In his Civilizations and Its Discontents, Freud argues that organized society is
founded upon and thus dependent on the repression of what he deems our
“instinctual life.” In other words, civilization is a social contract, i.e., a
sublimated compromise whereby we exchange the demands of the body for social
norms cultural ideals. Do agree or disagree with his diagnosis? Is he making a
hasty generalization, or does his analysis provide persuasive evidence that
civilized life leads inevitably to neuroses? Why or why not?
