The Future of an Illusion

In the first chapter of The Future of an Illusion, psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud introduces the core ideas that his investigation of religion will build upon. In the opening paragraph, Freud states that his goal is both to consider the “origins” of civilization and “to ask what further fate lies before it and what transformations it is destined to undergo” (5). Freud notes that such an inquiry is full of numerous “difficulties,” as it requires an expansive knowledge of human history, rather than expert knowledge in a single academic discipline.

Freud then offers his definition of civilization. According to Freud, one must understand civilization as the process by which humanity has overcome its “animal” instincts. Freud argues that humanity has done this in two ways: by using knowledge to extract wealth and resources from the natural world, and by creating a governmental and social system for spreading such wealth to all a society’s individuals. Society thus exists to tame each individual through its codes and laws, reining in individuals and teaching them how to behave.

At the core of Freud’s argument is the assumption that individuals are governed by base instincts and desires, which they are reluctant to disavow without outside force.