Essay, Research Paper: Pleasure And Aggression

Based on Freud concepts of pleasure and aggression, discuses Hay
Ibn Yaqzan and The Island of Animals
It is said to be that seeking pleasure and aggression are a part of our
human Instinct. We seek pleasure to shorten the time of our unhappiness.
We live in a constant struggle to be always happy, and we use all the ways
that take us to happiness. Aggression, on the otherhand, is a part of our
human nature, which can be hidden deep down in our subconcousnes and
explodes in certain situations, or it can be on the surface of our behavior and
inconstant use. Sources of happiness may differ from one person to another,
but the one source of our human gratification that we all agree upon, is the
happiness derived from sexual pleasure. Our souls strive for sexual pleasure
to be elevated from one degree of human happiness to another. Freud said
that "what we call happiness in the strictest sense comes from the ...
satisfaction of needs which have been dammed up to a high degree, and it
is from its nature only possible as an episodic phenomenon." (25). At the
sametime, we explore those human instincts in the presence of civilization
which set some rules and regulation that are surpassingly acting as guidelines
for the survival of humanity. Hay Ibn Yaqzan and The Island of animals, are
two different human experiences that discover our two core human instincts,
pleasure and aggression. In Hay, we will find that his journey with his own
instincts is different from our own human instincts, but it is the same when it
comes to the roll of civilization with dealing with them. On the otherhand,
The Island of Animals tends to dig in our human aggression, and shows how
humanity uses civilization as a curtain to hide behind it.

Freud concept of pleasure and happiness is related to Hay in only one way. It
is not in the kind of happiness itself , whether if is sexual or spiritual, but it
is similar in the procedure and the definitions of happiness or pleasure. In
other words, pleasure to Freud is basically in sexual terms, "Sexual
gratification is the prototype of all forms of individual happiness...". On
the otherhand, Hay Ibn Yaqzan's happiness or his pleasure is found in totally
different kind of human instinct, which is the substitute gratification for
sexual pleasure, because religion and science are included in Freud's lists for
intellectual replacements for the lost sexual happiness. So Hay, according to
Freud, is someone who favored the substitutes of sexual happiness. But, did
not experience sexual pleasure in the first place. Therefor, we cannot say that
Hay is someone who escaped the sexual pleasure to the intellectual
replacements, because of civilization. The concepts of Freud equation does
not suit Hay's case. At the sametime, we can make the link between Hay
and Freud's concept from the civilization point of view. According to Freud,
our sexual instincts are operates by civilization, and it does not serve the
requirements of civilization. In Hayy's case civilization oppressed his
spiritual happiness where he found it on the island. In this sense civilization
stood against his human instinct, as civilization is standing against our
human desires represented in the sexual form. Opposite, Hay escaped from
civilization in search for his basic human desires. This escape was
confirmed by his reinhabiting the Island with Absal. Hayy found that
civilization grab his desires from him, actually from his fellow man. Hayy
knew that "what misery moreburdeing than recounting all you do from the
time you get up to the time you go to bed without finding a singal action

that did not amount to seeking one of these vile, sensory aims:...pleasure
seeking...venting rage..."(71) As we can see pleasure for Salaman and his
friends is totally different from Hay's pleasure. The difference between
Freud's concept and Hay, is that in reality we do not fight or even escape to
reach our basic human instinct, but rather we create substitute gratification's.
According to Freud "Civilization compensates the individual by redirecting
his libidinal energies into socially acceptable forms of amusement and
diversion." But as we see those acceptable forms are substitutes for the real
thing, instinctual happiness. But, they are not a substitute for Hayy, they are
his core source of happiness. So he did not stay with Salaman and create for
himself substitute kind of pleasure, instead, he left civilization for its seekers
and he went back in search for his higher degree of happiness. On the
otherhand, civilization for us, becomes the constant attempt to divert the
individual from sexual gratification into socially productive and acceptable
activities. We on the contrary, do not have any place to escape to, so we
surrender to the quest of our civilization, and we use the intellectual
replacements for the lost sexual happiness.
On the otherhand of this discussion, comes the other concept of Freud
which is human aggression, and once more we will relate this core human
instinct to civilization and its impacts on human aggression. The Island of
Animals question the aggression that lies deep in human nature. It also
impasses the role of civilization in creating such violence within our
behavior. As we know, surpassingly, civilization came to modify our
aggressive nature, but it failed to do so because of too many restrictions,

