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It is not uncommon for humans to take ideas from others and expand on them. Whether it is to change the idea or improve upon it, we all take previous notions and adjust them for our purposes. This is the case with the book Dialectic of Enlightenment by Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno. They have taken some of Sigmund Freud's most famous ideas, along with many of their own, and modified them into a different way of thinking. In Freud's book, New Introductory Lectures on Psycho-Analysis, he refers to the concepts of the id, ego and superego. Freud's theory states that, "The superego applies the strictest moral standard to the helpless ego which is at its mercy; in general the claims of morality, and we realize all at once that our moral sense of guilt is the expression of the tension between the ego and the superego." (Page 76) In other words, the superego is like the conscience of the ego and plays a major role in telling the ego what it should and shouldn't do. The id, on the other hand, is the inner instinct; the unconscious that tries to tempt one to do what one wants to do, and not what one thinks one should do.
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These terms can be applied to Horkeimer and Adorno's text through the myths that they take from Homer's Odyssey. In the installment about Odysseus and the Sirens, Odysseus is the superego, the Sirens are the id and the inferior rowers are the ego. Odysseus applied his "morals" to the rowers by putting cotton in their ears, preventing them from hearing the Sirens and rowing their boat into the rocks. Then Odysseus allows himself the pleasure of listening to the song of the Sirens, but he is smart enough to tie himself to the mast to avoid jumping overboard to his death. Odysseus is said to be the superego because he is in charge or the sailors, who are the ego. The superego enforces its "conscience" on the ego and doesn't allow the ego to partake in certain pleasures, which in this case would be listening to the Sirens. In other words, the superego does not allow a conversation to form between the id and the ego, (or in Horkheimer and Adorno terms, there is no conversation between nature and human beings). Odysseus is the extreme conscience who has control over where his rowers steer his ship. He is the superego, and has the authority as do parents, teachers, and law enforcers to place guilt upon those who disobey him. In their book, Horkheimer and Adorno refer to Odysseus as the ego when they say, "The adventures of Odysseus are all dangerous temptations removing the self from its logical course. He gives way to each allurement as a new experience, trying it out as would a novice still impervious to good advice... ". (Page 47) This can be interpreted to mean that Odysseus is willing to step outside the boundaries of his superego and take chances as the ego does. But despite this, it is Odysseus who is in control of the rowers (the ego), who overcomes the Sirens (the id) and it is he who is the real superego in this myth. Horkheimer and Adorno use the term conversation to refer to the interaction between two parties. They feel that a conversation must take place between humans and nature. In Freudian terms, nature is the id and humans are the ego. The ideas of nature harmonizing with humans can be related to the myth of Circe. Like the Sirens, Circe is the id. She was linked closely to nature and had the ability to draw men close to her. Once again, Odysseus is said to be the superego, simply because he did not submit to Circe. The superego is strengthened as one grows, and those men who were tempted into Circe's grasp destroyed the system of their superego and its repression. In their text, Horkheimer and Adorno also describe Odysseus as the "prototype of the bourgeois individual". This refers to the distinction between the different levels of class in a particular society. The bourgeois was the level of class that was situated beneath the noblemen, or royalty, and their purpose was to deny those lower classes the chance to experience nature and the Dionysian episodes at its most prosperous. In the Odyssey, the rowers would be considered those lower classes who were denied that opportunity, and once again, Odysseus was the bourgeois; the one in control. Although the sailors are discerning and respectful, they are constantly repressed by the bourgeois and their desire for superiority. This notion of class structure that Horkheimer and Adorno refer to when talking about Odysseus and the Sirens, can be related to another myth the Cyclops and the Lotus Eaters. In this myth, there is a definite hierarchy which contains the Cyclops, the Lotus Eaters and the surrounding Greek civilization. The Lotus Eaters are the bottom rank because they live off of the land. They are closest to nature and live in harmony with the land. The Cyclops, however, is one step above the Lotus Eaters in the time-line of evolution. They are the herders who try to control nature by containing their herds in a specific area. The Cyclops are at the beginning of repression, as would be a young child who is starting to learn the difference between right and wrong. By learning that keeping sheep nearby prevents them from having to go hunting, the Cyclops have taken one step closer to civilization. The myth of the Cyclops and the Lotus Eaters can also be explained in Freudian terms, but not quite as well as in Horkheimer and Adorno terms. The Lotus Eaters would be the id, simply because they are closest to nature and do not have to repress themselves in any way, shape or form. The Cyclops would be the ego because they have begun their repression, but they still have a strong sense of their id. The Greek civilization would be the superego because they have undergone the most repression in comparison to the other two. It seems that Odysseus understood (although not directly) the concepts of the id, ego and superego, and the fact that it is necessary to have a harmonious conversation between them. Even though these concepts were not developed that far back, Odysseus appeared to know that he could not simply overcome the Sirens on his own. He had to use the superego to repress himself (by being tied to the mast), and yet he still had the small pleasure of being able to listen to his id (the Sirens). Odysseus unconsciously saw the harmonization between the id and the ego and ultimately was able to defeat the Sirens. Although Freud and Horkheimer and Adorno have different ways of explaining the same concepts, it's easy to see that Freud's ideas are substantially drawn upon in the texts of Horkheimer and Adorno. Freud's ideas have been modified to refer to other examples, but underneath it all both texts refer to the idea of controlling our most natural instincts. Whether listening to the Sirens or being touched by Circe's magic wand, when one listens to the id one creates a false sense of happiness. But listening entirely to the superego makes one repressed and unhappy. There must be a harmony between the id and the ego, between nature and humans; a conversation where each party gets their presence known. Horkheimer and Adorno picked up Freud's loose ends and tied them together in a unique way. Soon enough, someone else will come along and tie up the loose ends of Horkheimer and Adorno and create an entirely new way of thinking of their theories.
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