Freud, Existentialism, and Humanistic Psychology Compared
This essay examines whether Freud and the existentialists are too pessimistic about human nature, and whether humanistic psychologists offer a more accurate or overly optimistic alternative. Beginning with Freud's theory of repression, desire, and the inevitable conflict between the id and superego, the essay then explores Sartre's existentialist view that human beings struggle to exercise authentic freedom. It concludes by contrasting these perspectives with humanistic psychology's emphasis on subjective experience, unconditional positive regard, and the innate human drive toward self-actualization, weighing the relative merits and limitations of each framework.
- Freud and the Inevitability of Neurosis: Freud's theory of repression, desire, and neurotic conflict
- Sartre and the Existentialist View of Freedom: Sartre on inauthenticity and barriers to human freedom
- Common Ground Between Freud and Sartre: Shared pessimism and limited hope in both theorists
- Humanistic Psychology's Optimistic Alternative: Humanistic psychology's positive, person-centered framework
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What makes this paper effective
- Clearly frames a genuine philosophical debate — pessimism versus optimism about human nature — and applies it systematically to three distinct theoretical traditions.
- Uses direct quotations to anchor each theoretical position before offering interpretive commentary, keeping claims grounded in identifiable sources.
- Acknowledges nuance within each tradition (e.g., noting that Sartre's view is not necessarily depressing, and that Freud offers hope through psychoanalysis) rather than reducing each to a caricature.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates comparative analysis across theoretical frameworks. Rather than treating each theory in isolation, it identifies the specific dimension — the degree of conflict between the individual and society or self — that allows a meaningful three-way comparison. This structural move turns a survey of theories into an evaluative argument.
Structure breakdown
The essay opens with Freud's theory of desire and repression, then moves to Sartre's existentialist account of freedom and inauthenticity. A transitional paragraph draws out the shared pessimism underlying both views before the final section introduces humanistic psychology as a contrasting, more optimistic paradigm. The structure follows a classic compare-then-contrast logic, building toward a clear evaluative conclusion.
Freud and the Inevitability of Neurosis
According to Freud, all desire is a form of displacement. First, the young boy desires his mother. However, unable to realize this desire because of societal conventions, he shifts the focus of his affection to another woman and tries to become like his father instead, finding a substitute mother figure. Similarly, the young girl shifts her desire for a penis onto a male, which becomes her way of symbolically "having" a penis. Both developmental trajectories result in the child never truly having the thing he or she most deeply wants.
This form of repression is, however, necessary to prevent incest, and repression of all kinds is required for human society to function. For Freud, society is an inevitable series of compromises: the id — and the ego, which satisfies the id's desires — is always at war with the superego, which relegates individuals to a state of constant denial. To be alive is to be neurotic, or in a constant state of conflict. "The id accounts for 90% of who we are. It is unconscious and therefore unknown to us, but it shapes our conscious life and sometimes even dominates the ego. We then become neurotic" when the id is denied ("Theories of human nature," n.d.).
Sartre and the Existentialist View of Freedom
Sartre famously stated that "existence precedes essence" ("Theories of human nature," n.d.). Rather than essentializing human nature, Sartre believed that human beings had the potential to be free of constraints, but that they had tremendous difficulty exercising this freedom. "The reality of our freedom is good and bad — it creates anguish, it leads us to self-deception as we try to avoid our freedom. We must struggle against having our lives determined by the others — this is inauthentic" ("Theories of human nature," n.d.).
In stark contrast to Freud, Sartre sees external pressures and determination not as inevitable social necessities but as a threat to human freedom. Human beings create barriers for themselves that hem in that freedom. These barriers, Sartre argues, exist only in their own minds and are not truly necessary.
References
McLeod, S. A. (2007). Humanism. Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/humanistic.html
Theories of human nature. (n.d.). Retrieved from
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