Throughout history, philosophers have had different ideas of how to solve the problem of the struggle between life and death. Freud believed that humanity was in a constant struggle of living and destruction. He says that civilization frustrates us so we find ways to distract ourselves from the suffering of daily living. Both James and Weber agree with Freud on the fact that people try to distract themselves from life’s suffering, but have different ideas of what one should distract themselves with. James would say to solve this problem by living your own truth, while Weber felt that trying to accrue wealth is not a productive way to go about life.
James would respond to Freud’s ideas by insisting on finding one’s truth and living it. James was a pragmatist and believed in doing what was logical and rational. Like Hume, he believed in letting everyone have their own idea of what is true, as long as their beliefs don’t hurt anyone else. Freud said that in order to exist in civilization, there are some tradeoffs that every human being has to make. People give up their own personal freedom for security in order to preserve the species. This means that people have to curb their desires by sublimating them in order for society to exist and go on. In order to reduce the frustration of everyday living, James advised against petty squabbles and arguing over trivial matters, as these create unnecessary conflict and make people’s lives more difficult. Even though everyone will end up dying someday, the goal is to make the time until death as painless as possible. It is ok to have different beliefs and ideas than other people, but when two different truths bump against each other, it causes a conflict. To James, this problem is best avoided if people are allowed to believe whatever they want to believe without hurting others based on their own ideas of what is true.
Weber would respond to Freud by criticizing people for attaching a religious and moral quality to work and money. According to Freud, people are in constant battle between their id and superego. The id wants immediate satisfaction and pleasure, while the superego represents conscience. In order to exist in civilization and reap its benefits of security and community, people must suppress the id and act morally, which frustrates them. As a result, people will look toward other things to distract them and bring them happiness, such as love, beauty, and religion. Weber says one way that people distract themselves is by focusing on how much wealth they can accrue. Modern day industrial society has led people to assign a moral quality to how much they work. Capitalism has replaced Christianity as a religion as people follow the “calling” of accrual. People work to show their fealty to God, and allow work to define their entire identities. People are led to believe that rich people deserve their wealth because they are favored by God, since modern humans understand each other in economic terms rather than religious. However, Weber doesn’t feel that overworking is a good way to distract oneself from the frustrations of civilization. He believes that work is secondary, and that none of the work that someone does is more important than the person themselves. People shouldn’t sacrifice their health just to gain more money, nor should they be responsible for a job outside of normal working hours. Weber feels that money should be a means to an end and that people shouldn’t exist to work, but rather work to exist.
