Ego

versus

Love

Mete Avcı

Metheus

Metheus Ego versus Love

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Hacettepe University

English Linguistics IDB-157 Integrated Skills

2012-2013 Academic Year

21257593

Writing Assignment

12/24/2012

Metheus Ego versus Love

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The philosophical paradigm, which has been building in the 20th

century, has brought us to realize that there is only one probable concept

which can be questioned for all of the human behaviors: ego12. In other

words, the instinct is simply hidden behind every action, no matter how

complex they are and all we need to do is to understand it.

Ego drives the living being to survive and to gain more biological

power in all conditions. This seems very simple to deal with, but it brings

the most difficult problems of modern man. First of all, where there are

numerous individuals, they will always be threatening each other’s

presence even though it is the fact that they will never gain what they have

always been driven to. Also, there occurs the deterministic problem of

freedom as individuals are always passive while passion is all they have.

Another problematic is that an individual is automatically separated from

the rest of the universe. This isolation creates a vicious circle as individual

may act only in his own system.

Psychoanalytic researches show that there is a curious thing called

love that may interest the ego concept as it is described as an active power

contrary to passiveness between behaviors. Erich Fromm says “Envy,

jealousy, ambition, any kind of greed are passions,” and continues, “love is an

action, the practice of human power, which can be practiced only in freedom

and never as a result of compulsion.”3

Love and ego are different concepts, but they have considerable

similarities. First of all, they are both triggers which bring humans to act for

their own benefits. Neither of them accepts loss of power. Secondly, these

two concepts are the basis of the highest pleasure that man can ever take.

The pleasure principle of Freud shows that the purpose of any behavior is

pleasure; and according to Freud’s human model, human is motivated by

two impulses: self-preservation and sexuality.4 Thirdly, both of them have

great importance throughout the human history. For example, ego can be

observed in any human behavior and love is sublimated in every culture.

1 Friedrich Nietzsche, The Will to Power, §636, 1880 2 Sigmund Freud, The Ego and the Id, 1926 3 Erich Fromm, The Art of Loving, The Theory of Love, 1956 4 Sigmund Freud, Beyond the Pleasure Principle, 1920

Metheus Ego versus Love

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There are handful of differences between ego and love, but the main

difference is that ego behaves only for the isolated system’s benefits; it is

too blind to see the fact that reunion with others is way more beneficial. But

love truly makes individuals united. Modus operandi5 of mirror neurons

proves love’s uniting being in biological sense. Another difference may be

regarded as the fact that love demands psychological sophistication, self-

devotion and so much effort while ego naturally and simply runs for

immature benefits.

A criterion is vital for determining what we have now. If we simply

take pragmatism as the criterion, we will still have been threatened by the

passiveness problematic. Ego does not seem to be working properly in

modern man, maybe because it is only competent in midbrain level.6 As

outlined by Friedrich Nietzsche, “Our egoism is not intelligent enough and

our intelligence is not egoist enough.”7 The only probable power to develop

the immature pragmatism is love. Not muscles but love and knowledge are

the true powers. When ego is able to treat self-devotion in reunion as the

most beneficial concept of life, it will eventually meet the highest voluptas

vitæ8 which may be regarded as a criterion. Love is the answer9 as the

mature ego.

To conclude, according to the midpoint of modern philosophy, ego is

responsible for all of the world problems and the solution is founded in

reunion and integrity. The needed power to remove the isolation is called

love. These propositions should not evoke a utopic or metaphysical

presence, because they are only based on human nature and do not demand

any other supernatural or extraordinary efforts.

5 operating style

6 Breedlove, Watson, & Rosenzweig, Biological Psychology, 6th Edition, §45-46, 2010 7 Friedrich Nietzsche, A letter to his friend, 1867 8 pleasure of life

9 From the song Mind Games, by John Lennon of Beatles.