This is Sarah. Freud's essay Civilization and Its Discontents describes the conflicting relationship between sexual needs and society's mores and expectations. Freud's conclusions basically revolve around the idea that you're damned if you and you're damned if you don't. He stated that inner peace can only be attained by controlling aggression. However, these destructive forces are present in every person, so controlling them would result in repression. By repressing aggression, one would not act as they truly desire.
Freud then continues to describe his utopian society, in which all people rise above the care of others and act of their instincts. While this idea is very progressive, it is completely unrealistic. Our society trains us to care about other people's opinions and act based on "norms". Freud also conveys the idea that morality is not instilled by society, but by the self. He believes that morality stems from inner guilt one feels towards a particular thing.
I found this reading to be very interesting, but challenging. Freud's ideas and points are commendable and his ideas regarding regression seem to define our society today very well.
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