Question

1. Freud has often been disparaged both publicly and in the psychological community. Convince me that he wasn't as far out there as his critics seem to think. Use plenty of examples to illustrate.
2. In contrast to Freud, the humanistic approach argues that free will is a key component of human nature. Who do you think is right? Justify your position with plenty of examples and illustrations.

Answer 1

Freud gave psychoanalytic theory of personality based on the idea that human behavior is dominated by childhood experiences (that get stored in subconscious) and affect his/her understanding of present or future events. This claim that personality structures are unconscious was widely criticized for It implies that the core of personality cannot change as human psyche develops in early years.

But Freud's assumption seems to be somewhat true in many cases because if we experience something traumatic in our childhood, it may recall in our adulthood ( as traumatic memories get repressed in our subconscious) and reform back in adulthood through various ways. For example, if a child witnesses someone falling off from a height and dying during early years of his life, he may grow up to have height phobia even though the incident doesn’t have any strong impact on a conscious level but we can see the reflection of the trauma through the unconscious.

Freudian theory has also been criticised for the uncertainty of its claims, the lack of empiricism and over-dependence on case studies and it's pessimism. It is pessimistic in that it focuses on the past traumas, irreversibility of personality, and negative experiences.

Frued has been also criticized for his theory of ID, ego and super ego that gives a hostile view of people at birth comprising of nothing but id (selfishness). Freud views society as a positive force that infuses the ego (reality) and the superego (morality) into children that helps them to adjust in the social world.
Frued undermined the intellectual society by working on the postulates of sexuality , instincts and individuality. Critics disagreed with Freuds over-emphasis on sexuality as one of the fundamental motivating forces of behavior. Over-emphasis on sexual behaviour has limited Freudian approach.
However, to disprove entire theory because of few flaws is
highly unwise. When applied correctly to the relevant phenomena, Freud's theory can come handy. Freud’s notion of unconscious, on which most of his theories are based upon paved way towards understanding the complex human psyche which was previously undermined by other theorists. Psychoanalyisis has become a psychological therapy method that's helping people to overcome anxiety. Psychoanalytic approach aims at uncovering unconscious impulses though special techniques like free association and dream analysis.

Humanism was a reaction towards the pessimistic determinism of psychoanalysis. According to humanists, all human possess an innate drive towards self-actualization. And this is the fundamental force that determines the ultimate development of the personality. Humanists claim that we are born with a positive inborn drive to grow and improve ourselves. They see society as leading people to deny their true feelings and creates unattainable ideal self-concepts.

Humanists also argue that free will is a key component of human nature but this assumption has been widely criticised on following grounds :

Experiments have proven that motor areas of the brain get activated before an individual makes the conscious decision to act upon something. This implies that free will does not exist as the decision to act upon something is determined even before the conscious decision is made.

Critics also claim that free will is culturally relative. The concept of free will is culturally irrelevant for the groups that impose their values and behaviour on their members.

Some critics hold that free will is an illusion. All our behaviours are actually influenced by past experiences which subconsciously shape our actions. For example girls and boys are socialized differently. While girls are expected to take expressive roles, boys are expected to take instrumental roles. This may be the reason why girls tend to grow as housewives and boys as breadwinners.

Conclusion : Both Humanistic and psychoanupsych schools of thouvjt try to achieve the goals of psychology, but their ways of aachievin these goals are different.
While Freud's theory offers a pessimistic view of human nature Humanistic theory provides a holistic approach and an optimistic view of human personality. While Freudian theory stresses on unconscious, humanist theory stresses on conscious.  
Both humanism and psychoanalysis thus provide diverse views on how personality develops. Both have shortcomings as well as relevances. Both theories have contributed to the study and understanding of personality. Both theories can compliment each other if combined together for a theoretical framework.