Unlike a lot of philosophers and theologians who claim that the source of God is moral awareness, Freud believed that we get our sense of morality from ourselves, most notably from the way in which we are brought up and the pressures that are influenced upon us by society. He believed that our minds our made up of three different parts, the id, the superego and the ego. The id is the part of our brain and consciousness that acts on impulse, and is responsible for some of the more rash and animalistic decisions that we make. The superego is the part of our subconscious that has been shaped by society to fit humanities morals that have evolved over the years in order to be best suited to our ultimate survival. The ego is the part of our brain that has developed in order to mediate decisions between our animalistic id and our superego that ensures we make the right decisions based on ‘morality’. Freud believed that a lot of our personal ideas of morality and subconscious believes stems from childhood trauma, which can be discovered and cured through therapy. Most of what we know about Freud’s views on moral awareness comes from his two books Beyond the pleasure principle, and The ego and the id, written in 1920 and 1923 respectively.

The id is the most primitive and old part of our brain, that is responsible for the animalistic and impulsive nature that humans sometimes display. In a situation where one has to make a sub conscious split second decision, the id is the area of the brain that is responsible for this, and it is this that keeps us alive. When we are born only the id is present, and the superego and ego develop later in life as we are exposed to the pressures of society. The id contains personality that is inherited from our parents, and may make us particularly prone to anger or addiction. People that have a dominant id, and are not as bound by the stigmas of society, are more likely to take risks such as committing crime or taking drugs. Our libido (sex drive) is also contained within the id, as breeding and passing on our DNA is perhaps the most important function of a being. As our superego has developed this has become less important, with more and more people choosing not to have children now. The id is only focused on achieving immediate pleasure, meaning that a decision that we may regret later on may sometimes be made by our id in order to achieve that pleasure in the present. An example of this may be not doing some homework and going out with your friends instead, whilst your superego might tell you that you should have done it and will regret the decision.

The superego is the area in the brain which contains all of societies values, stigmas and expectations that we have learnt and acted in accordance with other the years. According to Freud the superego starts to develop when you are 3, as you begin to become more aware of what is going on around you. The superego is very important because it keeps the impulses of the id under control, allowing us to live and thrive in societies with one another. If we acted on the id’s aggression and sexual desire the whole time then society would not survive, meaning that humanity would be nowhere near as successful as we are today. If we give into the desires of our id then our superego sends feelings of guilt to our ego, as we have fallen short of what we know we should be doing. However if we do the right thing according to societal stigmas and values then our superego will reward us and make us feel content and happy with what we have done. The concept of the ideal self is the idea of how we ought to be, and how we would behave if we were the perfect member of society. If one has an ideal self that is too unrealistic then this often stems from how we were brought up, and childhood trauma can result in one never feeling that we have achieved our ideal self.

Freud believed that our ego is actually a part of our id that has been changed by the pressures of society. It is the part of our brain and source of moral awareness that is most like ourselves, and is a very important part of how we act. It is important that we have this as we have to strike a balance between the animalistic id, and performing within the rules of society. It uses reason to make decisions, and decision making is its primary function. It considers societal realities and rules, as well as trying to achieve pleasure for the id, usually striking a balance between the two. The ego does not consider right and wrong but rather tries to make the decision that is the most satisfying to the id whilst still performing within in social pressures and ideals. Freud uses an analogy of a horse and rider to describe the id and the ego. The id is the horse which has to be controlled by the more rational ego (rider), but still wants to go fast and enjoy life.

To conclude Freud claimed that the brain is made up of three different parts, the id, the ego and the superego. Our moral awareness stems mostly from the superego, which starts to develop at around three. He claimed that actual morality did not exist, but rather we learn from the values and conventions of society in order to fit in and thrive with others. However the id sometimes can prevent this, by making us give way to animalistic pleasures such as sex and violence. The ego is the decision making area which considers both the id and the superego, trying to reach a compromise which both gives us pleasure and does not alienate us from society.