Sigmund Freud's Theory Of The Enlightenment: The Age Of Enlightenment

The Age of Enlightenment, which is also known as the Age of Reason, had sparked many new ideas for individuals all across Europe, during the seventeenth century. The Enlightenment Movement, which would eventually make its way towards the West, had brought forth a new way of thinking for all and went against traditional ways and order. With the magnificent rise of scientific and intellectual progress, many believed that this would be a time in which humanity could flourish and the fate of their future lied within their hands. Although these ideas provided a sense of self-confidence and desire for improvement within individuals, it did not last long until the occurrence of dreadful World War I. The time period following this war would leave those who once

Skepticism, once again, would bring forth new theories that would leave individuals to never ending ponder. Sigmund Freud, the father of Psychoanalysis, was a well-known psychiatrist and neurologist during his time who was known for his influential theory of the unconscious mind. He believed that we are “humans governed by powerful, independent unconscious forces” (Davis, 2018). In one of his writings entitled, Some Elementary Lessons in Psychoanalysis, he goes on to explain a case involving his patient being hypnotized and completing a task that was ordered to him during his unconscious state. The idea Freud is trying to pinpoint is that, “We commonly fabricate reasons for our choices or deeds – reasons that conceal, not reveal, the underlying causes of our decisions or activities.” (Sigmund Freud, The Unconscious and Myth of Reason) To counteract this idea, “Enlightenment philosophers saw reason as having an equalizing effect on humanity, because everyone's thoughts and behavior would be guided by reason. Enlightenment intellectuals thought that all human