What is the function of the Superego, according to Sigmund Freud, and to what level of conscious does it relate?
I was late for work this morning, because I got stuck in Zeno's paradox.
According to Freud's theory, the super-ego acts as a sort of conscience, and is responsible for what we call our sense of morality. The super-ego is formed when a young boy begins to identify with his father figure, and has some connection to a fear of castration by the father figure (owing to the oedipal complex that most boys develop early on). The theory is that the boy realises that he cannot have his mother as a love object for fear of reprisals from the father figure. At a later stage the super-ego supposedly identifies with other authority figures (such as law enforcement agents), and this is what causes a sense of morality to stop people from committing crimes. The id, ego and super-ego collaborate to form a person's behaviour, to decide what is socially acceptable and what is not.
The superego is the part in Freud's structural theory that develops last. It generally develops after one has solved ones oedipus complex, and has internalized his father figure and cultural standards. It floats both below and above consciousness. It's function is the part which holds the norms, ideals, conscience and taboo, and stands opposed to the animalistic impulses of the id.
Basically, when a boy starts eating with a fork and knife of his own device - not because anyone told him too - but because he thinks it's the proper way to behave - you can say he has started developing a superego.
Women, who in the original theory do not solve an Oedipus Complex and do not identify with the father figure (because they are already castrated) develop a much weaker superego, and so are prone to taste forbidden fruits in the garden...
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