Conscious and unconscious: S. Freud. Structure of the psyche. The collective unconscious and the archetypes of C. G. Jung

The name of the Austrian scientist Sigmund Freud is perhaps one of the most famous in the modern world. He is known even to those who have never opened his works, not to mention small articles. The most commonly heard are the famous Freudian slips; people like to remember his name when they see meaningful oblong objects, such as a cigar or banana. The concept of the unconscious is also often recalled. However, not everyone can accurately explain its essence. In this article we will discuss the psychology of the unconscious, its manifestations, as well as the theory of its follower Jung.

Sigmund Freud

So, this is an Austrian neurologist who became the founder of psychoanalysis. His ideas still cause constant discussions, both in scientific and lay circles. Of course, he became an innovator in the field of psychiatry.

Let's give a short biographical information. Freud was born in 1856 in Freiburg into the family of a textile merchant. Soon after Sigmund's birth, the family had to move to Vienna. From childhood, great hopes were placed on the boy, and he read completely non-children's literature - Kant, Hegel, Shakespeare. In addition, he was very good at learning foreign languages.

After studying at the gymnasium, he entered the medical faculty, but did not feel any desire for this field of science. In fact, the young man chose for himself the lesser evil among the traditional fields of activity for Jews of that time - trade, medicine and law. After graduation, Sigmund intended to continue his academic career, but was forced to give preference to work and soon opened his own office, in which he worked as a neurologist.

In 1885, Freud got an internship with the psychiatrist Charcot, from whom he adopted the technique of hypnosis. In addition, he began to use conversation when working with patients, allowing patients to fully express their emotions. This method will later be called the “free association method”. He allowed the insightful doctor to understand the problems of patients and free them from neuroses.

Gradually, Freud began to publish his books, which at first caused rejection, and then a wide resonance in society: “The Interpretation of Dreams”, “Psychopathology of Everyday Life”, etc. A circle of students formed around him, among whom the famous split occurred in 1910. The main stumbling block was the Freudian idea that the psychoses of the human personality are associated primarily with the suppression of sexual energy.

Sigmund Freud married relatively late and had six children. The famous psychoanalyst died of cancer in 1939.

Individual unconscious of S. Freud.

S. Freud (1856-1939) – Austrian psychiatrist, philosopher, creator of psychoanalysis. His main discovery: the human psyche includes not only consciousness, but also the unconscious, which is not at all a forgotten conscious (such as automatic writing, a forgotten lullaby, etc.). For Freud, the unconscious is a fundamentally different side of the psyche, something that has never been in our Consciousness (instincts):

- instinct of pleasure - Eros, libido (from Lat. Libido - passion), i.e. sexual energy, attraction.

- death instinct - Thanatos, attraction to destruction and death. These instincts are demonic in nature; it is impossible to defeat them with the power of reason.

According to Freud, the psyche of any person has the structure:

1) It (Id) – unconscious, instincts.

2) I (Ego) is a conscious principle, an intermediary between the It and the Super-I

3) Super-Ego (Super-Ego) - upbringing, system of learned norms, values, conscience, prohibitions - culture as a whole as a social overseer, censorship. According to Freud, the superego is also largely unconscious (for example, the taboo on incest). The unconscious is a huge layer of the psyche, much larger in volume than the entire conscious life. The unconscious is a bottomless reservoir of our energy, biological in nature: complexes, fears, neuroses, instincts. The unconscious is guided by the principle of pleasure, it strives for the most complete satisfaction of drives and knows absolutely nothing about the demands placed on a person by social reality.

Freud's main conclusion: a person can never know himself completely. The unconscious is not illuminated by the light of reason. This is a dark, infinitely deep well, where everything is mixed up. Here is the Oedipus complex, which we inherited from our animal state, here are all kinds of fears and complexes that we acquired in childhood. Every person is stuffed with various complexes and fears.

