People are not free and do not have freewill due to unseen forces within thehuman mind and areas of the unconscious not aware to us. There are argumentsthat go against the principle of freewill in reference to the unconscious. Manypeople who have done studies in this area conclude that the unconscious can beseen or measured, so it is able to exist.
According to Sigmund Freud, theunconscious does exist and the areas of the human mind control and affect ourbehavior. Freud also states because of these forces, freewill is prevented. Freud proposes three aspects of our personality that prevent freewill. They arethe ID, Ego, and the Super Ego. Many People feel they are free and possesfreewill. They do not feel that because of some mechanism in their mind is thebasis for their behavior and actions.
They feel that they have the ability tosize up a situation, think about their options, and choose how they will act. What we do then, is the result of our own deliberate free choice. There areunseen forces that prevent freewill. These unseen forces along with otherfactors prevent us from acting freely.
There are two popular elements, theconscious and the unconscious. The conscious represents things we are aware of,and the unconscious represents what we are not aware of. When we are consciouswe are aware from moment to moment in our ordinary everyday experiences. Forexample, when at work I am aware of everyone and everything in my environment,phones, fax machine, co-workers, and computers. I will know who is at work andwho is not, I know who has pictures of their children on their desk and who doesnot. The conscious element simply allows me to see, feel, and actively be aware.
The unconscious is a powerful element which affects and drives memories andmotives. The unconscious represents an area that is much deeper that the surfaceof our mind. An obvious example of the unconscious is our dreams. Theunconscious says things about our lives through pictures and symbols.
Thiselement if recognized will prevent freewill from occurring and can directlyaffect our behavior. Thus, the uncurious is a powerful force that affects almosteverything we do. Sigmund Freud proposes three aspects of our personalitystructure that directly effects our decisions. The elements that Sigmund Freudtalks about are the Id, Ego, and Super Ego. These three elements play animportant role in our decisions and support the view of not having freewill.
TheId is the source of our basic drives and all of our psychological energy. Sigmund Freud also states that we all are born with this element. The Id is alsorefereed to the pleasure principle, also represents self-gratification. The Idhas two basic drives, sex, and aggression.
The Id is the part of us that isseeking pleasure through the immediate satisfaction of its needs. For example,if my professor goes into the teachers lounge while having a craving forsweets and there is a plate of brownies on the table, instead of asking if hecan have one, he just takes some without asking. This would be the workingwithout the benefit of the ego or super ego. In reference to the Id, it isalways trying to satisfy every impulse whenever and wherever, it knows nolimits.
The second element of our personality is the ego; Freud relates this asthe reality principle. The ego is the practical side of our personality; it isaware of whats possible and impossible and is able to accept limits and toact in a practical way. The egos main purpose is to figure out appropriateways to satisfy the ids desire. In a since the ego is like congress and theid is like the president. The president can not take major actions without theapproval of congress. In the case with the professor taking the brownies itwould be the ego saying “stop” and ask if these brownies are for everyone,maybe I should ask for permission first.
In short the id supplies the power andthe ego supplies the control. The reaction of the two act as a driving force inwhich our decisions are made, thus eliminating freewill.
