Darwin+and+Freud+vs+Enlightenment+Thinking

Gautam Gupta Prompt: Evaluate how the ideas of Charles Darwin and Sigmund Freud challenged Enlightenment ideas and assumptions about human behavior and the role of reason. Thesis: Darwin and Freud challenged the Enlightenment ideals of human perfection through Darwin’s theory of evolution and Freud’s theory of the subconscious and humanity’s animalistic tendencies.

 I. Freud vs Enlightenment Ideas · Enlightenment was all about reaching human perfection (think humanism) · Perfect society/government (Utopia – Thomas More) · Religious toleration for all – bringing us away from animalistic tendencies (Voltaire – Treatise on Toleration) · Freud invents subconscious · Ruled by animal desires (id, ego, superego) · Animal desires are NOT perfection – humans are NOT perfect · Humans were subject to all the same desires as animals · Still believed that human behavior was a rational reaction to conscious motives, like Enlightenment thinkers  II. Darwin vs Enlightenment Ideas · Darwin created his theory of evolution with natural selection as its mechanism (Presented through //On the Origin of Species//) · Revolutionized the ideas on the origin of man · Rebuked by Church · Again, Enlightenment ideas were about showing how perfect man was compared to animals · Darwin turned it around and showed that man IS an animal—common descent

Sources: Wikipedia, AP Achiever