the impact of the death instinct is mainly negative."
Romain Rolland asked: "If we analyze it from a psychological perspective, how can we stop and avoid war?"
"Reason and morality," Freud said, "human beings and animals have instincts, and in addition to instincts, people also have self- and super-ego consciousness. Self-awareness is acquired, and it brings rationality to people.
People know how to seek good fortune and avoid danger. And superego consciousness allows people to have ethics and morals. For example, the patriots mentioned by Zhou are a kind of superego that leads actions. If you want to avoid and end wars, you need to use reason to understand
The horror of war requires the use of morality to suppress the desire for destruction brought by the death instinct. The most preferable way is to use reason and morality to formulate a set of rules for all countries and humans to abide by, and not dare to break such rules easily.
Wage war."
Zhou Hexuan felt that it made sense and was speechless.
Freud added: "In fact, it is not only war, but also human civilization. Society is full of people's irrationality. Everyone is born in an irrational society, and is slowly restrained and transformed, and is influenced by ethics, morality,
Bound by customs. People influence society, and society affects people, which forms a vicious cycle. Only a few strong-willed people can escape and have a positive impact on society. Human beings' natural offensive instinct leads to individuals opposing the whole, or
The hostility of the whole against the individual. More or less, everyone will have the idea of destroying the world, and after being restrained by morality and ethics, this idea of destroying the world will turn internally into negative self-destruction. This offensive instinct is death
The derivative and main representative of instinct, it coexists with the instinct of love and enjoys the right to rule the world together. The forward-developing social civilization is the positive influence brought by the instinct of love and good moral ethics;
The regressing and declining social civilization is the negative impact brought by the death instinct and bad moral ethics. Whether it is people, civilization, society and the country, they all need to maintain a delicate balance between the love instinct and the death instinct.
.”
"I understand that the way to cultivate one's morality and govern a country is to learn to use this balance." Zhou Hexuan had an enlightenment and felt that he had benefited a lot.