Freud and Nietzsche

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that both Freud and Nietzsche wrote at length about what it is that keeps people from achieving happiness and fulfillment. The author points out that, by rejecting the claims and holds of religion upon truth and its value in elevating the human condition, Freud and Nietzsche were revolutionaries. The paper suggests that, while both take similar approaches and appear to be judging the world from an objective standpoint, they both, especially Freud, clearly fall into their own subjective traps in delimiting the nature of the self, its habits, its inadequacies and its reason for being.

From the Paper:

"Clearly, for Nietzsche, it is this desire to impose order upon the world that is the basic human drive, that which distinguishes people from animals, and is a basic need that all people share--which tells us why language exists, and science, and the law. This ability to impose an ordering on the world is what makes us human, the fundamental drive that creates order allows us to maintain that order and to be social beings. Perhaps it is the social aspect which is the real, underlying drive and which creates our need to believe that the world which surrounds us is classifiable, quantifiable and static."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Arntz, William & Chasse, Betsy (Directors). (2004). What the Bleep Do We Know [Motion picture]. United States: Lord of the Wind
• Heriot, Drew. (Director). (2006). The Secret ([Motion picture]. United States: Prime Time Productions.
• Freud, S. (1930) Civilization and Its Discontents. New York, NY: Penguin Books.
• Nietzsche, F. (1873) Nietzsche Selections. New York, NY: Macmillan Publishing Company.

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