The human psyche is often compared to a horse: “It” is a horse that gallops towards pleasure. “I” is a person who, with the help of the “Super-ego” (reins), tries to direct “It” in the right direction (norms and rules accepted in society). The tragedy of man is that the id (instincts) and the super-ego (culture) struggle within him, which does not allow instincts to break into our consciousness and destroy the personality. As a result, unconscious desires are repressed, and complexes and neuroses appear. For example, a suppressed child's sexual attraction to a parent of the opposite sex can manifest itself in the form of some unconscious actions (fears, nervous tics, etc.). Psychoanalysis is aimed at translating the material (complex) repressed from consciousness into consciousness through reprimanding. Knowing the enemy by sight, you can already fight him - this is the principle of Freudianism. Psychoanalysis is not possible without a psychoanalyst, since independent analysis is hampered by resistance from the ego. The role of the psychoanalyst is that he listens to the person when the patient’s ego is dozing, at rest, and this most often happens during a dream, hence, by the way, the methods of psychoanalysis : analysis of dreams, unconscious slips of the tongue, typos, method of free associations. As an attraction, Freud takes the pathological sexual desire - the Oedipus complex - the attraction of a boy to his mother and the Electra complex - the attraction of a girl to her father. Conclusion: Freud made the greatest discovery: he found those areas of man that are beyond our control.

His psychoanalysis is designed to free a person from repressed complexes. However, having eliminated one complex, new ones appear: this process is eternal, and therefore a person is always unhappy. Freud talks about an acceptable way to introduce demonic, unconscious libido energy: this is sublimation, i.e. a release of libidinal energy into socially and culturally acceptable forms, for example, creativity.

Freud's unconscious is individual and has a biological character of sexual attraction. Assessments of Freud's contribution to science range from praise of his genius to outright accusations of quackery. In particular, the representative of logical positivism, Karl Popper, states that psychoanalysis cannot claim to be scientific, since it is fundamentally not falsifiable, that is, it cannot be refuted with the help of empirical facts. In this it is similar to such pseudosciences as astrology, palmistry, etc. But the most common accusations (specifically against Freud) are the biologism and pansexualism of his theory.

25. NEO-FREUDISM. E.FROM'S CONCEPT OF MAN

Erich Fromm (1900 - 1980) was one of those scientists with a psychodynamic orientation who, while recognizing Freud's contribution to world psychology, nevertheless moved away from the basic tenets of psychoanalysis. First of all, Fromm believed that human behavior cannot be fully explained in terms of instinctive drives of a biological nature. He argued that human behavior can only be understood in light of cultural influences, and personality is the product of the interaction between innate needs and the social norms of a culture. Fromm did not have a medical education. He studied psychology, philosophy and sociology and received a PhD from the University of Heidelberg. All his work is permeated with interest in the problem of the formation of personality in society, the complex dynamics of “natural,” biological and social influences in man.

What are his contributions to philosophy and psychology? – first of all, that Fromm was one of the first consistent reformers of psychoanalysis. Fromm proposed a new approach to the study of human personality:

she (personality) can be comprehended through the study of her relationships - to the world, nature, other people and herself. Therefore, the main task of psychology is to study human relationships. Fromm's theoretical developments greatly changed the classical method of psychoanalysis. Firstly, Fromm believed that psychoanalysis should consider, in addition to the simplest biological aspirations of man, such concepts as truth, love, justice, freedom, etc. secondly, Fromm proposed considering psychoanalysis not only (and not so much) as a method of controlled introspection, but also as a kind of confession, expression of oneself, and through this liberation from one’s problems. Thirdly, Fromm tried to use the methods of psychoanalysis to analyze socio-historical phenomena.

Ideas about human nature. The main provisions of Fromm’s theoretical works can be summarized as follows:

1. Personality is a fundamentally “open system.” It is open to influences from the outside world, and it changes as a result of these influences.

2. Man is initially a social being. It is impossible to study a person outside of his social environment and outside of specific socio-historical conditions.

3. A person is open to self-creation. It can only be measured against oneself, against one’s own yet unrealized potential.

The essence of man can be presented not through immanent substance, but as a contradiction inextricably inherent in human existence. This contradiction comes in two forms. Firstly, by nature man

- this animal. But his biological nature (instincts) is not enough for survival. He can survive only by producing material goods, satisfying his needs and developing culture. Secondly, man is the only animal with intelligence and self-awareness. Thus, he is simultaneously inside nature (as a living being) and outside it (since he can realize himself separately from nature). This awareness of oneself makes a person a stranger in the world and filled with fear. This unique situation determines the basic passions and desires of a person. Man, according to Fromm, is the only animal for which his existence is a problem; he must solve it and he cannot escape from this.

A person can realize in his life two options for resolving this contradiction, which become modes (ways) of his existence: To Have or To Be.

