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Chapter 2: Problem 15

A terrorist blows up a building in a hated foreign country. How might Freud use the concepts of id, ego, and superego to explain this behavior?

Short Answer

Expert verified
Freud might say that the terrorist's actions are a result of the id's aggressive instincts, with an overpowered ego that failed to mediate rational behavior. The superego, influenced by perhaps skewed morals or beliefs, justified these actions as right or necessary.

Step by step solution

01

Understand the concepts of id, ego, and superego

In Freud's psychoanalytic theory, the id represents the primitive and instinctual part of the mind that contains sexual and aggressive drives. The ego is the realistic part that mediates between the desires of the id and the super-ego, and the superego is the moral conscience, which tells us what's right and wrong.
02

Apply the concepts to the Terrorist's Actions

In the case of the terrorist, the aggressive action of blowing up a building suggests that the id is at play here, with its primitive drive for aggression. The ego, which normally would mediate such actions, might be overpowered by the id in this case or it might side with the id rationalizing that the action serves a greater purpose (for instance, protecting his in-group or ideology). The superego, on the other hand, might be influenced by skewed morals or beliefs that justify these hostile actions as right or necessary.
03

Conclude

In the explained scenario, the terrorist's actions can be seen as a result of an unbalanced interplay between the id, ego, and superego, where the primal aggression of the id and the perhaps distorted guidelines of the superego overpower the ego's attempts to mediate for a more rational realistic outcome.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

Give an example of a parapraxis from your own life, and suggest how Freud might interpret it. How would you interpret it?

Give an example from your own life of an undesirable id impulse overcoming the ego's restrictions and defenses.

(a) Did Freud regard at least some of his ideas and constructs as truths that deserved to remain unchallenged for a long time? (b) What is the difference between a construct and a fact? (c) Given this difference, is it likely that Freud's constructs would be as enduring as he hoped?

Freud suffered from some of the same neurotic symptoms that he treated in his patients. Would a person who is psychologically healthy have Freud's intense desire to probe deeply within his or her own psyche?

By today's standards, Freud's views of women were clearly biased. To what extent (if any) should criticism of Freud take into account the era in which he lived?
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