Civilization and its Discontents, is, in great part, a philosophical treatise, in which Freud tries to replace a metaphysical, idealistic framework with a psychological one. He does so by using a performative, therapeutic style of argumentation, in which he encourages the reader to analyze philosophical problems in the context of his daily life, and realize that Freud's psychoanalytic explanations fit more closely with his own experience than metaphysical constructions. By examining the problems in this …showed first 75 words of 3441 total…

…showed last 75 words of 3441 total…are natural and should be allowed voice, if not free reign, for maximum individual happinessóthat is, we should stop fooling ourselves about the roots of our motivation. However, he is also unsure what would become of civilization if we got rid of metaphysical constructions. Would we build new, better ones, or would the glue that is holding together the tenuous fabric of society deteriorate, and Thanatos finally destroy the human species?