To have means to turn to your own instinctive aspirations and biological needs that grow from the instinct of self-preservation. Satisfaction of primitive needs is carried out mainly in the form of accumulation of material wealth, which gives a person a feeling of illusory well-being and self-sufficiency. Illusory because this life “tears” a person away from other people, from society, and, ultimately, from his own “I”. And without this, true self-realization, happiness and self-sufficiency are impossible. To be means to give, to sacrifice oneself for the sake of others. This tendency gains strength in the specific conditions of human existence. The content of human history is the continuous desire of people to find themselves, to realize those needs that determine their existential essence.

Society can help unlock this potential, but it can also hinder the development of these inner drives. As a result of such influence, the personality either develops (growth syndrome) or becomes deformed (decay syndrome).

Personal development. Personal development is characterized by the presence in a person of the following basic tendencies that determine his communication and activity: love of life, love of people and freedom.

Love of life (biophilia) is a total orientation that completely determines a person’s life.

In its most elementary form it manifests itself in the desire to live. It is present in all living organisms. Another aspect of this trend is the desire for integration and unification. The basic ethical principle of biophilia: good is everything that serves life, evil is everything that serves death.

Love for people. Love for a person (non-pathological) is a relationship between two people who experience themselves as independent entities and who, despite this, are open towards each other. A person reaches full maturity when he is completely freed from “blind” love for himself.

Freedom is associated with a clear awareness of the situation in which a person finds himself. It represents the awareness:

1. what is good and what is bad; 2. what means leads to achieving the goal; 3. what is behind conscious desires; 4. what real choices exist; 5. what consequences each decision entails; 6. awareness of the need to unite with other people and the desire to act.

26. CHRISTIAN EVOLUTIONISM TEILHRARD DE CHARDIN

The concept of “Christian evolutionism” by the French philosopher and Catholic theologian Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881–1955) developed as a desire to synthesize Christian teaching with contemporary scientific ideas. It became widespread not only in the philosopher’s homeland, but also in many other countries. According to the thinker, when constructing a picture of the world, one should certainly accept the scientific concept of “evolution” as a fundamental methodological principle. Applying the theory of evolution in his work, the philosopher essentially created a new model of Christianity - in order to reveal the content of the evolution of the Universe, he proposed a special “superscience” capable of coordinating both scientific data and religious experience.

Teilhard de Chardin’s concept of cosmogenesis was based on the assertion that the basis of the entire existing universe is a single cosmic substance (the position of “monism”), consisting of primary elements, each of which has an “external” - material and “internal” - spiritual side. That is why, from the point of view of a philosopher, the categories of “matter” and “spirit” should be considered as interconnected variables of a single thing. Teilhard de Chardin explained the duality of the primary elements using the concept of “energy” as a certain organizing force inherent in the primary matter itself. In his view, the primary elements are permeated with a single cosmic energy, which in them is decomposed into two components. The first of them, the tangential component, is physical energy, the action of which is aimed at the formation of “horizontal” connections between elements. The second component is radial, representing spiritual energy that carries out the purposefulness of the “vertical” development of the system of elements (its movement is always directed forward and upward, and leads to the complication of connections and the integrity of the world). The essence of the radial component, as the philosopher believed, is love, and its smallest manifestation is the force of attraction. The action of this spiritual inner force is the true “spring” of evolution. As a result, cosmogenesis appears as an irreversible movement of primordial matter towards ever higher forms of life. It develops in a certain direction and has its source in an internal spiritual impulse. It is from the primary elements of cosmic substance, permeated with comic energy, that the entire grandiose evolutionary process begins, successively passing through four stages.

At the first stage - “ pre-life ” - development occurs in inanimate nature. As a result of the evolution of chemical elements and galaxies, the shell of the Earth (lithosphere) is formed, and a physical and chemical environment (geosphere) appears on its surface, favorable for the formation of the first forms of life. As the philosopher wrote, life arose in the form of first cells, the interaction of which led to the emergence of new, more complex and organized forms. This process was recorded by Teilhard de Chardin as the second stage of evolution - the stage of “ life ” - during which the living cover of the Earth is formed - the “biosphere”, all forms of living organisms develop, from the simplest to humans. The philosopher rejected the biblical myth of the creation of man and attributed his origin to the result of the long evolution of vertebrates. The appearance of a special mental “effect” in “matter” - consciousness, as Teilhard de Chardin believed, was associated with the “organic” complication of cosmic substance.

