Since the earliest civilizations such as The Indus Valley Civilization or the Ancient Greeks, humans created wonderful cities, cultures and made huge steps in science, technology, and thought. One of the oldest, if not the oldest civilization, is the Hindu civilization that offered its account of life, society, individuals and what it is that we humans search for in our lives through the sacred Vedic texts. Another great civilization is the Ancient Greek civilization, which produced a huge amount of works and schools of thought. One of the great philosophers of ancient Greece is Plato who arguably founded the first university in the world. Plato offered his own view on civilization, society, and individuals. Plato wrote many works and one of the most known ones is "The Republic". After more than 2000 years Sigmund Freud offered his thoughts on civilization and its relation to the individuals in "Civilization and its Discontents." While all these three accounts on society share the view that humans strive for happiness and try to shield themselves from pain and suffering, they differ in the methods they offer to achieve it. Plato favors a rigid control of individuals by social institutions and maintains that happiness is reached through the harmonium of the three parts of the soul. Hinduism disapproves of individualism and emphasizes desire and sense control. Freud maintains that the only way to happiness is through pleasuring our instincts, thus going against Plato and Hinduism. I believe that Freud offers the most accurate account of these three on the relationship between individuals and civilization because he gets into the very nature of humans and his theory maintains that only an unrestricted man can achieve full happiness.
             Plato says in The Republic that the highest knowledge is eternal and does not change if our society changes, thus it is unaware of our level of civilization, "for you have of bee...