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Comparing Nietzsche And Freud's Theories On Guilt

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, and power. In the second stage of Guilt’s development both Nietzsche and Freud’s theories have a process of internalization. This process is necessary for both, in moving from the foundations and precursors to guilt, to the actual existence of guilt in humans. In Nietzsche's view on Guilt, civilization becomes the “creditor” and the individual becomes the “debtor”. In the most basic community one would enjoy the benefits of civilization, while also being protected from the “man outside, the man without peace”(“Genealogy”, P47).This part of Nietzsche’s evolution does overlap with Freud’s use of a child who desires to be protected from threats. As the community grows, punishments become less harsh and the general public cannot “vent their …show more content…

The inability to express their aggressiveness is what leads the citizens in a civilization to turn their instincts inward. The suffering imposed on himself is what forms the basis for bad conscience and guilt. For Freud’s first theory, the external authority of a parent is internalized and the child will now feel bad for even thinking a bad thought. The regret a child felt after doing something bad and receiving punishment, found the form of guilt when the child started to feel worse as a person for their action, which then continued as the superego within themselves. Freud’s second theory revolve more around aggressive instincts that cannot be expressed, and this theory very closely resembles Nietzsche's theory for the origin of guilt, so I have given it less attention. A child under the confines of parents cannot express their aggressive nature, and so that cruelty turns inwards and assaults it’s host through the superego. Both Nietzsche and Freud’s thoughts on guilt still revolve around a power relationship and internalization of punishment caused by man's inferiority to a community, parents or another controlling force. By going through the development of guilt, Freud and Nietzsche make it clear that guilt is a consequence of restraint from a superior force against the

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Guilt is a powerful and complex emotion that can have a profound impact on one's mental health and wellbeing. In Robertson Davies' novel "Fifth Business," guilt is a central theme that is explored through the experiences of the protagonist, Dunstan Ramsay, and other key characters. Throughout the novel, guilt is shown to have the power to consume one's sanity, govern one's emotions, and demolish one's life. In this essay, I will examine the theme of guilt in "Fifth Business," and explore how the novel portrays the destructive effects of this emotion.

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Guilt is a powerful theme and emotion that deeply affects individuals, shaping their identities and relationships. In the novels "Kitchen Boy," by Robert Alexander, "Night," by Elie Wiesel, and "The Kite Runner," by Khaled Hosseini, guilt plays a vital role in shaping the characters' identities and relationships. In “Kitchen Boy,” Leonka, a guard for the Bolsheviks in 1918, experiences guilt because of the execution of Tsar Nicholas II and his family. In “Night,” Elie Wiesel, a Jew in the Holocaust, experiences survivor’s guilt and guilt for his father. In “The Kite Runner,” Amir, a wealthy Middle Eastern man, experiences guilt for betraying his best friend in his childhood.

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Guilt creates inner conflict as well as conflict within relationships and across generations which is seen as destructive. An example of guilt’s destructive capability is the damage that Michael’s guilt over Hanna inflicts on him. Michael’s resulting decision is to “never to take guilt upon myself or feel guilty, never again to love anyone whom it would hurt to lose” which makes him hard-hearted, sabotaging his relationships with others. Even though guilt can be destructive it also encourages people to take responsibility for their actions, to recognize their mistakes and wrongdoings, and to avoid them in the future. For example, the collective guilt that Michael’s generation inherits from the Holocaust emboldens them to accept their parent generations mistakes, know not to follow in their footsteps and condemn Nazi war

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Freud’s mechanism of projection shows that characters such as Nel and Sula use scapegoating to release their undesirable characteristics onto others. Displacement, shows how the community scapegoat Sula in order to use a more feasible target to alleviate themselves and their self-esteems from aggravations. Furthermore, the Social Identity Theory shows how Sula’s threat to the community’s norms and identity leads to her becoming vulnerable to outgroup scapegoating and, lastly, the Social Identity Theory also shows how the community use scapegoating as a means to uplift their status and

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In the article “Putting in a Good Word for Guilt” (2003), Ellen Goodman speaks of guilt and that people must find the correct balance of guilt. A few of the points that she touched on hit me personally. The first of these being that the “desire to avoid feeling guilty makes us avoid the worst sort of behavior” (3).Then she goes on to explain how young children fight and their guilt is what makes them feel bad about what they did. Once they realize that they don’t like experiencing this feeling, they will try not act negatively again. When I was younger me and my little brother would get into fights where he would break my toys or take my saved Halloween candy causing me to pinch him or hurt him in another way.

