Civilization and Its Discontents was a book written by Sigmund Freud in the decade before his death and was first published in German in 1929. In it he states his views on the question of man's place in the world, a place Freud describes as being on the fulcrum between the individual's quest for freedom and society's demand for conformity. Freud believes that man, aggressive and egotistical, has goals and desires that are not always conducive to the needs of civilization. As a result, civilization, or its culture, inhibits man's instinctual drives, which can result in guilt and unfulfillment.