Teilhard de Chardin explained the increasing degree of perfection of the organization of material systems, which finds its highest expression in a person with self-awareness, by the “law of complexity of consciousness,” that is, by the increasing concentration of radial energy in the process of cosmogenesis. According to the philosopher's idea, when

In humans, the ability of consciousness to reflect and add to one’s consciousness through speech the contents of other consciousnesses opens up the possibility of uniting individual “thinking centers” into a single collective mind. This process constitutes the third stage of evolution - the stage of “ thought ”, covering the entire historical development of mankind, which ends with the formation of its unity and the emergence of a new “thinking” shell of the Earth - the “noosphere”. The formation of a single organism of humanity is formed through the emergence of new forms of social life: states, nations, civilizations. Through the spiritual sphere of “thought”, it is possible for human souls to rise to the spiritual - the “ Omega point ”, at which, as Teilhard de Chardin argued, the unification of humanity and history itself should be completed. This fourth stage of evolution was designated by the philosopher as " superlife ".

An important place in Teilhard’s concept was occupied by ethical issues, in which the central category was “activity” —the creative transformation of matter, through which man is involved in co-creation with evolution. Humanity embodies all its mental activity in various systems of thought and action: in science, art and technology. From these positions, Teilhard de Chardin reformed the ethics of Christianity, turning it into a religion of progress. He proposed that the Christian ideal should no longer be passive obedience and humility, but, on the contrary, an active attitude towards the world and creation. The philosopher believed that the path to the perfection of the individual human personality lies exclusively through collective consciousness.

God was identified with the Alpha point as the abstract and mystical beginning of the evolution of the world, and with the Omega point, which is the source of power and regulator of evolution, as well as its final goal. Such an attitude, when the entire Universe taken as a whole is essentially God, is called pantheistic. It is no coincidence that the thinker’s theological ideas were subjected to severe criticism by orthodox theologians. “Omega” was presented in the teachings of Teilhard de Chardin as a kind of spiritual conscious superpersonality (personified Universe). It symbolizes the “cosmic”, “evolutionary Christ”, involved in the universe and at the same time transcendental to it. From these positions, cosmogenesis acquired the appearance of “Christogenesis.” Consequently, according to Teilhard de Chardin, man is not at all the crown of evolution, but he is an important key to the improvement of the world - this is evidenced by the fact of the incarnation of the Son of God

27.PERSONALITY AND PHIL A. SCHWEITZER

A. Schweitzer is a unique phenomenon in the culture of the twentieth century. Theologian, philosopher, musicologist, doctor, he became a person primarily thanks to his medical activities, which allowed him to realize his moral principles. A. Schweitzer dedicated his life to the struggle for humanistic ideals. At the very beginning of his journey, he made a decision that determined his future destiny: to defend the ideals of goodness and beauty through direct personal service to people. A. Schweitzer's philosophical views do not represent a complete system, because the significance of his activities cannot be considered in the context of any theory. He based his philosophical views, which he called “ new rationalism ,” not on knowledge about the world, but on the fact of life itself. A. Schweitzer believed that reverence for life should become the principle of all philosophy. A. Schweitzer expressed the initial principle of his concept - the principle of “reverence for life” with the formula: “I am life that wants to live among life that wants to live.”

His life path is unusual: having achieved European fame by the age of thirty for his research on the history of early Christianity, a fundamental monograph on Bach, and concert activities, Schweitzer entered the 1st year of the medical faculty, graduated from it and left as a doctor in the jungles of Equatorial Africa, where he worked with small breaks until the end of life. There is also a lot of strange things in his philosophy - both in the initial settings and in the conclusions. He describes himself as a person who “wholly believes in rational thinking.” And then he claims that every deep worldview is mysticism. And following his principle of reverence for life, formulated as a result of many years of reflection, he cannot rejoice at the cure of a patient without regretting the ruined life of microbes! His religious position is also surprising: considering himself a Christian and defining Christianity as the mysticism of unity with Christ, Schweitzer in his theological studies proves that the historical Jesus shared the messianic ideas of his time and his people, and thereby actually deprives God of divine rank.

Schweitzer’s seemingly unusual thoughts and actions are organically connected with his personality and, above all,

- with an exceptionally strong ethical principle inherent in it. Schweitzer perceives ethics as a primary impulse acting with irresistible force, as an ethical will that directs a person’s life and does not need any external goal for its approval. It is not for nothing that he calls his worldview “ethical mysticism.” Ethics for him is not just one of the parts of a philosophical system or one of the aspects of spiritual life, it is the focus of everything . The ethical connection with God takes a person beyond the limits of limited earthly existence, makes him an executor of the divine will and thereby justifies and fills his life with meaning. Ethics is the driving force of culture, the main criterion for the progress of mankind. Therefore, both Schweitzer’s philosophy and his religious position can only be understood based on this feature of his worldview.

