Freud and Darwin

1
Freud and Darwin

• Both Freud and Darwin sought and came up with
  wide-ranging theories that explained everything
  in their subjects and had profound affects on
  society.

2
Sigmund Freud

• Freudian theory reflected the transformation of
  the family from an economic unit to one where the
  father was the breadwinner and away from the
  house most of the time, with the wife and
  children in an intense emotional relationship.
• The Oedipal complex
• Its through this resolution of the complex that
  the son learns about and accepts the rules of
  society and morality.
• Freudian theory is also a reaction against the
  strict and repressive middle-class morality of
  the late 19th century, which he saw as causing
  many psychological problems. Particularly for his
  female patients.

3

• Even though Freudian theory has been roundly
  criticized and discarded by many, its basic
  premises have become deeply engrained in western
  society
• That childhood experiences affect our feelings,
  behaviors, and thoughts as adults
• Instincts dominate our unconscious mind
• That the unconscious reveals itself in dreams and
  jokes
• and that psychological therapy can help
  individuals
• Freudian terms that are commonly understood and
  used are ego (self), superego (conscience), id
  (instinctual drives), repression (pushing into
  the unconscious) are commonly understood and
  used.

4
Charles Darwin

• Darwinian theory is based firstly on Malthusian
  principles, in particular that as food supply
  never keeps pace with population growth, there is
  always competition for existence.
• It also was influenced by Lyell, whose geological
  work demonstrated that Earth was millions of
  years old, not thousands as suggested by the
  Bible
• Also built upon the work of by Lamarck, who
  theorized that living beings evolve because of
  environment suitability.
• Darwins contribution was figuring out how the
  process of evolution works

5

• Darwin argued that accidental mutations gave
  certain members of a species certain advantages
  in their environment, so that they survived while
  others without these traits dead out.
• Darwin came to believe that all life forms had
  evolved from a common ancestor through the
  struggle for survival.
• By providing an explanation of how evolution
  proceeded, he fundamentally altered conceptions
  about human origin and development.