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Totem, Taboo Freud

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Submitted By bobkata999
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Introduction to philosophy

Borislav Tsankovski - 09046631

Totem and Taboo, Sigmund Freud (1912)
The teachings of Sigmund Freud have had such a tremendous impact on contemporary culture, but the opinions regarding his doctrine are dualistic and vary from total reject to faithful followers. Between those two poles are some people who try to keep a critical distance and try to identify what is really important and significant in his ideas.
Freud’s ideas have a profound effect on modern men’s self-esteem and identity, because the modern man gets angry and bitter when someone touches their identity. On the other hand Freud show’s us deep spiritual movements or “currents” inside ourselves. Freud created a doctrine that meets the most typical modern desire – the desire to build the new image of man.
I believe that Totem and Taboo is exactly one of those works which can teach the reader a lot of things about his inner and outer self. And that from that entire information one can derive a blueprint on how to read and recognize the basic truths which were there when human kind made its first steps and will stay with us till the end. That one should really think upon in order to fill in the bits of lost puzzle in time, space and matter, so that one day we actually know who we are and why we are. Throughout his whole scientific work Freud supported the understanding that man evolved from his animal state, because of the cultural and social conditions that came along with civilization and he could not exist without them. However his attention is always drawn by the overwhelming hostility between human beings and civilization. Civilization is built upon bans and restrictions on what attracts humans and humans suffer and rebel against what their own civilization makes them give away. The paradox created by the human need of civilization and the hostility and

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