Sigmund Freud's Theory Of The Mind Essay

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Sigmund Freud was a physiologist, medical doctor, psychologist and influential thinker of the early twentieth century. He was commonly referred to as the father of psychoanalysis. He studied the mind and believed it to be a complex energy structure. Through his studies and treatments, he believed that "with psychoanalysis he had invented a successful science of the mind, remains the subject of much critical debate and controversy" (Thornton). "Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, explained the human mind as like an iceberg, with only a small amount of it being visible, that is our observable behavior, but it is the unconscious, submerged mind that has the most, underlying influence on our behavior. Freud used three main methods of accessing …show more content…

Working with Breuer, Freud formulated and developed the idea that many neuroses (phobias, hysterical paralysis and …show more content…

While he believes there's an indefinite number of these instincts, he narrowed it down to the basics. First, these basic instincts are split into two categories: Eros, the life instinct, and Thanatos, the death instinct. ""Id, ego, and superego (what Freud called “the psychic apparatus”). These are not physical areas within the brain, but rather hypothetical conceptualizations of important mental functions. Freud assumed the id operated at an unconscious level according to the pleasure principle (gratification from satisfying basic instincts). The id comprises two kinds of biological instincts (or drives) which Freud called Eros and Thanatos" (McLeod). Eros covers all self-preserving and erotic instincts while Thanatos covers all aggressive, self-destructive, and cruel instincts (Thornton). However, Freud believed that Eros is stronger than Thanatos and that's why people are able to survive rather than self-destruct.

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