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. Most of all, the famous Freudian reservations are heard, they like to recall his name at the sight of significant oblong objects, such as a cigar or banana. Also often recall the concept of the unconscious. 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 to this day cause constant discussion, both in scientific and in philistine circles. Of course, he became an innovator in the field of psychiatry.
Here is a short curriculum vitae. Freud was born in 1856 in Freiburg in the family of a textile merchant. Soon after the birth of Sigmund, the family had to move to Vienna. Since childhood, the boy had high hopes, and he read quite 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 craving for this area of ​​science. In fact, the young man chose a lesser evil for himself among the spheres of activity traditional for the Jews of that time - trade, medicine and jurisprudence. After graduation, Sigmund was determined to continue his academic career, but was forced to give preference to work and soon opened his office, in which he worked as a neurologist.
In 1885, Freud went on an internship with the psychiatrist Charcot, from whom he adopted the technique of hypnosis. In addition, in working with patients, he began to use conversation, allowing patients to throw out emotions in full. This method will later be called the “free association method”. He allowed a discerning physician to understand the problems of patients and free them from neurosis.
Gradually, Freud began to publish his books, which first provoked rejection, and then a wide resonance in society: “The Interpretation of Dreams,” “The Psychopathology of Everyday Life,” etc. A circle of students formed around him, among which in 1910 the famous schism occurred. The main stumbling block was the Freudian idea that psychoses of the human personality are associated primarily with the suppression of sexual energy.
Sigmund Freud married relatively late, he had six children. The famous cancer psychoanalyst died in 1939.
Concept of the unconscious
In fairness, it must be said that Freud was far from the first who came up with the idea that a person does not completely 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 is the suppression of sexuality 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 human consciousness is only a small part of his personality compared to a huge number of unconscious drives. In order to try to figure them out and deal with them, the help of a discerning psychoanalyst is needed.
In addition, Freud claimed that these forces have a completely sexual nature, which he called "libido." It becomes active, according to the scientist, from the very first years of human life.
Sigmund Freud's Theory
First, let's talk about the structure of personality in the concept of psychoanalysis. So, according to Freud’s theory, a person consists not only of a person’s consciousness, but of several interacting components.
The Super-Ego (Super-Self) is the 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 sorts of family prohibitions that cause the individual feelings of guilt and painful fear.
Eid (It) is also the unconscious and most primitive part, which includes all sorts of desires and libido. These are exclusively ancient, archaic drives that are mostly aggressive and full of sexuality.
The ego (I) is a conscious component that responds to what is happening in reality and helps a person adapt to it. It is a kind of mediator 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 the Id, between the biological desires inherent in everyone and the moral standards that society presents.
In principle, two main aspects of the unconscious according to Freud can be considered. One of them, unconscious and non-verbalizable, part is an integral element of the human psyche. Thus, the latter is divided into two disproportionate (more on this later) parts. The other side is divided, in turn, into two ego states - Super-Ego and Id.
Priority of the unconscious
According to Freud, the human person is like an iceberg. On the surface is the visible, conscious part, the state of the Ego, and under the water lies a block of unconscious drives and desires. And there is always the risk that this iceberg can completely swallow the individual.
This idea was a strong blow to the recognized concept of man. Indeed, this meant that he did not have power over his own personality, which is subject to the influence of something unconscious and unreflected.
The connection between the psyche and somatics
According to Freud, the unconscious was originally studied in the framework of natural science theories. The psychoanalyst believed that he could find a direct connection between the neurophysiological reactions of a person and the movements of his psyche. The main stages of work at the beginning of the formation of his theory were the following: the search for the cause of the disease (most often it becomes some kind of trauma, it often happens in childhood), investigation of the consequences (i.e. malfunctions of the psyche) and treatment (it is necessary to provide the patient with the possibility of mental discharge ) Gradually, Freud began to use therapy in a word, and this already went far beyond the framework of the natural science concept.
