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Lecture 4

CMN 3109 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Culture Industry, Instrumentalism, Dixie Chicks

Course Code
CMN 3109
Dina Salha

Lecture 4
Critical Theory: Frankfurt School
!Small group of philosophers, called critical theorists, who worked
under the direction of Max Horkheimer(1895-1973) and Theodor
!Frankfurt school says that all modern societies, especially the
advanced capitalist North American society, are victims to forms of
authoritarianism, especially fascism (state with terrorist
domination) and totalitarianism (total state control).
!Concerns with the working class.
!Softer way of utilizing authoritarianism and totalitarianism
!The Frankfurt school turned to Freudian psychology (Oedipus
complex) to explain why the workers’ revolution did not happen in
advanced capitalist societies as predicted by Marx.
!Frankfurt’s school was a Marxist school
!Something in the psychology and personality of workers that
prevented them from revolving
!Base determines the Superstructure
o!Superstructure (politics, culture, philosophy etc…)
o!Base (economy, labor, capital)
!!Base should determine how politics are going to be
!Class conflict
o!Between the workers and those who own the means of
!Workers will revolt ; revolution will take place in most advanced
capitalist societies
o!Because that’s where the workers are mostly exploited due to
technology, division of working day, isolation, labour, etc.
!Conscious and Unconscious…and Preconscious


o!Conscious mind is the mind that is aware of what you’re
doing. It’s the source of ideas. Conscious thinking. Its
concerned with the logical thinking, reality, civilized
o!The unconscious is seen as a part of the mind that is
repressed. It’s the place where we put our conditioning and
socializing doesn’t allow use to look at…things that are
forbidden, e.g. taboo. The unconscious rules our emotional
life, our relations everything.
o!Unconscious and conscious are binary opposite
o!The preconscious is the region of the mind where you have
info that’s stored. This info is not conscience but you can
recall it anytime. You can recall it when you need it. E.g. Déjà
o!For Freud mind is scientific because he’s categorizing all of us.
o!E.g. conscience will be living room, preconscious will be where
you keep your cold stuff and the unconscious will be the cellar
or the are where you don’t go very often.
!Psychosexual development: relating to the mental aspects of
o!Psychosexual refers to bringing everything that’s suppressed
and repressed from ideas and so forth into consciousness.
!Childhood sexuality: as a way to try and explain how people
develop into social beings.
o!How we develop into adults
o!How we develop into our needs
!Pleasure principal and Reality principal.
o!Pleasure principal
!!This is the principle that pushes people towards
immediate gratification.
!!Looks at the basic needs and urges
"!Its all about satisfaction of these urges
!!Satisfaction of immediate, sexual and basic urges.
!!Its based on impulse
o!Reality principal
!!As a person matures he or she realizes that society puts
restrictions on us.
"!Punishment and reward conditioning in our
!!We know what’s allowed and what’s not allowed
!!We know when to do something and when not to do
!!It involves prevention of harms
!!It also involves delay for gratification


"!You can’t always get what you want right away
!!Sexual relationships are conditioned by marriage
!Infantile sexuality has 2 characteristics:
o!a) autoerotic
!!When the child finds the object of eroticism in his or her
own body
o!b) made up of individual component instincts
!!this is where each part whether mental or physical part
searchers for sexual gratification in different ways.
o!If everything goes according to these kinds of discoveries, the
child will lead a normal sexual lifestyle.
o!In adulthood you usually have some sort of control on
o!As a child discovering your body, you also feel sexual urges
!!You have different components that add up to these
sexual urges
!!Reproductive system
!Oral, anal and phallic stage
o!Oral stage
!!Starts from brith till the age of 1
!!The first stage of this psychosexual development
!!The child or sexuality focuses on the mouth or lips
!!Anabolic stage
!!E.g. sucking on breast, etc.
o! Anal stage
!!1 year old to 3 year old
!!The sadistic anal stage
!!It has to do with withholding and secreting feces.
!!Rewarded for excreting
!!According to Freud, this is the stage where the child
learns how to control others through excretion of fluids
!!This is when the child starts to learn what’s an
appropriate behavior.
!!This stage they find out they can have control over
adult by withholding the stool
!!This is all very pleasuring to the child
o!Phallic stage
!!Extends till 5 year old
!!This is where the child starts to discover the genitals
!!Freud says the child decides bodily discovery through
touching itself.
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