Schweitzer's main philosophical work is called "Philosophy of Culture." The theme of Schweitzer's philosophical reflections is not the general theory of culture, but its crisis, which consists in the fact that progress continues only in one sphere - material, while in the other two - spiritual and ethical - there is a clear rollback.

For Schweitzer, the question of the crisis of culture becomes the question of why the ethical will has weakened in people. His central idea, in fact the main postulate, is that the reason for this is the inability of the philosophical and religious thought of modern times to come to a worldview in which ethical activity and ethical self-improvement of man would have meaning and purpose. As a result - and this is where Schweitzer sees the essence of the crisis - the desire for progress has lost its ethical character and has lost its spiritual component.

Why did the philosophy of modern times (religion will be discussed below) not cope with its task? Schweitzer sees the main reason in the fact that she tried to arrive at ethics through knowledge of the world. When we try to attribute to the course of world events a certain meaning and direction towards an ethical goal in order, based on such an interpretation of the world, to give meaning to human ethical activity, we are engaged in self-deception. There is no universal expediency in the world.

The basic principle is the principle of respect for life , developed by A. Schweitzer, characterized by three points:

First, this is the all-embracing and only principle underlying morality, and love and compassion, although extremely important concepts, are only components of reverence for life. The ethics of reverence for life also considers the feelings of living beings, the conditions of their existence, the joys of living beings, their desire to live and the desire for self-improvement; Secondly, the principle is universal, as it applies to all forms of life: people, animals,

insects, plants. A person should not ask to what extent this or that being deserves sympathy and how valuable it is. Life as such is sacred to him; Thirdly, it is infinity, because “Ethics is unlimited responsibility to everything that lives.

Concept of the unconscious

To be fair, it must be said that Freud was far from the first to come up with the idea that a person does not fully control his actions, that there is something in him that forces him to act unconsciously or even irrationally. The idea that the basis of many mental disorders was sexual repression was also not new. Freud's aforementioned teacher, the French psychiatrist Charcot, already expressed this idea.

The merit of the Austrian psychoanalyst is as follows. He was the first to say that a person’s consciousness is only a small part of his personality compared to the huge number of unconscious drives. In order to try to understand and cope with them, the help of an astute psychoanalyst is necessary.

Furthermore, Freud argued that these forces were entirely sexual in nature, which he called “libido.” It becomes active, according to the scientist, from the very first years of human life.

Properties of the unconscious system.

It is interesting to consider the properties of the unconscious in comparison with similar properties of the conscious. From Freud's work, the following properties of the unconscious can be distinguished:

— Inconsistency

SZ: The presence of logic and a system of contradictions

BSZ: No contradictions

— Activity of the psychological process

SZ: Secondary process (primary, i.e. the active process looks ridiculous here)

BSZ: Primary process (mobility of active force, i.e. the representation transfers the entire amount of its active force to another)

— Attitude to time

SZ: Understanding the time sequence of events

BSZ: The flow of events is timeless

— Reality

SZ: Predominance of external reality

BSZ: Predominance of psychic reality

Psychoanalysis and hypnotic experiments confirm the presence of the above-mentioned properties of the unconscious, identified by Freud.

Sigmund Freud's theory

First, let's talk about the structure of personality in the concept of psychoanalysis. So, according to Freud’s theory, personality consists not only of a person’s consciousness, but of several interacting components.

The super-ego (super-ego) is an unconscious part that is acquired even before the appearance of speech in a person. It includes various norms of behavior, taboos and prohibitions formed by culture. This also includes all kinds of family prohibitions, which cause the individual to feel guilty and painfully afraid.

The id (It) is also the unconscious and most primitive part, which includes all kinds of desires and libido. These are extremely ancient, archaic drives that are mostly aggressive and filled with sexuality.

The ego (I) is a conscious component that reacts to what is happening in reality and helps a person adapt to it. It is a kind of intermediary between two other parts, both of which are unconscious. The ego is forced to constantly bifurcate in order to ensure the interaction of the Super-Ego and Id, between the biological desires inherent in everyone and the moral standards that society imposes.

