Great Works of the Western Tradition

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Comparison of Freud 's and Plato 's Aspects of Human Character

Introduction

Aspects of human character have been discussed in a number of fields inputs from the philosophical and political perspectives can be identified by how human character is in place with respect to the society whereas concepts from the psychological field can be observed to focus more on the individual and its relationship with his environment Such is demonstrated by Plato in his The Republic which can be seen to potentially contrast with

Sigmund Freud in his discourse in Civilization and its Discontents . Plato had apparently came up with literature describing a functional society according to certain controls needed in to establish a civilization according to certain ideologies such as justice , authority , and the ideal state , among others . Freud , on one hand , tackled a world that is already in existence and presented an analysis on life and reality

From this , when it comes to their respective discussions on the human character , Plato 's The Republic presented how human character should be while Freud discussed what human character is through instinctual drives . Plato 's prescription for the Guardians , the social class tasked to rule the society , mentioned that their education should emphasize their love for wisdom ' and high spirits . This characterization can be therefore compared with Freud 's discussion on Eros and Death the comparison can thereby give way in identifying whether their references for the twin aspects of human character were the same or...