Explaining Freud With Nietzsche

Sigmund Freud’s model of the human mind is famous. He divided the psyche into three conflicting components. The superego represents the psychic embodiment of moral principles and norms derived from society. The id, on the contrary, is the mental place for primitive impulses, both sexual and aggressive. The ego mediates the conflict between the id and the superego and operates, at least in part, via conscious activities.

Nowadays, it is still a matter of debate whether this subdivision has any concrete meaning or not. I will leave such investigation to the curiosity of the reader. (To learn more on this topic, read Freud’s Brain by Elliot D. Cohen, and Freud’s Not Dead; He’s Just Really Hard to Find by Susan Krauss Whitbourne).

Today we are interested in the metaphorical significance of these three components. Understanding what superego, ego, and id mean to us can be a powerful guide to self-knowledge.

Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche can help us to shed some light on the matter. Freud vigorously repeated that he hadn’t read any book from Nietzsche. (Nietzsche’s works were released 10 to 30 years before Freud began publishing his). However, there clearly are many similarities and analogies between concepts and terms used by the two intellectuals.

Here I will argue that the three partitions of the human mind — superego, ego, id — are symbolically personified by the three metamorphoses of the spirit — camel, lion, child — illustrated in Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Nietzsche. We will now explore why this relationship matters to the process of self-knowledge.

Superego, or the Camel

“Many heavy things are there for the spirit, the strong load-bearing spirit in which reverence dwelleth: for the heavy and the heaviest longeth its strength. What is heavy? So asketh the load-bearing spirit; then kneeleth it down like the camel, and wanteth to be well laden.”

Thus spoke Zarathustra, Friedrich Nietzsche

Camels lower their head without complaint. They do what they are asked to, without question. They take on the burden of humans they carry around. Camels are docile, submissive, obedient. Their life is all about sacrifice.

This is a potent allegory to describe the role played by the superego in our life. The superego is the constant pressure applied on us by societal obligations, by the demands of others. On the one hand, societal norms describe what is adequate and what is inadequate for us to think or do, what we should consider a value, what a vice. On the other hand, we are expected to meet other people’s aspirations: just think about the parents’ dream of seeing their children, one day, to study at some prestigious university. What their children truly desire instead is to become a cook. If we completely surrender to our superego, if the expectations of others win over our aspirations, our life can be summarized by the formula: “I am obliged to."

“All these heaviest things the load-bearing spirit taketh upon itself: and like the camel, which, when laden, hasteneth into the wilderness, so hasteneth the spirit into its wilderness.”

Can camels set themselves free? In Nietzsche’s view, it’s precisely when the burdened camel runs alone through their desert that they can finally grasp the meaning of their burden. The philosopher encourages the reader to seek for some metaphorical solitude, to find a room for independent reflections, at least once in their life. It’s when we are reflecting alone, unreachable by others, that we can set a distance from the rules and values that shape the community we belong to and look at them objectively. This is the only chance we have to resize their influence and not to be overwhelmed by the superego.

Ego, or the Lion

Now the camel aspires to be free. So, a new question arises in their mind: “Who do I want to be now?”

In light of this conscious demand for authenticity, the camel becomes a lion. This is the metaphor of the ego. As mentioned above, the conscious side of the human mind has to handle a conflict. On the one side, we want to follow our desires and aspirations, we desperately want to become who we truly are. But on the other side, we have to deal with the social constraints imposed by the superego. The conflict appears to the lion in the form of the gold dragon:

“What is the great dragon which the spirit is no longer inclined to call Lord and God? “Thou-shalt,” is the great dragon called. But the spirit of the lion saith, “I will.”

The lion could embrace the brightness of the safe values, virtues and opportunities offered by their peers, and forget about the dangerous voyage of self-investigation. We could settle for this, and let the existing institutions, our parents, our friends decide for us. This is what the dragon recommends. But the lion holds the power to decline the offer, and finally become a creative creature.

Freudian Psychology Essential Reads

The Birth of Psychoanalysis, and the Erasure of a Life

Failed Resolutions and Broken Promises

Id, or the Child

“But tell me, my brethren, what the child can do, which even the lion could not do? Why hath the preying lion still to become a child? Innocence is the child, and forgetfulness, a new beginning, a game, a self-rolling wheel, a first movement, a holy Yea.”

Children’s behaviour is often spontaneous and irrational. Children act without second thoughts. They tend to forget what they have just done. Thus, they can think and behave inconsistently. Anytime they forget, they can immediately have a new start. This is the perfect representation of the id: Let your instincts and desires, but also your ideas and projects, adhere to your actions. Embrace your thoughts and feelings, be active now: just challenge yourself.

In a nutshell

If Friedrich Nietzsche’s guide to self-investigation really existed, it would probably consist in three steps:

1. Fight your superego by unmasking the expectations the world has on you.

2. Give credit to your ego by valuing your dreams and plans.

3. Release your id and don’t let societal expectations prevail.