such as social pressure that govern us and particularly governs our behavior
(lecture). It is an irony to say that the people who landed on the Island are
civilized men, "They were...men of every sort of profession, trade and
craft.....doctors and lawyers and builders....."(5), and according to Freud,
social order is one of the requirements for civilization, but the first thing that
those civilized men did is something completely against civilization. It is
once you feel that no one is watching you begin doing what brings you
happiness. In other words, aggression is another human instinct that brings
us joy and happiness. But, because civilization refuses any act of violence, it
oppresses this need of aggression deep in our consciousness, and thus the
first thing we do when no body is watching is anything that civilization
refuses us to do. In this case, civilization oppressed the aggression instinct in
the men who landed on the Island. This sense of aggression was clearly felt
by the animals who protested and asked for help, as any one who is being
used aggressively. The point that The Island of Animals emphasized is that
aggression is purely a human instinct, as there were men from all kinds of
religion, "These men came from different parts of t world and were from
different religions; they included Muslims, Christians, jews and
others."(5). This means that where ever you came from, whatever your
culture is, you are aggressive by nature. From that sense civilization steps in
with a beneficial propose, as it tame the human nature. But, civilization
creates human source of worry and distress, and also oppresses our basic
human instinct. As we looked for substitute for our sexual desire, we also
sacrifice our aggressive nature for the benefit of civilization.

Finally, it is clear that civilization has its discontents, but how can we
solve such a problem. It is impossible to look back and say that the
permissive man was happier because he had no restrictions. We can never go
back, or even look to the permissive world. Once we reach a higher degree
of civilization we tend to look and analyze the next step. We ignore our
human desires for better standards of living, we sacrifice them with what we
see better. Or even because we know that what we want from sexual and
aggressive desires is impossible to happen, then we subconsciously live in the
discontents of the civilization and pretend to be happy with the substitutes we
created for ourselves. Hayy and The Island of Animals are two stories that
question the roll of civilization in our life, each looked at civilization from
different perspective. At the sametime, what we all see refutable is the
solution that Hayy choose for himself, because no one can escape the
discontents that he originally created. Hayy was a special case because he
was raised away from civilization, so he didn't live in it. The question that
we have to ask ourselves is, what was Hayy going to do if he was exposed
to a sexual experience on the land of Absal and Salaman? was he going
to escape from civilization like he did, or was he going to live in civilization
and accept its discontent.










Seminar 200
section (31)




Name: Mohamed Fakhry A.Wahab
ID: 930110001


SECOND ESSAY



18.12.1996

Based on Freud concepts of pleasure and aggression, discuses Hay
Ibn Yaqzan and The Island of Animals
It is said to be that seeking pleasure and aggression are a part of our
human Instinct. We seek pleasure to shorten the time of our unhappiness.
We live in a constant struggle to be always happy, and we use all the ways
that take us to happiness. Aggression, on the otherhand, is a part of our
human nature, which can be hidden deep down in our subconcousnes and
explodes in certain situations, or it can be on the surface of our behavior and
inconstant use. Sources of happiness may differ from one person to another,
but the one source of our human gratification that we all agree upon, is the
happiness derived from sexual pleasure. Our souls strive for sexual pleasure
to be elevated from one degree of human happiness to another. Freud said
that "what we call happiness in the strictest sense comes from the ...
satisfaction of needs which have been dammed up to a high degree, and it
is from its nature only possible as an episodic phenomenon." (25). At the
sametime, we explore those human instincts in the presence of civilization
which set some rules and regulation that are surpassingly acting as guidelines
for the survival of humanity. Hay Ibn Yaqzan and The Island of animals, are
two different human experiences that discover our two core human instincts,
pleasure and aggression. In Hay, we will find that his journey with his own
instincts is different from our own human instincts, but it is the same when it
comes to the roll of civilization with dealing with them. On the otherhand,
The Island of Animals tends to dig in our human aggression, and shows how
humanity uses civilization as a curtain to hide behind it.

