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Comparing Nietzsche And Freud's Theories On Guilt

1134 Words5 Pages

, 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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