In principle, we can consider two main aspects of the unconscious according to Freud. One of them, the unconscious and non-verbalized part, is an integral element of the human psyche. Thus, the latter is divided into two disproportionate (this will be discussed later) parts. The other side is divided, in turn, into two ego states - Super-Ego and Id.

His other famous theories

Thanks to Freud, humanity has armed itself with diverse theories based on practical experience and scientific knowledge. He unveiled the role of sexual experiences and laid the foundation for modern sexology. He revealed and explained the role of phenomena that were previously not given importance - childhood mental trauma, feelings of guilt, defense mechanisms with the help of which the consciousness tries to compensate for existing contradictions. This was a real revolution in psychology, which gave impetus to the development of new promising directions in the treatment of the human psyche.

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Priority of the unconscious

According to Freud, the human personality is like an iceberg. On the surface there is a visible, conscious part, the state of the Ego, and under the water there is a block of unconscious drives and desires. And there is always a risk that this iceberg can completely engulf an individual.

This idea was a strong blow to the accepted concept of man. After all, in fact, this meant that he had no power over his own personality, which was subject to the influence of something unconscious and unreflected.

"Psychology of the unconscious"

Freud's book is not a complete work. This is a collection that includes several scientific works of the famous doctor. Each of its constituent parts may well be considered and thought about separately from the other, as completely independent. However, all the works presented in this collection are interconnected and complement one another. Therefore, it is advisable to familiarize yourself with them not separately, but by reading the book in its entirety.

The components of Freud's research collection “Psychology of the Unconscious” are as follows:

• “Psychoanalysis of childhood neuroses”;
• “Analysis of a five-year-old boy’s phobia”;
• "Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality";
• “Psychopathology of everyday life”;
• “About Dreaming”;
• “Problems of metapsychology”;
• “On psychoanalysis”;
• “Beyond the pleasure principle”;
• "Me and It."

Of course, printed editions also include such parts as a preface and a dictionary that explains the meaning of specific terms and concepts used in the book.

The connection between psyche and somatics

Initially, according to Freud, the unconscious was studied within the framework of natural science theories. The psychoanalyst believed that he could find a direct connection between a person’s neurophysiological reactions and the movements of his psyche. The main stages of work at the beginning of the development of his theory were the following: searching for the cause that caused the disease (most often it is some kind of trauma, often it occurs in childhood), research into the consequences (that is, disruptions in the functioning of the psyche) and treatment (it is necessary to provide the patient with the possibility of mental release ). Gradually, Freud began to use word therapy, and this already went far beyond the scope of the natural science concept.

Definition

The history of the appeal of past thinkers to the problems of the unconscious begins in ancient times. Even ancient Indian scientists were confident in the existence of an “unreasonable soul,” explaining feelings beyond the control of man. Buddhist teaching also recognizes an area of ​​the mind that is not conscious, but actively influences a person's life.

Ancient Greek scientists defined the unconscious as uncontrollable drives and unconscious knowledge of a person that are beyond the control of the individual. A prominent representative of this period is Plato, who believed that man has an “animal-like beginning” that can take a person anywhere.

In the philosophy of the 17th-18th centuries, the primary task was to comprehend and understand the nature of the psyche and its components, its influence on human life. An important issue of this period was the definition of the unconscious, the features of its role in a person’s conscious life. R. Descartes interpreted this issue unambiguously: there cannot be unconscious processes in the human psyche.

Spinoza, speaking out against the absolute power of the rational, assumed that a person’s deepest drives and desires determine his essence. Spinoza's reasoning, as well as the ideas of the philosopher Hume, who also recognized unconscious processes and did not believe that a person conforms all his thoughts to reason, were later expressed in the works of S. Freud.

The problem of the unconscious was also touched upon by many philosophers of the 17th - 18th centuries (Leibniz, Kant, Fichte), who reflected the features of the phenomenon in their works, largely intersecting with Freud’s idea of ​​the unconscious. For example, Fichte defined the unconscious as the original basis of human existence and the material from which conscious activity is formed.

In the 19th century, one can note the emergence of an irrational understanding of human existence. Outstanding philosophers of this time were Arthur Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, whose works would significantly influence psychoanalysis in the future.

Schopenhauer believed that human conscious actions are incidental and have no representation for knowledge, since the beginning of all things is the unconscious “world will,” which Nietzsche also agrees with.

