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Originally Posted by Lalwende
we fantasise about wreaking horrible revenge on people who do us wrong and in doing this we actually stop ourselves from acting in that way.
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Interesting you should mention this, Lal. Freud's theory on dreaming is that dreams act out our fantasies - violent or sexual in nature - that we know are not acceptable in real-life society. By allowing these bestial urges to let off steam in a dream world, we stop ourselves from committing such acts in real life. Perhaps fantasy does the same.
The Ring as the "repressed side" - interesting. Something I've never thought about before, but it fits well. Perhaps we need a thread to discuss the psychology of Tolkien.
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Originally Posted by Raynor
Can you give a proof of this [above theory of repression] less vague than the one davem presented?
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Can anybody prove Freud's theory conclusively? No, because it is so difficult to falsify. However here is some supporting evidence for his ideas about dreams:
PET scans indicate that the rational part of the brain (which includes the superego, which imposes morality) are inactive during dreaming. By contrast, the forebrain, concerned with motivation (the id is Freudian terms, the primitive urges) are very active. Why is it necessary to hand the body over to the primal urges during dreaming? Freud's theory - that it is necessary to allow them some expression so that they do not interfere with real life - fits. (Solms, 2000)
Raynor, can you reconcile these statements:
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Originally Posted by Raynor
What is your argument here? That a certain thing is good because it is popular? That, in and of itself, is an instance of "ad populum" fallacy. Yes, I argue that there is a degree of immorality if we delight in evil qualities, and the fact that many people find it acceptable doesn't make it so. If I may quote Gandhi, the truth is the truth even if spoken by one single person.
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Originally Posted by Raynor
Norm is a standard notion in ethics and morality.
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Morality is defined by the norm, and yet defining morality by the norm is wrong?