The Future of an Illusion

“[Human civilization] includes on the one hand all the knowledge and capacity that men have acquired in order to control the forces of nature and extract its wealth for the satisfaction of human needs, and, on the other hand, all the regulations necessary in order to adjust the relations of men to one another and especially the distribution of the available wealth.” 

Freud begins his investigation into the nature of religion by discussing the origin of human civilization, which he sees as intricately bound up in the founding of religion. In Freud’s view, civilization essentially came about as humans attempted to tame the natural world that surrounded them. Civilization exists to create a set of laws and rules for human beings to collectively create and share in wealth from natural resources, helping to bind men into a community. 

“[…] Every individual is virtually an enemy of civilization, though civilization is supposed to be an object of universal human interest.”

At the core of Freud’s argument is the belief that human beings are ruled by base and animalistic instincts, which they struggle to refrain from acting upon. One of civilization’s key functions is to provide a structure that limits individuals from following through on their instincts. As a result, many individuals feel civilization to be a burden and develop hostile and negative feelings towards the structures of society. 

“For masses are lazy and unintelligent; they have no love for instinctual renunciation, and they are not to be convinced by argument of its inevitability; and the individuals composing them support one another in giving free rein to their indiscipline.” 

Freud describes civilization as consisting of a small, enlightened minority who use force to keep the unruly majority from behaving violently or immorally. Freud believes that such a structure, which relies on coercion, is an inevitable fact of all civilizations, as he believes that the masses are unlikely to autonomously repress their animalistic urges.