Freud Nietzche and their exploration of human interiority and irrationality

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The enlightenment of the 18th century celebrated an optimistic atmosphere in Europe, society believing that this new ‘age of reason’ would ultimately transform all aspects of their lives for the better. Nearly two centuries later this optimism had faded into a modern cynicism, as enlightenment ideals began to attract heavy criticism and society was propelled into modernity. Modernity was characterised by ideals of human irrationality and interiority, effectively contradicting the very foundations of the enlightenment period. The two most influential thinkers of this period, Friedrich Nietzsche and Sigmund Freud, questioned the causes of change in human behaviour from two distinct perspectives, Freud taking a scientific approach and Nietzsche a humanitarian approach. The ideas of these seminal thinkers were often in conflict, for example Freud believed that the limitations society impose on the rational were a necessary evil due to the capacity of the irrational, Nietzsche, on the other hand, found it intolerable. However in many areas their ideas complimented each other, especially in relation to human irrationality and the destructive relationship between the individual and civilization.

The enlightenment, in essence, revolutionised intellectual thought in 18th century Europe introducing the radical notion that man was inherently rational, it was believed if man was given the opportunity and their ignorance were dispelled they would choose what is reasonable and good. Referred to as the ‘age of reason’, the enlightenment incited massive social reform based entirely on this notion of man’s instinctive rationality, society optimistic that the application of reason to existing social institutions would lift man from the corrupt and exploitative structures that characterised the period. The religious beliefs that justified the then current social order and authority as reflections of divine order and authority were departed from in favour of more rational explanations, identifying these beliefs as inherently irrational and ingrained by ignorance. The period motivated massive structural reform and inspired the decline of religious beliefs that had characterized European society for centuries. However, the society which was born from the enlightenment was not without its critics, the two most influential being Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-100) and Sigmund Freud (1856-1), who pioneered the study of human interiority and irrationality.

Nietzsche and Freud unite in their contempt for modern civilization, disputing that man is instinctively rational and reasonable. David Cook states in his article, Freud, Nietzsche and Dionysian Instinct, that “Both Nietzsche and Freud viewed man’s character as a continuum of behaviour on an axis between the diametrically opposed and yet mutually dependant elements of the rational (Apollonian) and the irrational (Dionysian).” (Cook, D. (00). Para.). Essentially Cook thinks both men saw the Dionysian instinct, the irrational, as the driving force behind human behaviour.

In his work, The Birth of Tragedy, Nietzsche used the analogy of the Greek theatre to dismiss the idea that man is essentially rational. He represents the Dionysian, or irrational, when displaying the ability of a moment that compels an intense emotional response, to separate the individual from the feeling itself, causing an irrational reaction. Nietzsche then identifies the Apollonian impulse so one can make sense of the Dionysian, in relative terms. However, Nietzsche warns that those Apollonian or rational concepts are merely illusions designed to “make existence appear intelligible and thereby justified” (Nietzsche )




Freud also recognises the influence of irrational impulses of human behaviour in his treatise, Civilization and Its Discontents, in which Freud recognised that as “essentially biological creatures with strong instincts” (Johnston, I. (1), Para ) man psychologically suffers from the conflict between his desires and the limitations society imposes on them. Freud identifies these desires of products of the id, which knows no morality, and can produce feelings of anger and unhappiness if unsatisfied. Freud viewed these irrational tendencies as the “unconscious root of conscious thoughts and behaviour” (Cook, D. (00), Para 6.), and sought to resolve the neurosis caused by the conflict between the desire for pleasure demanded by natural urges and the compliance imposed by civilization, through scientific method (psychoanalysis). In this respect Nietzsche differed from Freud, believing the irrational should be glorified as the “ultimate expression of humanity” (Cook, D. (00), Para. 6). Furthermore, whilst Freud and Nietzsche agreed on the principle that the limitations imposed on the rational were a natural reaction to the capabilities of the irrational, Nietzsche identified it as an atrocity whilst Freud viewed it as an essential evil.

Nietzsche condemns the mediocrity of modern civilization and believes society suppresses the individual to preserve the average. To Nietzsche the mediocre or average are inherently irrational and are motivated by the enhancement of pleasure. Whilst Freud’s theories are to the same effect he employs a different and notably more scientific approach. Freud proposes that the individual is governed by his ego and his instincts, or sexual desires, which are suppressed by civilization to the peril of the individual. Freud believed that the price of civilization for the individual is a certain degree of neuroses and unhappiness. This is due to the increasing complexity and rationality of civilization demanding the superego to rely more heavily on the ego and id disrupting the balance between the three dimensions of the psyche.

In comparing the approaches of Nietzsche and Freud one must first identify their views of individual behaviour and ambitions as opposed the purpose and aspirations of society. Nietzsche defines the individual as the “will to power”. Nietzsche believed the modern civilization was plagued by mediocrity and believes society is the “will of the average” that endeavours to restrain the individual and impede their success in order to preserve the will of the mediocre, who have much contempt for the exceptional. Freud believes the individual is constituted by three parts, the ego, the superego (reality principle), and the id (pleasure principle), the ego effectively governing the individual. He asserts that the community of equals is stronger than the individual and forces the individual to repress sexual instincts and desires, which distances individuals from their nature or natural instincts.

