Psychology and History

Could the late Sigmund Freud be a modern Plato? He sat in his arm chair and spun theories that have made a huge impact on modern thinking in history. Possibly his most important contribution was the revival of the evil nature of man. This concept is rooted in the drives that motivate men. These biological drives are physical. This science of Biology quickly runs out of explanation when dissecting the thinking brain. Freud was able to use simple facts about the human body and spin scientific theory to explain the brains operation. These drives were both sexual and survival oriented. Before Freud the evil nature of man was out of favor. His theories helped the modern church to embrace reason as Augustine and Aquinas did and modern sciences to take a hard look at the presuppositions that link facts to theory which Newton and Einstein were all too aware of. Freud is more like Plato than Aristotle because he did not use the scientific method to form his theory. Many neo-Freudians like Aristotle would differ with their teacher and develop their theories from empirical evidence of deductive reasoning.

The rediscovery of man’s evil nature with faith filled writers and artist with despair. The writings of Kierkegaard, Camus, and Sartre reflect this melancholy. The neo Freudians made perhaps the largest contributions. They provided explanation and structured framework to his theory to make them constructive and not destructive. Abraham Maslow pioneered much of the work or the early neo-freudians. His hierarchy of needs will be something you will hear of throughout your educational career. It starts with survival needs. Men will be motivated to action to survive and perpetuate their species. Once survival needs are met like food and shelter then a person may pursue a higher stage. For example if someone is hungry then he will not care too much about recognition until the need to eat is satiated. At the top of the pyramid of needs lies self actualization. It is here that a person encounters a match with their higher needs and how they then decide to live. Francis Fukihama's interpretation of Hegel placed recognition at the base of this higher need.



Erick Erickson was another neo Freudian. Our needs may keep us alive but our wants give us identity, purpose and meaning. Desires can encourage great achievement or define our prejudice. Erikson believed that there are eight conflicts that emanated from these desires. These desires are not the actual needs and become more important to us because our actual needs for food, elimination, mobility, learning, purpose, belonging, and meaning are met more easily in affluence because primitive expressions of these needs can be bought. The idea of combining virtue and conflict is an interesting dialectic. You start with the biological drive which comes into contact with Virtue and thus forms conflict. Virtue is a process that is also formed by dialectal conflicts of opposing character traits. When we place virtue against conflict we then can give new wisdom to problems in human nature. Hegel’s dialectic reasoning works well within Erickson’s system.


1. Stage One Oral-Sensory: from birth to one, trust vs. mistrust, feeding;
2. Stage Two Muscular-Anal: 1-3 years, autonomy vs. doubt, toilet training;
3. Stage Three Locomotor: 3-6 years, initiative vs.inadequacy, independence;
4. Stage Four Latency: 6-12 years, industry vs. inferiority, school;
5. Stage Five Adolescence: 12-18 years, identity vs. confusion, peer relationships;
6. Stage Six Young Adulthood: 18-40 years, intimacy vs. isolation, love relationships;
7. Stage Seven Middle Adulthood: 40-65 years, generativity vs. stagnation, parenting;
8. Stage Eight Maturities: 65 years until death, integrity vs. despair, and acceptance of one's life.
The virtues, in the order of the stages in which they may be acquired, are hope, will, purpose, confidence, fidelity, love, care, and wisdom.
From… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Erikson





Carl Jung is the most mystical and metaphysical of the neo-Freudians. I have used his concept of archetypes and archetypal throughout these posts. It is probably the mysticism in his theories that attract me. Jung also uses dialectic reason to arrive at his motivating symbols and themes. Opposing conflicts result in a sacrificial hero that we long to emulate. The themes in particular can be tied to specific folktales. The Prince of Lazar and William Tell are two examples of these archetypal themes. Neither tale is based in truth but people continue to build armies, institutions and culture around these themes.


Psychology has rescued the concept of man’s evil nature from history.
Psychology is the study of man’s mental processes and behavior. When we consider that the conflicts and virtues of man are made up of his mental processes and behavior it is understandable why such a scientific endeavor could lead to such monumental results. In ancient times mythical beliefs were linked to scientific inquiry. In the feudal system the church and nobles had common ground on the subject of property and education. When the Catholic Church opened the door to classical thinking by injecting the scientific method into belief it resulted in a polarization of the physical and metaphysical realm. Finally Psychology has attempted to re-link education to belief by producing the virtues necessary to alleviate conflicts brought on by progress and technology. The marriage of the spirituality with science represents our attempt to take this development to a new level. Perhaps dialectic of virtue and conflict has been the reason behind archetypal folk lore that has drawn us together around common themes for centuries.



The Language of Virtue attempts to enlarge the minimalist thinking generated by Freud’s early theories. Motivation tied to biological need is necessarily individualistic and selfish. Motivation that is tied to needs of belonging is more virtuous. When we recognize the conflicts generated by biological and social needs we can institute virtues to create bridges of common ground and reconciliation. A practical example could be the folk dance from Michael A. Sell’s book, “A Bridge Betrayed”. The song and dance “sevdalinka” is an archetypal bridge in the Balkans that can reconcile differences between the Orthodox and Muslim faiths. Perhaps if we are on the alert to find and introduce more of these bridges then we can initiate the virtue of peace. I am planning a trip in 2008 to Damascus to initiate the archetypal bridge of a “Pilgrimage for Peace”. Since the Hajj is the 5th pillar of Islam and Mohammed was a merchant it is my hope that these two paths of common ground in the East and West could create a bridge of peace in turbulent times. How this will all play out will require your help will you join me?