A ética e seu lugar na natureza segundo S. Freud

Abstract

The Freudian conception of the unconscious is based on the idea that the human beings and the human actions are essentially determined by the instincts. This notion of instinct , taken from modern biology, refers to the idea that the movements or actions of living beings are designed by fixed patterns of behaviour transmitted genetically. Our research is an attempt to find out how, in such a context, the Freudian theories explain the ethical capacity of human beings, considering such a capacity as the ability of choosing between acting out or not acting out those so-called innate patterns of behaviour. Our analysis of the Freudian texts focuses on the principal shifts of the theories developed by him along his career, trying to point out how his conceptions establish the notion of the human action, as well as how this notion is articulated in the context of the natural sciences.