Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Universal love

After reading the chapters in Freud's Civilization and its Discontents I found it interesting to see how he talks about the two different ways to pursue happiness, either by obtaining pleasure or by avoiding unpleasure. One of the primary ways that we receive happiness is through social relations with one another. The only way to participate in a community is to establish a civilization. However, we also have the problem of trying to avoid unpleasure or suffering which is what happens when we attach ourselves to another person and then lose the person. Freud's solution to this is that a few people have the ability to love/admire a multitude of people so that we don't become attached. Are we truly capable of having a universal love/friendship with others? Freud suggests that we simply do not like everyone, so trying to love a multitude isn't possible. If so, why have many religions advocated for this universal love?

1 comment:

  1. I think that Freud would say that religions advocate universal love because of inner happiness. He states on pages 81-82 that this universal love is "the highest standpoint that man can reach," thus implying that universal love is true happiness and is ideally (or according to religion) something to strive for in order to achieve that "highest standpoint."

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