Nietzsche believes that mediocrity is a result of the suppression of individual strength and instinct. He uses the term ‘herd’ to describe the average, who discourages the exceptional in order to ensure their own existence and comfort. He believes that the ‘herd’ suppresses the instinct of the individual by compelling them to conform to certain morals and values, this principle being at the heart of Nietzsche’s dispute of religion. Nietzsche shows that the average encourages social interaction within the herd as a way to enhance pleasure, which essentially is the basic motivation for human behaviour. According to Nietzsche man could be saved by only one new type of man, ‘Ubermensch’, the superman. A type of man who creates his own morality based on his human instincts and will.

Freud focused his thought around the power and influence of non-rational drives and impulses on man’s behaviour. Similarly to the Marxist ideals, which identify the influential relationship between individual thought and the dominant ideology of the ruling class, Freud believed our conscious thoughts are influenced by our unconscious impulses. Freud believed irrationality was a comprehensible object of science, his approach focusing on the science of human behaviour rather than the humanitarian elements of human nature that characterized Nietzsche’s approach. Freud argued that there was a dangerous conflict created by civilizations suppression of the natural instincts of the id, his study of psychoanalysis attempting to diffuse the psychological consequences of this conflict (neuroses).

Nietzsche condemned Christian morality as it suppressed human impulse for life by demanding the individual to conform to morals and values constructed by the mediocre. “According to Nietzsche, Christianity had crushed spontaneous human instincts and inoculated weakness and humility” (Spiel 4th. Ed. 71). Nietzsche believed that there are no unqualified standards of good and evil whose truth can be confirmed by reflective reason, he proclaimed ‘God is dead”, god is mans creation and there are no higher worlds. This is a good representation of Nietzsche’s approach, which identifies forces outside the individual that influence the irrationality of their behaviour. Freud, in contrast, “searched for an explanation of human behaviour within the individual, rather than in the individual’s social relationships” (Rogers, E. (14), p.70).

To Freud, the only solution to the conflict between the superego and id was through psychoanalysis, in which the unconscious was probed scientifically via techniques such as free association. This resulted in the patient’s expression of the unconscious desires and impulses that had been troubling them, Freud believing that these troubles have their roots in the childhood of the patient.

The interiority that is characteristic of psychoanalytic theory is where one looks inside an individual to determine the factors that cause their behaviour. This approach has had a considerable impact on a number of communication theories today, which investigate an individual from the inside to identify the factors causing behaviour change.

These contemporary theories are not psychoanalytic; however they do employ parts of the Freudian model, looking inside the individual to understand behaviour. These theories include Fritz Heiders (146) balance theory, which holds that an individual’s unbalanced state may lead to behavioural change as the individual is uncomfortable. Leon Festinger’s (157) theory of cognitive dissonance identifies an individual’s inconsistent or dissonant state as provoking behavioural change. Another theory is Muzafer Sherif’s Social Judgement theory, which is based around the idea that individuals make decisions according to their ego-involvement. Lastly Petty and Cacioppo’s (181, 186) elaboration likelihood model of attitude change was influenced by Freud’s psychoanalytic theory.

Freud also influenced many intellectual works, such as Laswells study of psychoanalysis regarding political leaders and the tradition of ‘persuasion research’, which was introduced by Carl Hovland, who took inspiration from Clarke Hull’s learning theory, which was based on Freudian ideas. Furthermore, contemporary critical communication theory today is the result of Marxism and Freudian psychoanalytic theory, merged by the Frankfurt school in the 10’s and 140’s.

Nietzsche also had a significant impact on the contemporary understanding of communication, influencing existentialism and deconstructionism, movements in philosophy and literary criticism that viewed truth as a social construction influencing human behaviour. Nietzsche also contributed to the ‘materialist’ or ‘critical’ theory on the general process of social existence, combining philosophy with social science and integrating ideas of psychoanalysis with criticisms of human rationality. This ‘critical’ theory approach is used to better understand communication today. Nietzsche approached his theories from a humanitarian perspective, seeking to explain commonly accepted values and outlooks as a result of human irrationality. His declaration that ‘God is dead’ identified power as the real motivator in a world constructed entirely by man, this notion of the ‘will of power’ contributing to the modern understanding of communication between individuals. Nietzsche’s theory that Christianity promoted the inversion of suppressed moral values, thus destroying the will of the individual, is still applied in contemporary society. This worldview has had a profound impact on the western form of life and, among other things, the understanding of interhuman communication. Nietzsche has also influenced many philosophers such as German philosophers Max Scheler, Karl Jaspers, and Martin Heidegger and French philosophers Albert Camus, Jacques Derrida, and Michel Foucault, and gained a reputation as one of the most influential philosophers of his time.

The escalating discontent in Europe in the first few decades of the 0th century was, in the eyes of Freud and Nietzsche, the direct result of society repressing the instincts and needs of the individual. Freud and Nietzsche believed this would ultimately cause unhappiness and have psychological effects on the individual, or merely prevent them from succeeding. The theories and idea’s of these two intellectuals, having been compared in this essay, are in many ways aligned but in many ways inherently opposed, each taking a different approach in their understanding of human behaviour. Their ideas have influenced more than the society in which they were received. they have made an impact on the modern understanding of communication. Many theories of communication today are modelled around the Freudian idea of looking within the individual, and our contemporary critical theory of communication is the combination of Marxism and psychoanalytic theory. Nietzsche has been identified as one of the most influential philosophers of his time, praised for his ideas and theories on truth, morals and man’s natural instincts. It has been said that the ideas of philosophers who followed Nietzsche would have been unintelligible without him. His ideas about an individuals ‘will to power’ influence contemporary communication studies, focusing on the idea of power as a great motivator.



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