He considered the unconscious to be the main material for understanding a person and his activities. For Freud, the unconscious is, first of all, a psychological component that is subject to analysis and comprehension only in interaction with a person.

Freud believed that the unconscious includes a set of repressed desires of a sexual nature that cannot be fulfilled in real life due to social norms and values.

Subsequently, Carl Gustav Jung, until a certain time a friend and colleague of Freud, put in the foreground not repressed desires of a sexual nature, but the unconscious, which depends on the theory of archetypes and has several levels. Also, psychiatrist Alfred Adler criticized Freud and replaced the dominant of the sexual and unconscious with a social factor.

Modern ideas about the phenomenology of the unconscious argue that the social conditions of a person’s existence influence both his conscious processes and the unconscious sphere of the psyche. It plays an important role in human activity and is a specific phenomenon that is closely related to social life and the surrounding human reality.

The essence of the unconscious

It is important to note that the unconscious, according to Freud, is a product of repression. What is exposed to this effect and how, here the opinions of different researchers may differ. But the psychoanalyst himself believed that repression can occur exclusively in the direction of the Super-Ego. It is a kind of representative of society in a person.

In the course of childhood development, various unwanted drives gradually move into the region of the superego, and it is impossible to extract them from there except by the method of free association or hypnosis. Undesirable thoughts and inclinations can be those that contradict the norms accepted in society, its morality, as well as those inclinations that worry us excessively.

In this case, the Super-Ego is a stronger subject that displaces certain weak psychological forces, for example, childhood impressions that are unacceptable to society.

The polysemy of the unconscious

Describing the meaning of the unconscious Freud returns to the question that the unconscious is not only repressed. It has a broader understanding that includes:

1. latent, temporarily unconscious acts, no different from conscious ones, and
2. repressed acts that would differ significantly from other conscious ones if they penetrated consciousness. Its description can be interpreted as follows: in addition to the repressed, the unconscious also contains those acts that did not fit into the framework of consciousness.

Foundation concept

Conflicts arise between the conscious and unconscious parts of a person, resulting in neuroses and mental disorders that interfere with normal human life. This became the main idea of ​​Freud's concept of the unconscious. Painful and shameful experiences are repressed into the superego and manifest themselves in the form of unpleasant symptoms somewhere on the border between somatic and mental manifestations.

Accordingly, in order to balance these conflicts, it is necessary to establish a balance between the Ego and the Super-Ego, which is what psychoanalysts do. During the patient's long story about his thoughts and feelings, with the help of a specialist, he gradually comes to the true cause of his neurotic behavior. “According to grandfather Freud,” such a reason, of course, is suppressed sexual desires. According to modern psychoanalysts, there can be a large number of reasons, and for each person they are individual.

Forms of manifestations

The unconscious in psychology is a phenomenon that manifests itself in different forms, which determine the following phenomena:

How does the unconscious manifest itself?

According to Freud, unconscious aspirations are hidden from the conscious part of the human personality. However, they can manifest themselves in reality in various ways.

So, this can manifest itself in the form of slips of the tongue, accidental slips, unexpected actions of which a person is not aware. In fact, this is the idea behind the phrase “Freudian slip.” In addition, the Id and Super-Ego are reflected in the dreams that haunt a person. Psychoanalysts pay a lot of attention to dreams. They are considered messengers of the unconscious, filled with important symbolism.

Thus, the forms of manifestation of the unconscious in a person’s everyday life are varied. But in order to understand whether the hidden part of our personality is really making itself felt, it is still worth contacting a specialist. Unfortunately, from his own point of view, a person cannot always judge his own personality. However, that’s why it’s unconscious.

The relationship between the unconscious and the repressed.

In his work “The Unconscious,” Freud presents the reader with the repressed as part of the unconscious, since the latter is much broader than just acts repressed from consciousness.
When formulating a term or question, the author often resorts to comparison tools. So, when defining the repressed and unconscious, he invites us to experience these two concepts in a complex, in comparison with each other, focusing not on their clear and textbook definition, but on their perception with the help of imagination and our internal representations. However, it should be added that Freud speaks not only about the relationship between the unconscious and the repressed, but also gives us an understanding of how part of the former is transformed into the latter through the work of resistances. Thus, in this context, the reader forms a fairly brief but clear picture of what will be understood by the unconscious and repressed in subsequent parts of this work.

Eros

Eros is a sexual instinct, it is a manifestation of libido. A person, not being in the herd, cannot fully realize all his sexual aspirations. He unwittingly has to suppress them, limiting himself. In a favorable situation, sexual energy will be directed towards creation, creativity, science or political activity.