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In the sphere of human feelings, all the six emotional coping mechanisms are present; one of these is guilt, which is complicated, mixed with the process of moral development and personal growth. Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" and Jane E. Brody's article, "Guilt: Should the Guilt Feel Bad? " packs a powerful story-telling about the essential role of guilt in human valuation and development. The novel Frankenstein uses the very closely intertwined stories of the work of Victor Frankenstein with his creation to explore some of the same themes as Brody in his area of expertise, his assertion that redemption can be available to those who confront their mistakes. Brody's deep article, which is very informative, talks about guilt, which is complicated at times, and it can help personal growth and moral maturation.

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An individual, who is guilty, is one who has committed a sin and is aware of it. As individuals we often experience remorse after doing something we are ashamed of. When we experience guilt, we are also experiencing fear, we fear what others may think of us and we fear what we may think of ourselves. It is a source of pain that can follows people around like a shadow until they admit and accept it; it is strenuous to overcome because we fear the consequences. The texts suggests that guilt is an aspect in many lives, we often experience shame and regret for our actions and our thoughts; however when we admit and accept our wrongdoings, we can become more secure and proud, there will no longer be a shadow crowding over our lives, and

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In this work, I aim to demonstrate how these internal conflicts impact character actions. Sigmund Freud created the

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They do not feel guilty about making that child miserable. The author also tells us about the society and the wrong believes that the community has informed. It lets us know that the society and people have changed some beliefs. When the child says, “Please let me out. I will be good!”(LeGuin, par.8)

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Many of the characters experience guilt in one way or another throughout the film and the guilt presented stems from multiple characters and situations to others along the way. For instance, consider Edmunds guilt for poisoning his father. After the event and turning to his old school teacher, Henning, who castigates the child in fear of being in fault, Edmund wanders the ruined streets of Berlin and Rossellini paints a vivid picture of his guilt; Edmunds face is dirty and shadowed by his untamed hair and the score supplements this with a mellow and solemn base and occasional violin strings that exemplify the uncertainty of the situation. With the power of this scene, one can assume and feel Edmunds guilt for poisoning his father and as he makes his way up a destroyed building, the viewer can deduce that his suicide is imminent. This explains an evident human toll of guilt and a question of where the fault lies in guilt--was it Henning who suggested the death of Edmunds father or was it Edmund’s father himself who hinted at the idea of

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However, it could also be analyzed from a psychoanalytic perspective. The unnamed narrator has many mental problems. First of all, according to Freud, the unconscious affects the conscious in the form of guilt. The narrator always has an overwhelming sense of guilt. For example, the narrator says "he takes all care from me, and so I feel basely ungrateful not to value it more."

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Nothing else could call for the sacrifice of a life for its expiation. And the original sin was an offence against God the Father, the primal crime of mankind must have been a parricide, the killing of the primal father of the primitive human horde, whose anemic image was later transfigured into a deity.” At first glance this excerpt comes off almost as if it were another language, but Freud uses this passage to argue his main case that society’s distress is provoked by war which strips mankind of civilization’s effect on the

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” We feel a kind of humoristic pleasure here because of, according to Freud, “an economy in expenditure upon feeling.” The situation that ought to drive the criminal to despair might rouse intense pity in us; but that pity is inhibited because we understand that he, who is more closely concerned, makes nothing of the situation.

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In “The Moral Logic of Survivor Guilt” by Nancy Sherman, one has done no wrong, but still has guilt, even in situations that are unexpected, as this happens way too much, and that those who have done wrongdoing should be feeling guilty. She states, “We often take responsibility in a way that goes beyond what we can reasonably be held responsible for. And we feel the guilt that comes with that sense of responsibility. Nietzsche is the modern philosopher who well understood this phenomenon: “Das schlechte Gewissen,” (literally, “bad conscience”)-his term for the consciousness of guilt where one has done no wrong, doesn’t grow in the soil where we would most expect it, he argued, such as in prisons where there are actually “guilty” parties who should feel remorse for wrongdoing”(Sherman 154). Illustrating, this proves that we take the responsibility for actions that we did not do, and should not feel any remorse, but that the people who have done wrongdoing, should have this feeling of guilt.

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To conclude this essay, it is evident that this kind of debate can never truly be solved. We can however see that it is clear that Kant’s categorical imperative can certainly be applied to Freud’s Superego section of the self, because both of these concepts influence the self to do the best possible thing in every situation and to try to live in a way that minimises harm. While Kant’s categorical imperative seems to be rather idealistic, it is a genuinely good way to want to conduct your life. By living in the way you ought to behave and wanting people to do the same, is a good way to live, but sadly it will never be truly possible because of the injustices and unfairness in the world. People seem to allow their Superegos to become overridden

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