The collective super-ego clashes with man’s internal super-ego because each individual has different standards of right and wrong. Reinhold Niebuhr speaks of the flaws in society’s super-ego in his book Moral Man and Immoral Society: A Study in Ethics and Politics when he writes, “The inferiority of the morality of groups to that of individuals is due in part to the difficulty of establishing a rational social force which is powerful enough to cope with the natural impulses by which society achieves its cohesion…” He means that in order for society to produce a successful collective super-ego, it must first be able to understand and accept different ideals. The collective super-ego of society usually operates under the common beliefs of the majority or those in power, but not everyone has the same system of morality. One man’s own super-ego may conflict with the collective super-ego not because he is necessarily wrong, but because the collective super-ego deems him to be. Niebuhr also discusses the overwhelming power of the majority when he states, “…but in part it is merely the revelation of a collective egoism, compounded of the egotistic impulses of individuals which achieve a more vivid expression and a more cumulative effect when they are united in a common impulse than when they express themselves separately and discreetly.” Individuals whose scruples differ from popular beliefs will be seen as immoral and feel the wrath of the collective super-ego. Society must come to terms with the fact that not everyone shares one standard set of moral values. Until this becomes a reality, society’s collective super-ego will cause the outspoken minority of the population
The collective super-ego clashes with man’s internal super-ego because each individual has different standards of right and wrong. Reinhold Niebuhr speaks of the flaws in society’s super-ego in his book Moral Man and Immoral Society: A Study in Ethics and Politics when he writes, “The inferiority of the morality of groups to that of individuals is due in part to the difficulty of establishing a rational social force which is powerful enough to cope with the natural impulses by which society achieves its cohesion…” He means that in order for society to produce a successful collective super-ego, it must first be able to understand and accept different ideals. The collective super-ego of society usually operates under the common beliefs of the majority or those in power, but not everyone has the same system of morality. One man’s own super-ego may conflict with the collective super-ego not because he is necessarily wrong, but because the collective super-ego deems him to be. Niebuhr also discusses the overwhelming power of the majority when he states, “…but in part it is merely the revelation of a collective egoism, compounded of the egotistic impulses of individuals which achieve a more vivid expression and a more cumulative effect when they are united in a common impulse than when they express themselves separately and discreetly.” Individuals whose scruples differ from popular beliefs will be seen as immoral and feel the wrath of the collective super-ego. Society must come to terms with the fact that not everyone shares one standard set of moral values. Until this becomes a reality, society’s collective super-ego will cause the outspoken minority of the population