ABSTRACT
Four dominant psychological approaches evolved in the first half of the twentieth century: Freudian psychoanalysis, Jungian psychology, humanistic psychology and behaviourism. All four approaches offer models of human nature, including human development, pathology and therapeutic change; and they all put forth techniques to bring about such change. Over the years, Sigmund Freud offered several models to explain human destructiveness, cruelty and selfishness. The two most important models, the Oedipus complex and the dual-instinct theory, also account for the good in human nature and the inherent conflict between good and evil. Freud's narrative of Totem and Taboo purports to ground the origin of what appears as moral tendencies and feelings in empirical facts. But clearly its factual basis is shaky – it masks a latent ethical stance. Jung's views on evil and how it ought to be dealt with do suggest, however, that he adopts ethical stances that are philosophically or theologically based and are not derived from psychological investigation.
