Pleasure and Reality

Early Greek philosophers like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle emphasized searching for the truth. This meant that acquiring knowledge was noble and as a result, this would lead to righteous behavior. Further, they believed in the ability to control passions. Moreover, Aristotle believed that the highest goal of human life was achieving happiness. Another Greek, Arristippus of Cyrene believed that pleasure was good, worthy and would lead to happiness. It was paramount to pursue pleasure in moderation. If that could be achieved, then the ability to enjoy within the limits of self-control was considered a virtue. Centuries later, Sigmund Freud, in his psychoanalytic study of man, developed the following ideas. Freud, hypothesized that man’s early drives were pleasure driven. Within the unconscious, he called this the Pleasure Principle. He also saw man’s need to avoid pain and unhappiness while still striving for happiness. Unfortunately, he realized that many societal barriers interfered with the gratification of man’s pursuit for happiness. Further, he knew that life was very difficult and man had many impossible tasks in front of him. To cope with life’s difficulty, Freud identified three of man’s psychical escape mechanisms. One way man could psychically deal with his issues from being in the here and now was by creating deflections, diversions, phantasy, images or wishful fulfillments. For example, one of my friends has followed Christie Brinkley for years. Seeing a current picture of her brings a smile to his face. Another friend of mine used to run like Mercury. Currently, while in bed, he imagined himself running fast and easily beating his competition. Then we meet up, talk about his phantasy, and run on the trail. Reality sets in and we laugh. This has happened more than once. As a youngster, I read books about sports heroes and imagined being a hero in my daydreams. The ability to create phantasy does not end in childhood. TO Be Continued