Freud concept of pleasure and happiness is related to Hay in only one way. It
is not in the kind of happiness itself , whether if is sexual or spiritual, but it
is similar in the procedure and the definitions of happiness or pleasure. In
other words, pleasure to Freud is basically in sexual terms, "Sexual
gratification is the prototype of all forms of individual happiness...". On
the otherhand, Hay Ibn Yaqzan's happiness or his pleasure is found in totally
different kind of human instinct, which is the substitute gratification for
sexual pleasure, because religion and science are included in Freud's lists for
intellectual replacements for the lost sexual happiness. So Hay, according to
Freud, is someone who favored the substitutes of sexual happiness. But, did
not experience sexual pleasure in the first place. Therefor, we cannot say that
Hay is someone who escaped the sexual pleasure to the intellectual
replacements, because of civilization. The concepts of Freud equation does
not suit Hay's case. At the sametime, we can make the link between Hay
and Freud's concept from the civilization point of view. According to Freud,
our sexual instincts are operates by civilization, and it does not serve the
requirements of civilization. In Hayy's case civilization oppressed his
spiritual happiness where he found it on the island. In this sense civilization
stood against his human instinct, as civilization is standing against our
human desires represented in the sexual form. Opposite, Hay escaped from
civilization in search for his basic human desires. This escape was
confirmed by his reinhabiting the Island with Absal. Hayy found that
civilization grab his desires from him, actually from his fellow man. Hayy
knew that "what misery moreburdeing than recounting all you do from the
time you get up to the time you go to bed without finding a singal action

that did not amount to seeking one of these vile, sensory aims:...pleasure
seeking...venting rage..."(71) As we can see pleasure for Salaman and his
friends is totally different from Hay's pleasure. The difference between
Freud's concept and Hay, is that in reality we do not fight or even escape to
reach our basic human instinct, but rather we create substitute gratification's.
According to Freud "Civilization compensates the individual by redirecting
his libidinal energies into socially acceptable forms of amusement and
diversion." But as we see those acceptable forms are substitutes for the real
thing, instinctual happiness. But, they are not a substitute for Hayy, they are
his core source of happiness. So he did not stay with Salaman and create for
himself substitute kind of pleasure, instead, he left civilization for its seekers
and he went back in search for his higher degree of happiness. On the
otherhand, civilization for us, becomes the constant attempt to divert the
individual from sexual gratification into socially productive and acceptable
activities. We on the contrary, do not have any place to escape to, so we
surrender to the quest of our civilization, and we use the intellectual
replacements for the lost sexual happiness.
On the otherhand of this discussion, comes the other concept of Freud
which is human aggression, and once more we will relate this core human
instinct to civilization and its impacts on human aggression. The Island of
Animals question the aggression that lies deep in human nature. It also
impasses the role of civilization in creating such violence within our
behavior. As we know, surpassingly, civilization came to modify our
aggressive nature, but it failed to do so because of too many restrictions,

such as social pressure that govern us and particularly governs our behavior
(lecture). It is an irony to say that the people who landed on the Island are
civilized men, "They were...men of every sort of profession, trade and
craft.....doctors and lawyers and builders....."(5), and according to Freud,
social order is one of the requirements for civilization, but the first thing that
those civilized men did is something completely against civilization. It is
once you feel that no one is watching you begin doing what brings you
happiness. In other words, aggression is another human instinct that brings
us joy and happiness. But, because civilization refuses any act of violence, it
oppresses this need of aggression deep in our consciousness, and thus the
first thing we do when no body is watching is anything that civilization
refuses us to do. In this case, civilization oppressed the aggression instinct in
the men who landed on the Island. This sense of aggression was clearly felt
by the animals who protested and asked for help, as any one who is being
used aggressively. The point that The Island of Animals emphasized is that
aggression is purely a human instinct, as there were men from all kinds of
religion, "These men came from different parts of t world and were from
different religions; they included Muslims, Christians, jews and
others."(5). This means that where ever you came from, whatever your
culture is, you are aggressive by nature. From that sense civilization steps in
with a beneficial propose, as it tame the human nature. But, civilization
creates human source of worry and distress, and also oppresses our basic
human instinct. As we looked for substitute for our sexual desire, we also
sacrifice our aggressive nature for the benefit of civilization.

