FREUD AND CULTURE
119
interaction of biology and culture in the fate of man." Hyman's recent
article in PR, which must be applauded as a brilliant tribute to the
centennial celebrations, proceeded from the same premise to develop the
thesis that "the writings of Sigmund Freud once again make a tragic
view possible for the modern mind." Herbert Marcuse's book,
Eros and
Civilization,
1
is perhaps the most exhaustive and penetrating study yet
undertaken of the tragic "dialectic of civil ization."
Culture, acc.ording to Freud, is a product of three independent
variables: (1) necessity
(Ananke)
imposed by nature; (2) the in–
stinctual polarity in man: love and death (Eros and Thanatos) ul–
timately fused in the "seething cauldron" of the id; and (3) the insti–
tutions and ideals developed by society. The "dialectic of civilization"
is a function of the interaction of these three variables. Culture-like
the individual ego--is a precarious, unstable compound because the
process of synthesizing and reconciling these three componen ts is never
complete, final and successful.
If,
as Geza R6heim has said, in
The
Origin and Fun ctwn of Culture,
"civilization is a series of institutions
evolved for the sake of security," then this security system is constantly
threatened by explosive and destructive tendencies in the three partners.
Nature imposes harsh necessities which may never be completely
mastered. The instincts may break out in open or subversive revolt
against the repressions imposed by society. And the ideological super–
structure may crush man because it is unbearable and unworkable.
More specifically, Freud envisaged the dialectical struggle as "a
battle between the Titans" Eros and Thanatos, or as a result of the
insoluble quest to press these two "heavenly forces" into service on be–
half of a satisfactory and lasting social adaptation against the back–
ground of a neutral or hostile environment. This quest is never-ending;
for Eros is reluctant to complete the cultural task which it has begun
in the family, and Thanatos always threatens to destroy the cultural
achievements wrested from a reluctant Eros. Worse: in the process of
acculturation,
Ero~
loses ground against the forces of destruction. For
culture must transform both instincts; it must domesticate them (by
displacement and
~ublimation)
to achieve both a greater mastery over
nature and a more secure gratification of the instincts in interpersonal
relations. Unfortunately, it can accomplish this task only at a price; and
the price we pay for the cultural achievements accounts for the feeling
of "discontent" running through the history of civilization. In Freud's
own words
(Civilization and Its Discontents)
:
"The price of progress
in civilization is paid in forfeiting happiness through the heightening of
a sense of guilt."
1 Beacon Press. $3.00.
