Bauman and Freud - Postmodern Ethics
"Postmodernity, one may say, is modernity without illusions" (Bauman, p. 32). To what extent would you say this absence of illusions characterizes not only Bauman's Postmodern Ethics but also Freud's Civilization And Its Discontents? Postmodernity, according to Zygmunt Bauman, is characterized simply as modernity without illusions. Bauman believes strongly that being true and being postmodern are two directly related situations. Postmodernism, as Bauman states, is the state in which people, without a doubt, "know" the truth around them. People living in a post-modern world make ethical decisions knowing that, ultimately, the world is completely ambiguous and undefined. Occurrences that happen in the post-modern world as described by Bauman happen not with a predetermined solution or a preplanned consequence. A post-modern world involves a concept that, as Bauman states, most philosophers cannot conceive of - an " 'unprincipled' morality, a morality without foundations" (Bauman, p. 32). Since Bauman defines postmodernity as modernity without illusions, one must therefore conclude as to what, exactly, this lacking illusion is. Using Bauman's definition, "knowing that to be the truth is to be postmodern" (Bauman, p. 32).
Moreover, if, as Freud postulated, modern society besets human freedom by repressing sexual expression, then the postmodern era can be said to be defined by the individual's quest for sublime happiness at the expensive of security. Once that occurs, it is implied that Bauman believes the people of the post-modern society will be able to shed the illusions that they once had to be, in a way, enlightened and knowledgeable. is modernity without illusions," "modernity is postmodernity refusing to accept its own truth" (Bauman, p. Freud, in Chapter VII of Civilization and its Discontents, discusses how the need for self-preservation is often disrupted by "social anxiety" or a state in which individuals are controlled by the opinion of others towards them. One should therefore strive to be moral - one should desire to be good. If a citizen were dissatisfied with his neighbor, the citizen would kill his neighbor. This "messiness" of the world will never be fixed or replaced by whatever reason man may have; this chaos will stay and, the truth is, the messy world will affect the decisions that man makes at all times. Therefore, one need not have any sort of special enlightenment or epiphany - one needs only to open one's eyes to see using a different perspective with a different attitude. The reality principle is one that is followed by the ego of a person. Freud, on the other hand, would disagree with Bauman's statement about postmodernity. Thus, Bauman puts his trust in mankind, allowing human beings to figure out for themselves (for the most part) what is good and bad. If we discard the possibility that, when it comes to morals, we as a whole have become wiser as a result of the historical development, that we are now more moral than before - which to Bauman and me is what postmodernity is all about - then Bauman is left with illusions to explain why so much moral energy has been wasted on the modern project of creating a more humane world. For Freud, the id would comprise much of the post-modern world, and this situation would result in nothing but chaos and disaster, as the id personality in humans serves to fulfill immediately and completely its wishes and desires. Still, unlike Bauman, Freud believes that a society full of "ids" would not be able to function at all.
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