AboutHank Hokamp Expertise Books, books and more book! Personal experiences can sometimes disprove philosophical discussions and writings.
My PHILOSOPHY: If you do wrong to people, you don't have the right to exist. Helping people is WHY we're here. At least it's my purpose of life. Why do people keep seeking humanism, nihilism and existentialism? Few seem to realize satisfaction. All humans are subject to death and Earth has not been cultivated into an earth-wide paradise. Perhaps it can be if we serve one another. I can't imagine a more satisfying life than using my free will to serve thy neighbor. Let's get started. It's 2009! In fact, it's 3/24/09!
Question Hello Mr.Hank
I don't know if that is included in your expertise, if it isn't you can feel good not to answer it..
Sigmond freud says that human's life is like a house of three floors, the 1st floor(lower 'me'), 3rd floor(higher 'me') and between them is our actions. And that the 3rd floor is a set of what I learn from my surrounding(society, traditions..). But the thing that I can't understand is that Freud says that the Higher 'me' is so far from our instinct, however, a child for example won't act as his surroundings if he's not afraid from punishing from his dad or mum..., and this fright is a result of his instinct. Can you plz give me a brief explanation??!!:)
sorry for annoyance.
Good Afternoon, Mohammad, from Illinois in the States. Quite a nice surprise to hear from you. I've always contended that a person's personlity is the result of the person's genes and environment. Anyway, let's see if I can help you
It is somewhat strained to say, that the skeptic's argument against Freud TODAY may turn out to be just as ridiculous as his argument against Newton in the eighteenth century. But he is not wrong in claiming that many of Freud's ideas may be POINTERS to the truth — signposting the avenues to pursue if we wish to get at a reasonably definitive account of human nature.
Freud's High Level Theory is the one which contains a psychological model of the fundamental ways in which the individual functions as a self-regulating, control system. Freud's Low Level Theory gives his accounts of instincts, of dreams, of DEVELOPMENT, and so on.
This distinction — between High and Low Level Theories — may be confused in one way or another. However, my object is to draw attention to what seemed to me to be the logical similarities between Freud's High Level Theory and Newton's Theory of matter. If these similarities do hold, it does seem to follow that the skeptic's argument against Freud's High Level story may turn out to be just as ridiculous as his argument would have been against Newton's theory in the 18th century.
But this is very different from saying the same about the skeptic's argument against Freud's Low Level theory. On the contrary, when we examine parts of this theory (e.g., the account of instincts, of dreams, of development), it seems clear that we have good reason to believe TODAY that parts of the theory are inadequate in places, or just mistaken. And it is difficult to find good reasons to suppose that these parts will, or may, be reinstated at sometime in the future. Such a supposition would indeed be strained.
ANSWER: The nervous system, in so far as function is concerned, is arranged in a number of LEVELS, one above another, forming a hierarchy in which each level controls those beneath it and is itself controlled by those above. If we assume a similar organization of unconscious experience, we should have a number of levels in which experience belonging to adult life would occupy a position higher than that taken by the experience of youth, and this again would stand above the experience of childhood and infancy. A level of more recently acquired experience would control one going back to an earlier period of life, and any intermediate level would be central and be controlled according to its place in the time - order in which it came into existence.
Moreover, the levels would not merely differ in the nature of the material of which they are composed, the LOWEST LEVEL being a storehouse of the experience of infancy, the SECOND LEVEL of the experience of childhood, and so on. Much more important would be that character of the hierarchy according to which each level preserves in its mode of action the characteristics of the MENTALITY in which it has its origin. Thus, the level of infamy would preserve the infantile methods of feeling, thinking and acting, and when this level became active in sleeping or waking life, its manifestations would take the special form characteristic of infancy. Similarly, the level recording the forgotten experience of youth would, when it found expression, reveal any special modes of mentality which belong to youth. The Highe Level corrects the other two, thanks to instincts and learning.
I hope you can understand this, Mohammad. If not, I'll try to do better. I might add that I'm glad you're interested in Philosophy. It's a fascinating subject.
I wish you well. Make health your #1 priority in life. Take care.
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