Hegel
and Freud have differing views on inter-personal relationships, though both
view them as a means to a specific end. Hegel believes that they can be used in
conjunction with personal risk to help an individual self-actualize. Freud sees
them as a way to approach the pursuit of happiness.
Hegel
sees inter-personal relationships as opportunities for self-actualization. It
is only through interaction with others that an individual can go through the
process of sublation. Additionally, Hegel believes that taking risks
(specifically risking life) allows for the possibility of learning more about
oneself. In Lordship and Bondage
Hegel posits that, “the individual, who has not staked his life, may, no doubt,
be recognized as a person; but he has not attained the truth of this
recognition as an independent self-consciousness,” (Hegel 233). Attempting to combine
these two beliefs that Hegel holds would result in an individual taking a big
risk in an inter-personal relationship. believe that this is possible through a
declaration of love.
Freud
agrees with me, stating that, “He (man) made himself dependent in a most
dangerous way on a portion of the external world, namely, his chosen
love-object, and exposed himself to extreme suffering if he should be rejected
by that object or should lose it through unfaithfulness or death,” (Freud
4496). For Hegel, taking a risk like a declaration of love would allow for the
possibility of total enlightenment concerning the self. This self-understanding
is, Hegel believes, the real value of inter-personal relationships.
Freud
believes that inter-personal relationships are necessary for the pursuit of
happiness. Specifically, the pathway to happiness requires risking the same love
declaration that he himself believes is a dangerous risk to take. The reason to take that risk is the
pursuit of happiness. Freud believes that love (originally sexual love) is the
grounding for all human happiness. “Man’s
discovery that sexual (genital) love afforded him the strongest experiences of satisfaction,
and in fact provided him with the prototype of all happiness,” (Freud 4496). If love is a risk worth taking, then happiness is
very important. Therefore, the entire purpose of inter-personal relationships,
according to Freud, is the pursuit of happiness.
Both Hegel's and Freud's ideas concerning inter-personal relationships are valid, and both are logical. Their views are different, but both reflect the practicality of using
something as simple as relationships with others to one’s advantage.
Calvin agrees with someone?!!
ReplyDeleteYou wrote that Freud saw love, and relationships leading to love, as a pursuit of happiness, whereas Hegel believed that relationships between equals were a path to gaining self-consciousness, though both philosophers wrote that taking risks in relationships was necessary to gain benefit. Where do you think Freud would stand in regarding Hegel’s insistence that equality is necessary in fulfilling relationships? Do you think that one must be ignorant that their relationship with another is a means to an end to reach that end? (Does that make sense?) My understanding of Hegel was that one couldn’t use another as a mean to an end to reach self-actualization.
But isn't using another as a means to your end what Hegel says everyone does? Even God apparently created the world so that he could better know himself/self-actualize. The point of creation was to help God, not the created. That's definitely not treating the created as their own means.
ReplyDeleteThe quote you used from Freud sounded to me like Freud was saying that love is stupid because it makes you vulnerable, dependent, and can lead to extreme suffering. Do you really agree with that, Calvin?
I liked your connection between love being risky but necessary for the pursuit of happiness and Hegel's statement about how risking one's life is a necessity for the pursuit of happiness.
Emma, do you think Freud would agree with Hegel's view that equality is a must in fulfilling relationships? I'm thinking he wouldn't. He doesn't seem to view women as equals, but says they are necessary in sexual relationships (which he believes are very important and fulfilling).
Esten
ReplyDeleteI thought the portion about the use of others for a self benefit was the most interesting. It is true that we as humans use each other as a means frequently, but I think that it is a mistake to compare the strive for happiness with an individuals self actualization. I view self
actualization as the essential and the pursuit of happiness as completely dependent on the former, therefore making the comparison a mistake in the first place.
Huh, I hadn't thought about it that way. At first glance, I definitely wouldn't say that the pursuit of happiness is dependent on self-actualization. But I guess someone couldn't be truly happy if they didn't know who they were (a process requiring sublation).
ReplyDeleteMy understanding of Hegel was that though we gain benefit through our relationship with others, one cannot seek relationships for that benefit and reach self-actualization. His piece on the master and bondsman seems to demonstrate that because the master was using the slave for his own purposes he couldn't gain self-recognition through their interaction.
ReplyDelete