This influential study by the founder of psychoanalysis lays the groundwork for our modern understanding of the human psyche.
One Sigmund Freud’s most prominent ideas was that of the id, the ego, and the super-ego—the three main factors behind the workings of the human mind. Freud claimed these components of the human psyche controlled all processes of personality, behaviors, and traits in a person.
The Id represents a person’s most basic and impulsive instincts—the ones that feed into our deepest desires and physical needs. The Super-Ego, by contrast, controls our highest morals and standards, operating through our conscience and making us desire to be our best selves. The Ego resides in the middle, mediating between the Id and realities of the world around us, while being supervised (and guilted) by the Super-Ego.
Building on his groundbreaking work, Beyond the Pleasure Principle, Sigmund Freud delves deeper into the concepts of the human mind in The Ego and the Id, revealing profound insights about the inner conflicts we navigate every day.