Finally, it is clear that civilization has its discontents, but how can we
solve such a problem. It is impossible to look back and say that the
permissive man was happier because he had no restrictions. We can never go
back, or even look to the permissive world. Once we reach a higher degree
of civilization we tend to look and analyze the next step. We ignore our
human desires for better standards of living, we sacrifice them with what we
see better. Or even because we know that what we want from sexual and
aggressive desires is impossible to happen, then we subconsciously live in the
discontents of the civilization and pretend to be happy with the substitutes we
created for ourselves. Hayy and The Island of Animals are two stories that
question the roll of civilization in our life, each looked at civilization from
different perspective. At the sametime, what we all see refutable is the
solution that Hayy choose for himself, because no one can escape the
discontents that he originally created. Hayy was a special case because he
was raised away from civilization, so he didn't live in it. The question that
we have to ask ourselves is, what was Hayy going to do if he was exposed
to a sexual experience on the land of Absal and Salaman? was he going
to escape from civilization like he did, or was he going to live in civilization
and accept its discontent.










Seminar 200
section (31)




Name: Mohamed Fakhry A.Wahab
ID: 930110001


SECOND ESSAY



18.12.1996





Based on Freud concepts of pleasure and aggression, discuses Hay
Ibn Yaqzan and The Island of Animals
It is said to be that seeking pleasure and aggression are a part of our
human Instinct. We seek pleasure to shorten the time of our unhappiness.
We live in a constant struggle to be always happy, and we use all the ways
that take us to happiness. Aggression, on the otherhand, is a part of our
human nature, which can be hidden deep down in our subconcousnes and
explodes in certain situations, or it can be on the surface of our behavior and
inconstant use. Sources of happiness may differ from one person to another,
but the one source of our human gratification that we all agree upon, is the
happiness derived from sexual pleasure. Our souls strive for sexual pleasure
to be elevated from one degree of human happiness to another. Freud said
that "what we call happiness in the strictest sense comes from the ...
satisfaction of needs which have been dammed up to a high degree, and it
is from its nature only possible as an episodic phenomenon." (25). At the
sametime, we explore those human instincts in the presence of civilization
which set some rules and regulation that are surpassingly acting as guidelines
for the survival of humanity. Hay Ibn Yaqzan and The Island of animals, are
two different human experiences that discover our two core human instincts,
pleasure and aggression. In Hay, we will find that his journey with his own
instincts is different from our own human instincts, but it is the same when it
comes to the roll of civilization with dealing with them. On the otherhand,
The Island of Animals tends to dig in our human aggression, and shows how
humanity uses civilization as a curtain to hide behind it.

Freud concept of pleasure and happiness is related to Hay in only one way. It
is not in the kind of happiness itself , whether if is sexual or spiritual, but it
is similar in the procedure and the definitions of happiness or pleasure. In
other words, pleasure to Freud is basically in sexual terms, "Sexual
gratification is the prototype of all forms of individual happiness...". On
the otherhand, Hay Ibn Yaqzan's happiness or his pleasure is found in totally
different kind of human instinct, which is the substitute gratification for
sexual pleasure, because religion and science are included in Freud's lists for
intellectual replacements for the lost sexual happiness. So Hay, according to
Freud, is someone who favored the substitutes of sexual happiness. But, did
not experience sexual pleasure in the first place. Therefor, we cannot say that
Hay is someone who escaped the sexual pleasure to the intellectual
replacements, because of civilization. The concepts of Freud equation does
not suit Hay's case. At the sametime, we can make the link between Hay
and Freud's concept from the civilization point of view. According to Freud,
our sexual instincts are operates by civilization, and it does not serve the
requirements of civilization. In Hayy's case civilization oppressed his
spiritual happiness where he found it on the island. In this sense civilization
stood against his human instinct, as civilization is standing against our
human desires represented in the sexual form. Opposite, Hay escaped from
civilization in search for his basic human desires. This escape was
confirmed by his reinhabiting the Island with Absal. Hayy found that
civilization grab his desires from him, actually from his fellow man. Hayy
knew that "what misery moreburdeing than recounting all you do from the
time you get up to the time you go to bed without finding a singal action

