Aristotle’s Physics and Freud’s Psychology: A Deep Dive
Aristotle’s View of the Universe
Translunar Substance: The space beyond the moon extends to the universe’s edge. This realm is composed of a nearly perfect substance, though not divine. This substance is immutable, does not degrade, and maintains a perfect circular motion. The orbits of planets around the Earth mirror this perfect circularity. This is an idealized concept. There exists a subtle clay-like substance and a light ether where planets are situated. Planets are supported by this ether, preventing them from falling or deviating from their orbits. Beyond the sphere of fixed stars, there is nothing, like a glass ball with distant stars as fluorescent stickers.
Sublunary Substance: This is the space from the moon downwards. It consists of a substance that degrades and wears out. Everything is born and dies. Change is chaotic, with things moving up, down, and colliding. This world is not perfect. This chaos leads to degeneration, birth, and death. To explain change (Muto), Aristotle uses the theory of natural places, based on Empedocles’ ideas. Reality is composed of four elements: earth, water, air, and fire. Their varying proportions form reality. This explains why things move here. Every substance tends to move towards its natural place, like water towards water, air towards air. This is why a stone falls.
The universe is finite because it has limits. It is still, yet it moves. According to Aristotle, the world is the shift from potential to actual. All things are in action but also have the potential for a purpose. Everything is interconnected: potential-act, potential-act. This process is not infinite and must have a beginning, which he called the unmoved mover. This mover initiates motion without being moved itself.
Aristotle’s physics is closely linked to his metaphysics. A substance consists of substance, matter, form, potency, and act. The unmoved mover is a substance without accidents, form without matter. It is pure act, full perfection without the possibility of being more perfect. This mover, which Aristotle does not call God, simply moves the universe. Without this mover, nothing would exist.
Freud’s Psychological Perspective
PSYCHOLOGICAL 3rd: Argues that there is no freedom because our psyche influences us. Psychology opposes free will. Sigmund Freud is a key figure. Freud believed that everything is governed by cause and effect. This principle applies to the physical world and to our actions, which are all caused. Our decisions are influenced by prior causes, thus we are not free. Freud applied empirical methods to the psychic world.
His research led to these conclusions:
- The human mind is complex, consisting of conflicting structures: the id, ego, and superego.
- There are unconscious mental processes that influence our actions and will. What we want is predetermined by these unconscious processes. The law of cause and effect applies to the will, with causes found in the unconscious.
The Id
The id is the most important part of the mind in childhood. It is the most primitive part of the mind, containing innate desires and repressed thoughts. It is the source of drives, which are repressed energies. In young children, the id is dominant. Socialization influences this process. Initially, a child does not understand the external world, but eventually sees it as normal. This process is difficult because others may not see things the same way, leading to frustration. This frustration is maximized around age 5. These frustrations produce energy, which Freud called drives. The mind’s defense mechanism represses this energy into the unconscious. Society imposes repressions, leading to a build-up of frustration. Eventually, innate desires emerge. These desires reside in the id, which tries to emerge into consciousness through slips and dreams.
Interpretation of Dreams
Dreams are a way for the unconscious to communicate with the conscious. They reveal worries and past events. Dreams provide a way to relieve tension. In dreams, the id is freer. In children, the id makes up 90% of the mind, driving them to seek what they want. Children have nothing to lose, so they can act on their desires. Adults, however, cannot. The motivation of the id is the libido.
The Ego
The ego in a child is small but grows into adulthood. This growth is caused by the conflict between the child and the external world. The fully developed ego is called consciousness. Initially, the young child has a narcissistic consciousness, but as it develops, it becomes the link between instinct and society, or between the id and reality. This is why consciousness sometimes asks us to do things we do not want to do. A narcissistic mind is self-centered. Children have this mind, not caring about others and seeing everything from their own perspective. Over time, this decreases, and the ego takes a more eccentric position. This happens during socialization. The ego is the link between desire and reality. The ego depends on language, reasoning, and motor control. If socialization is successful, these things develop normally. Problems in language development indicate that the ego is not developing properly. These events have a causal relationship.