Freud uses both scientific metaphors (the “topography” and “dynamics” of the psyche) and more personal ones (the super-ego as a harsh judge over the ego, the ego and id as horse and rider). Is one type of metaphor more effective than the other, and how do these metaphorical approaches work together?

Analyze the internal tensions within the super-ego. How does the ego ideal assimilate conflicting forms of moral authority? How might these conflicts manifest in the psyche?

What is the role of biological mechanisms in Freud’s theory of the psyche? To what extent does he use these mechanisms in a metaphorical as opposed to a scientific sense?

Freud provides examples of three psychological pathologies caused by dysfunction in the dynamic system: obsessional neurosis, melancholia, and hysteria. Describe the etiology of these conditions as understood by Freud. Then, consider how this understanding compares to contemporary understandings of mental illness.

How can Freud’s work be examined through a feminist or queer critique? How might his concepts, including his theory of the Oedipus complex, reflect a larger pattern of patriarchal values and bias?

Analyze the role of word-presentations and oral, visual, and written language more generally in the psyche and in psychoanalysis. Does putting words to unconscious impulses make it possible to control them?

How does Freud’s discussion of anxiety in Part 5 of The Ego and the Id differ from his understanding of anxiety in his later work, Inhibitions, Symptoms and Anxiety (1926)?

Analyze Freud’s arguments in The Ego and the Id in light of his biography. How might his worldview as an upper-class Austrian scientist—and as a Jewish scientist facing antisemitic persecution—shape his views on the psyche?