Freud. Few people are as well known, notorious, and iconic as early 1900's theorist and psychologist Sigmund Freud. The notoriety of the man who created Fruedism is undeniable, but is the validity of his theories as substantial as the man's popularity? Arguably the most well known development of Freudism comes from Freud's theory that one's personality is bifurcated into three parts: the id, the reservoir of our personality that craves instant pleasure and gratification, the ego- which serves as the personality's decision maker-and the superego, our sense of mortality containing right and wrong. Although the theory is well known and well developed, the idea does is not a certainty. Those who refute Freud's postulates feel that one's mind is not as separated as Freud proposes, rather, the personality of a given person has a strong sense of continuity and consistency. To some, the idea of a personality being split between an "angel" and "devil" is far-fetched and illogical, but the psychoanalytical advocates of Freud's theory vouch for the idea's portrayal of the conflict amongst a person's conscious and subconscious. Regardless, no matter what direction a person approaches Freud's philosophy, the idea is revolutionary and stirs curiosity as to how a person's personality functions. Like it or love it, thanks to Sigmund Freud, people are left learning or questioning more about the human personality, which can only lead to more knowledge of the mind. 
Freud: the Man, the Myth, the Thought Provoker
No TrackBacks
TrackBack URL: http://blog.lib.umn.edu/cgi-bin/mt-tb.cgi/186830
Freud is extremely influential in the field of psychology.I agree that his ideas were important in facilitating scientific discussion on the role of the unconsciousness, although his theories have today, been debated.
This was a fantastic blog. The idea of the the id being the devil and the superego being an angel is a creative, yet far fetched thought. I feel that you provided a great objective blog that really stated the facts as to why Freud has been so debated. Very Interesting!
What does modern research suggest about the unconscious mind? Do modern personality theorists agree with Freud? Links to further reading would be useful.
I felt that you provided an objective blog and had some nice facts. With psychology being a relatively young science it is amazing how much impact one man can have. I think Freud was far a head of his time. Thanks to this class I now think of him when fighting with my ID and egos.
Well written entry. I'd definitely agree that Freud is a major, if not the biggest, name in psychology and he's had a sizable effect on the field. The level to which his ideas are still supported today though are debatable.
Nice blog. Whenever I think about leading psychologists in the field, Freud is always one that comes to mind. He was very influential in his studies, and he provoked much research and interest in the unconscious mind. His beliefs with the 3 central roles of the unconscious will always be up for debate, but I feel that his research lacks support due its farfetched disposition.
Freud's psychological works have philosophical roots much deeper than people realize, which is why it is so highly debated. I have spent time finding parallelisms between the works of different theorists, philosophers, psychologists, religions, and sciences, and Freud is using a very basic setup.
Rene Descartes is credited with the phrase: "I doubt therefore I think therefore I am." If you look at each part of the statement, you see "I am" as something physical and real. This is similar to the id in the sense that it is real and distinct from conscious thought. Thus, being is something felt, as is the id. The drive for pleasure is very real. Next, "I doubt" can be correlated to the notion of the superego. It's not a thought rooted in reality, but a belief that defines identity to relieve grief. There exists a mediator between the being of "I am" (the id) and the belief of "I doubt" (the superego). Obviously the conscious recognition of thought itself shows that something mediates between beliefs and the finite. This consciousness is the ego, and "I think" is clearly this consciousness. Therefore, if you can discredit Descartes, then Freud is similarly flawed. A debate over whether Descartes argument is fallible has been ongoing for many years.
I might have been abstract with that comment, but I just see this trend of something physical, something mental, and the mediator in many fields. Dialectic Monism is a very popular way the theorize.
The law of cause and effect: Cause, Effect, and Causation.
Plato's mean: Goodness, Beauty, and Truth.
Christianity's holy trinity: Father, Son, and Holy
Aristotle's golden mean: Symmetry, Proportion, and Harmony.
Taoism: Ying-Yang
Philosophy crawls into science most easily in psychology. That's why it's so hard to accept Freud's work, but in the end, there's significant use that can be drawn from his model. We used crappy phones until recently, why can't we use flawed science that works until we find a better answer? We did it it with Lamarck until Darwin. We did physics before Newton.
I agree on the fact that Freud provoked many thoughts on the unconscious and the separation of personalities. Although many of his ideas have been dismissed, his theories were important throughout the 20th century and caused more accurate research into the unconsciousness.