In other words, in any direction that requires a powerful investment of strength and manifestation of oneself. Sigmund Freud called this displacement of the sexual instinct into another sphere the term “sublimation.”

Methods of manifesting the unconscious

The main problem for people with these experiences is considered to be the lack of subjective control. The unconscious in psychology or the subconscious denotes such mental processes that cannot be reflected in the consciousness of the individual, that is, they are absolutely not controlled by his will. Among the main types of manifestations are those presented in the list below.

1. Unconscious motivation or urge to action. The real meaning of the act is not accepted by the individual for some reason, for example, public and social unacceptability, internal contradictions or conflicts with other motives.
2. Supraconscious processes. These include creative insight, intuition, inspiration and other similar manifestations.
3. Atavisms and behavioral stereotypes. They manifest themselves for the reason that they have been worked out by the individual to the point of complete automaticity, and therefore do not require awareness if the situation is familiar.
4. Subliminal perception. It implies the presence of a large amount of information, which is why it cannot be fully comprehended.

Carl Jung and his ideas

One of Sigmund Freud's most beloved students was Carl Gustav Jung. He subsequently disappointed his teacher.

Jung and Freud were similar in their ideas in many ways. However, Sigmund paid attention to a specific personality, as if split into three main components common to every person. Thus, for Freud, the unconscious was contained within the individual.

Jung identified another concept - the “collective unconscious”. According to his ideas, it is common to all humanity and unites a variety of people. The collective unconscious in a culture manifests itself in the form of archetypes, certain common symbols that are significant for every person, no matter what culture he belongs to. These images - Anima, Animus, Mother, Shadow, etc. - will evoke a response in his soul. Accordingly, such archetypes manifest themselves in one way or another in every culture.

However, the collective unconscious should not be understood as something supra-individual. This is a complex scheme, but according to Jungian psychology, through it a person goes through a process of individualization, in fact it is a process of becoming a personality in the full sense of the word. Thus, this is both a deeply individual principle and common to all people.

Justification for the assumption of the concept of “unconscious”.

Proving the existence of the unconscious, Freud gives a number of weighty arguments aimed both at identifying the so-called gaps of the conscious, and appeals to psychological practices and the everyday experience of the reader. In doing so, he makes the following assumptions (which provide more evidence):

1. The presence of many gaps in the system of consciousness;
2. The inability of consciousness to retain at a certain moment the entire volume of knowledge/incoming information, therefore most of the knowledge is in mental unconsciousness;
3. Practices such as hypnosis and psychoanalysis have proven the existence of the unconscious;
4. Everyday experience shows that mental acts are easily noticed in other people, but not noticed in oneself;
5. Some of the hidden mental processes (latent processes) have somewhat incredible features that directly contradict the properties of consciousness.

With the help of the postulates formulated above, the author proves to the reader the existence of mental acts devoid of consciousness, i.e. unconscious acts. Let us note that these arguments leave the reader nothing else but to agree with the position of the author. At the same time, in his other works one can also glean additional arguments in favor of the existence of the unconscious, such as dream pictures, choices made by a person and methods of decision-making, etc.

Results

So, according to Freud, the unconscious is a mental phenomenon universal for every person, which largely determines his behavior. It is also a source of mental disorders.

The Austrian psychiatrist defined the concepts and types of the unconscious - the Id and the Super-Ego. The second has a much stronger impact on a specific person, since it is his individual unconscious.

Subsequently, Freud's students developed the concept of personality structure. It became clear that there are much more types of the unconscious than the discoverer of this concept assumed. Post-Freudianism and neo-Freudianism acquired a large number of followers - Jung, Adler, Fromm, etc.

Freud's theory is still discussed and criticized today. But it is impossible to deny that it had a large-scale influence on the development of science and philosophy of the 20th and 21st centuries, and in particular on the study of the psychology of the unconscious.

Author: Irina Lapteva

Differences between conscious and unconscious mental representations.

According to Freud, conscious representation includes both an object representation and a corresponding verbal representation. Unlike the conscious, the unconscious consists of only one objective representation. In fact, it is difficult to disagree with highlighting this difference, since consciousness operates with both images and words. I believe that the word is an instrument of consciousness, and in the process of transition from an image (object) to its verbal description and understanding, perhaps there is a transition from an unconscious act to a conscious one.