Conscience Vs. Superego: A Catholic View on Freud’s Theory

Everyone has heard the phrase “let your conscience be your guide”, and many people relate conscience to an angel and a devil on their shoulder telling them to perform and act that is right or wrong. Many people believe that the “superego”, developed by Sigmund Freud and conscience are the same thing: a Jiminy Cricket-like character that encourages a person to do the right thing. Freud’s theory of conscience consists of three parts- the Id, Ego, and Superego, all of which an impact on human decision making. The ideas of conscience and superego are very similar, but also very different in many ways. Conscience is the internal voice that tells a person which actions are morally right and which are morally wrong, while the superego is an internal voice that originates form society and authority figure that can give good moral guidance or bad moral guidance. In addition, conscience is an instinct that can be developed and formed through the growth of one’s character, and the superego develops following the id and ego, through the influences of the surrounding environment.

Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of personality is composed of the id, ego and superego, and these elements work together to create complex human behavior. The ID is a part of the unconscious mind and is driven by passion and desire. The id portrays the primitive state of mind and consists of “Eros”, love and passion, and “Thorantos”, destruction. The Ego combats the ID and is the partly conscious aspect of personality that is responsible for dealing with reality. The Superego affects people’s decision-making based on the way elders, authority figures, and society has influenced them. The superego may help a person to do what is right, or it may impede morally good and healthy behavior. Freud states that a person, who was influenced by major authorities that did not allow the person the freedom and opportunity to act responsibly without the authority figure, will experience behavior affected by an overdeveloped superego. This tyrannical superego may fill the person with false shame and guilt for actions that are not necessarily wrong. On the contrary, people with a superego that does not cripple them with guilt may cause them to be overpowered by powerful figures who direct them to perform evil actions. Longtin gives examples such as German soldiers in WWII who exterminated Jews and U.S. marines who killed innocent Vietnamese women and children. Many directives that superegos provide are helpful in encouraging right behavior and developing healthy human beings. The superego gives guidance, whether healthy or not, through the development of people’s lives, and it is their decision to choose the right action that the superego is encouraging. This process is very painful and leads to becoming mature, free, responsible human beings.

There are three ways that human beings’ consciences function. The conscience in everyone moves him/her to seek both to know and to do what is good, and conversely to avoid what is evil. Secondly, the conscience functions by motivating people to gather the information they need to find the correct answers to complex moral problems. Finally, the conscience enables a human to reach a personal decision that “this is what God wants him/her to do”. The formation of conscience does not only entail “What ought I to do?”, but also, as Richard Gula emphasizes, “What sort of a person ought I become?”. The growth and formation of conscience is significantly based on the development of one’s character. If a person spends his life making good decisions and developing a very moral character, then when he or she asks, “What ought I to do?” they will without doubt make the best decision. Often times, with the development of conscience and character in a person, metanoia, or a change of mind, takes place. This new view of one’s own life will probably help advance one’s own conscience and contribute to profound character growth. Gula also suggests that people ask themselves other questions when judging what they should do in a certain situation: “What?”, “Who?”, “When and Where?”, “Why and How?”, and “What if and What else?”.

Freud’s superego and the Catholic view of conscience are different because the superego is affected by outside forces while conscience is instinctual, and superego can lead to immoral choices while conscience helps a person decide what is moral and what is not. In addition, throughout the development of a person, the superego fires choices at the person that forces him/her to deal with, and ironically the conscience can help the person decide between these society-affected decisions. Freud’s idea of the superego may help someone become a better, more morally sound person, but it also may cause the person to succumb to guilt or engage in evil behavior. Catholics and all people should know that they can always rely on their conscience to debate decisions and find the more ethical one, as long as their conscience is formed and developed based on genuine, moral character.