that did not amount to seeking one of these vile, sensory aims:...pleasure
seeking...venting rage..."(71) As we can see pleasure for Salaman and his
friends is totally different from Hay's pleasure. The difference between
Freud's concept and Hay, is that in reality we do not fight or even escape to
reach our basic human instinct, but rather we create substitute gratification's.
According to Freud "Civilization compensates the individual by redirecting
his libidinal energies into socially acceptable forms of amusement and
diversion." But as we see those acceptable forms are substitutes for the real
thing, instinctual happiness. But, they are not a substitute for Hayy, they are
his core source of happiness. So he did not stay with Salaman and create for
himself substitute kind of pleasure, instead, he left civilization for its seekers
and he went back in search for his higher degree of happiness. On the
otherhand, civilization for us, becomes the constant attempt to divert the
individual from sexual gratification into socially productive and acceptable
activities. We on the contrary, do not have any place to escape to, so we
surrender to the quest of our civilization, and we use the intellectual
replacements for the lost sexual happiness.
On the otherhand of this discussion, comes the other concept of Freud
which is human aggression, and once more we will relate this core human
instinct to civilization and its impacts on human aggression. The Island of
Animals question the aggression that lies deep in human nature. It also
impasses the role of civilization in creating such violence within our
behavior. As we know, surpassingly, civilization came to modify our
aggressive nature, but it failed to do so because of too many restrictions,

such as social pressure that govern us and particularly governs our behavior
(lecture). It is an irony to say that the people who landed on the Island are
civilized men, "They were...men of every sort of profession, trade and
craft.....doctors and lawyers and builders....."(5), and according to Freud,
social order is one of the requirements for civilization, but the first thing that
those civilized men did is something completely against civilization. It is
once you feel that no one is watching you begin doing what brings you
happiness. In other words, aggression is another human instinct that brings
us joy and happiness. But, because civilization refuses any act of violence, it
oppresses this need of aggression deep in our consciousness, and thus the
first thing we do when no body is watching is anything that civilization
refuses us to do. In this case, civilization oppressed the aggression instinct in
the men who landed on the Island. This sense of aggression was clearly felt
by the animals who protested and asked for help, as any one who is being
used aggressively. The point that The Island of Animals emphasized is that
aggression is purely a human instinct, as there were men from all kinds of
religion, "These men came from different parts of t world and were from
different religions; they included Muslims, Christians, jews and
others."(5). This means that where ever you came from, whatever your
culture is, you are aggressive by nature. From that sense civilization steps in
with a beneficial propose, as it tame the human nature. But, civilization
creates human source of worry and distress, and also oppresses our basic
human instinct. As we looked for substitute for our sexual desire, we also
sacrifice our aggressive nature for the benefit of civilization.

Finally, it is clear that civilization has its discontents, but how can we
solve such a problem. It is impossible to look back and say that the
permissive man was happier because he had no restrictions. We can never go
back, or even look to the permissive world. Once we reach a higher degree
of civilization we tend to look and analyze the next step. We ignore our
human desires for better standards of living, we sacrifice them with what we
see better. Or even because we know that what we want from sexual and
aggressive desires is impossible to happen, then we subconsciously live in the
discontents of the civilization and pretend to be happy with the substitutes we
created for ourselves. Hayy and The Island of Animals are two stories that
question the roll of civilization in our life, each looked at civilization from
different perspective. At the sametime, what we all see refutable is the
solution that Hayy choose for himself, because no one can escape the
discontents that he originally created. Hayy was a special case because he
was raised away from civilization, so he didn't live in it. The question that
we have to ask ourselves is, what was Hayy going to do if he was exposed
to a sexual experience on the land of Absal and Salaman? was he going
to escape from civilization like he did, or was he going to live in civilization
and accept its discontent.










Seminar 200
section (31)




Name: Mohamed Fakhry A.Wahab
ID: 930110001


SECOND ESSAY




Based on Freud concepts of pleasure and aggression, discuses Hay
Ibn Yaqzan and The Island of Animals
It is said to be that seeking pleasure and aggression are a part of our
human Instinct. We seek pleasure to shorten the time of our unhappiness.
We live in a constant struggle to be always happy, and we use all the ways
that take us to happiness. Aggression, on the otherhand, is a part of our
human nature, which can be hidden deep down in our subconcousnes and
explodes in certain situations, or it can be on th