Essence of the unconscious
It is important to note that Freud's unconscious is a product of repression. What is exposed to such an impact and how, here the opinions of various researchers may differ. But the psychoanalyst himself believed that repression can occur exclusively in the direction of the superego. It is a kind of representative of society in man.
In the course of childhood development, various undesirable drives gradually move into the Super-Self, and it is impossible to extract them from there, except by the method of free association or hypnosis. Thoughts and drives that are contrary to the norms accepted in society, its morality, as well as those drives that worry us too much can be undesirable.
In this case, the Super-Ego is a stronger subject, which supplants some weak psychological forces, such as childhood impressions, which are unacceptable to society.
Foundation concept
Between the conscious and unconscious parts of a person conflicts arise, resulting in neuroses, mental disorders that interfere with normal human life. This became the main idea of ​​the concept of the unconscious according to Freud. Painful and shameful experiences are supplanted in the Super-Ego and manifest as unpleasant symptoms somewhere on the verge between somatic and mental manifestations.
Accordingly, in order to balance these conflicts, it is necessary to strike 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 reason for his neurotic behavior. "By Grandfather Freud," such a cause, of course, is repressed sexual desire. According to versions of modern psychoanalysts, there can be a large number of reasons, and for each person they are individual.
How does the unconscious manifest
According to Freud, unconscious aspirations are hidden from the conscious part of the human person. However, they can manifest themselves in various ways in reality.
So, this can manifest itself in the form of reservations, random descriptions, unexpected actions in which a person does not give an account. As a matter of fact, this is the idea of ​​the phrase "Freudian reservations." In addition, the Eid and Super-Ego are reflected in dreams that haunt man. Psychoanalysts pay a lot of attention to dreams. They are considered to be messengers of the unconscious, filled with important symbolism.
Thus, the manifestation of the unconscious in a person’s daily life is diverse. But in order to understand whether this really makes itself felt a hidden part of our personality, it is still worth turning to a specialist. Unfortunately, from his point of view, a person can not always judge his personality. However, it’s also unconscious.
What may manifest
In addition to individual prohibitions, in the unconscious, in its part called Eid (Ono), there are two main human aspirations - Eros and Thanatos. These are the names of the ancient Greek gods. Freud, in principle, tends to apply ancient mythology in his theories. It is worth recalling at least the Oedipus complex or the Electra complex.
Eros
Eros is a sexual instinct, it is a manifestation of libido. A person, not being in a herd, cannot fully realize all his sexual desires. He involuntarily 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 channel that requires a powerful investment of energy and self-manifestation. Sigmund Freud called the term “sublimation” this repression of the sexual instinct in another area.
Thanatos
So the psychoanalyst called instinct, leading to destruction and death. He, in turn, finds its manifestation in the negative side of the human: it is war, crime, murder.
Carl Jung and his ideas
One of Sigmund Freud's most beloved students was Carl Gustav Jung. Subsequently, he disappointed his teacher.
Jung and Freud were largely similar in their ideas. However, Sigmund paid attention to a specific person, as if split into three main components common to each person. Thus, for Freud, the unconscious was concluded within the individual.
Jung singled out another concept - “collective unconscious”. According to his ideas, it is common to all mankind and unites a variety of people. The collective unconscious in culture manifests itself in the form of archetypes, some common symbols that are significant for each person, to which culture he would not belong. These images - Anima, Animus, Mother, Shadow, etc. - will cause a response in his soul. Accordingly, such archetypes somehow manifest themselves in every culture.
However, the collective unconscious should not be understood as something supra-individual. This is a complex scheme, but according to Jung’s psychology, a person goes through the process of individualization through it, in fact, it is the process of becoming a person in the full sense of the word. Thus, this is a deeply individual beginning, and common to all people.
Summary
So, Freud's unconscious is a universal psychic phenomenon 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 - Eid and Super-Ego. The second has a much stronger effect on a particular person, since this is his individual unconscious.
Later, 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 suggested. Post-Freudianism and neo-Freudianism gained a large number of followers - Jung, Adler, Fromm, etc.
Freud's theory is still debated and criticized. But it is impossible to deny that it had a large-scale impact 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.