Repression, Diagnosis, Theory

Freud's Psychological model, constituted by Id, Ego, and Superego, is primarily designed as a diagnostic tool for the treatment of a specific disorder, which can be summarized as Repression.  Early in his career, the disorder is specific to a given patient, while later, he considers the extension of the diagnosis to repressive societies in general.  Accordingly, the criterion for evaluating the model is curative success.  However, the further extension of the model, to a general Psychological theory, rivaling e. g. Aristotle's, exposes its inadequacies.  For example, its sharp Id-Ego contrast cannot accommodate the difference of degree that, as Leibniz shows, obtains between them.  Furthermore, the Ego-Superego distinction is one of antagonism, thus leaving the model inadequate to ordinary conviviality.  And, most immediately, it seems to offer no explanation of Freud's own work, either as a doctor or as a writer, especially insofar as each has been in defiance of social norms.  So, his diagnostic tools should not be taken as a Philosophical theory.