Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: On Philosophy

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: On Philosophy Alex Smith

May 11^th 2011

Most people would agree that inside every human being, there is some good, and some evil. No one is perfectly good, beyond all scrutiny. At the same time, no one is pure evil. Plato, Descartes, Hume and Freud’s views all in some way confirm this theory. To this end, the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a useful analogy in understanding human nature and morality.

For both Plato and Descartes, identity is a constant battleground. In Plato’s theory, the soul is divided into three parts: Reason, Desire, and Spirit. He believes Reason, or intellect, along with Spirit, must work to control Desire, the part of the soul that motivates instinctual drives. Similarly, Descartes believes identity a battle between body and mind, where the body is simply a mechanical machine, designed to provide a home for the mind. In his theory, all things intellectual and reasonable come from the mind, whereas all desires come from the body. Descartes goes even farther in his advice for how to manage these two parts, suggesting that to achieve balance, one must cut their reasoning mind off from the body all together. Descartes and Plato, as well as Christianity, are alike in that they portray desires as bad and evil, an attitude that is consistent with the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde analogy. In the story, Mr. Hyde is an exaggerated representation of Dr. Jekyll’s base desires. Mr. Hyde is portrayed as pure evil, which makes sense if one considers the strict Christian ideals of the time period in which the novel was written. As for morality, both Plato and Descartes advise that the way to achieve moral standards is to repress all desires. Once again, the analogy holds true, as Dr. Jekyll spends the entire novel attempting to remove himself from the evil Mr. Hyde.

Hume takes an entirely different stance on the idea of multiple parts of identity. In his reasoning, desires are not evil, but are instead a legitimate part of human nature. He believes intellect is present only to assist one in achieving their desires. For example, if one desires money the intellect steps in and formulates a plan on how to achieve that goal. When Hume’s theory is applied to the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde analogy, it brings about an alternative way of thinking about the story. Hume would say that Dr. Jekyll actually wants to release his baser instincts, and is tired of trying to suppress them. Thus, he uses his intellect to separate the parts of himself, allowing him to make choices free from moral restrictions. From Hume’s utilitarian perspective, this would not be moral, because morality for him is bring the most happiness to the greatest number of people possible, and Mr. Hyde’s nighttime antics certainly do not achieve this goal.

Freud’s views on self-identity are perhaps the most applicable to the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde analogy. According to Freud, people consist of three parts; the Ego, the Super Ego, and the Id. The Ego is the rational part that interacts with the outside world, the Super Ego is the moral conscience, and the Id is the instinctual desires that are present in everyone. Freud’s beliefs fit the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde perfectly. Dr. Jekyll represents the Ego. He is rational, intelligent, and interacts with the people around him in a pleasant and reasonable way. He also has a strong moral compass, or super ego. Contrastingly, Mr. Hyde has no conscience, is secretive, mysterious and violent. He symbolizes the Id. Like Plato, Freud believes that to be moral, the Ego and the Super Ego must work to control the Id. This also applies to the analogy. Throughout the novel, Dr. Jekyll expends a tremendous amount of energy trying to suppress Mr. Hyde and keep him from taking over completely.

While Plato, Descartes, Hume, and Freud have vastly different philosophical opinions, they agree on one thing: people are complex. They are motivated by a multitude of factors, and all these philosophers attempt to explain just what drives human beings. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde also strives to answer this important question, and is a valuable tool in understand human nature. Dr. Jekyll’s attempts to suppress the evil side of himself are timeless, and everyone can relate to it at some point during their lives.