Problems of man, his inner world aroused no less interest of philosophers than the problems of global development. This was reflected in the philosophy of psychoanalysis, which tried to find a way out of the impasse in which philosophical science was put at the beginning of the twentieth century as a result of the collision of two concepts. The first is positivism, which operates exclusively on natural-science knowledge, the second is irrationalism, which relied on assumptions realized through intuition, faith, and feelings.
The emergence of psychoanalysis
The philosophy of psychoanalysis has had an invaluable influence on the development of philosophical science, as well as on the spiritual culture of society. The founder of psychoanalysis was a psychiatrist from Austria, Z. Freud, who created, first of all, a method of treating patients. On its basis, the concept of philosophical views on the essence of man and culture was formed.
Z. Freud and his followers - G. Jung, C. Horney, E. Fromm - are practicing physicians who aim to cure patients and understand that the philosophy of psychoanalysis is much more extensive than medical practice, and with its help it is possible to create new methods of treatment. It was psychoanalysis that gave impetus to the formation of new concepts, views on philosophical issues, such as the philosophy of anthropology, life, culture. Its peculiarity consisted in its orientation exclusively to man, his psyche, and problems.
What is psychoanalysis
As mentioned above, Freud was a practicing psychiatrist, for 10 hours daily led patients. Therefore, psychoanalysis is a medical method of healing, part of psychotherapy, originally used for patients with hysteria. And already in the future, in the process of working on it, it was adopted as a philosophical doctrine. Its essence lies in the fact that certain pathological ideas, most of which are sexual in nature, are forced out of the realm of consciousness and act from the realm of unconsciousness, from where they penetrate into the realm of consciousness under various vestments, destroying the unity of the human "I" and the world around it.
Freud and his work
Freud was born and spent almost his entire life in Vienna. Here he received a medical education at the university, after which he took up medical practice. It was here that the light of his work on the philosophy of psychoanalysis was seen, which enjoyed incredible success and had a fairly powerful critical assessment. The conclusions that he presented in them excited society and cause controversy to this day. This was a challenge to classical philosophy, in which the main focus was on human consciousness.
In 1899, his first work on psychoanalysis, The Interpretation of Dreams, was published, which has still not lost its relevance and is the handbook of many leading practicing psychiatrists. Literally a year later, his new book, Psychopathology of Everyday Life, was published. Following her are “Wit and its attitude to the unconscious” and other significant works. All his works, bearing both a philosophical and a medical orientation, were immediately translated into different languages ​​of the world. They are very popular in our time.
Classical philosophy argued that consciousness is the main regulatory component of human life. The philosophy of Freud's psychoanalysis established that under it are layers of unconscious desires, aspirations, drives. They are filled with energy, the personal life of each person and, along with this the fate of civilizations, depend on them.
The conflict of the unconscious with consciousness, dissatisfaction with innermost desires lead to mental disorders, mental illness. Modern Western philosophy of psychoanalysis has emerged from Freud's work. The method of psychoanalysis is widespread among doctors in Western Europe and especially America.
Two stages in the philosophical activity of Z. Freud
Medical practice, observation of patients gave the scientist a large amount of information for consideration. On its basis, work was carried out that formed certain views on the issues of psychoanalysis of Z. Freud - a philosophy with certain aspects that can be divided into two stages. The first is the formation of the concept of the unconscious, its duration lasted from 1900-1920. The second lasted until the end of life. It is at this stage that the unconscious is investigated, including the instinctive cosmic urges of life and death.
First stage
At the beginning of his practice, collecting and analyzing experimental data, Freud draws surprising conclusions about the presence in the psyche of people of previously unknown formations with a certain structure and characteristics. Based on the findings, he describes them as consciousness, subconscious and unconscious.
Despite the fact that the Western philosophical school emphasized consciousness, Freud's philosophy of psychoanalysis paid all attention to the unconscious. She defines it as a part of the psyche, where desires unconscious by a person are pushed out, which are outside of the mind and timeless space.
Second phase
On the basis of a revision of the concept in the philosophy of psychoanalysis of Sigmund Freud, the unconscious received some clarifications. Further study of it led to the fact that two more were added to instinctual urges - death and life. It was during this period that the structure of the psyche was described, as well as the concept of a conflict between the unconscious and the conscious as a principle of human existence.
The three constituent structures of the psyche
If we outline the philosophy of Freud's psychoanalysis briefly, it is necessary to note that the human psyche has three structures that can be described as:
1. Unconscious (It). This layer of the psyche is inherited by man from distant ancestors. It is in it that there are two basic instincts of man:
- The procreation is sexual attraction and energy, or, according to Freud, Libido.
- Self preservation . Defines aggressive behavior.
The unconscious, according to Freud, is beyond reason, in other words, it is irrational and immoral (immoral).
2. The subconscious (I). It is formed on the basis of life experience. The “I” is rational, and, in accordance with reality, tries to translate the unconscious “It” into accordance with the moral principles of the “Super-I”. Its purpose is to limit the reflex impulses of "It" in accordance with the current requirements of the reality in which the person is.
3. Consciousness (Super-I). It can be defined as a conscience or a judge who controls and punishes the unconscious “It”. It is in it that all the norms of morality, morality, all the ideals of man are concentrated.
Moreover, each component lives its own life and is not dependent on others. Even getting acquainted with the philosophy of psychoanalysis briefly, we can conclude that consciousness is violence against natural instincts.
The value of libido
Freud, in the philosophy of psychoanalysis that he created, introduces the concept of libido (sexual desire or desire) as an instinct into the unconscious “It”. Moreover, its energy is so great that in human life it leaves an unforgettable mark. Examining it, he comes to the conclusion that libido includes, in addition to erotic love, all its other forms: to oneself, children, parents, animals, the motherland, and so on.
Sometimes the unconscious (It) sends a powerful sexual challenge, but for some reason it comes back, or simply its impulse becomes less intense, discharged, switches to other, higher areas of human activity. It can be art, science, politics, social activities and so on.
From this, Freud makes a logical conclusion that culture, morality and any other human activity is sublimated (redirected and transformed) sexual need. According to the philosophy of Freud’s psychoanalysis, any culture on Earth, including Europe, is the result of the activities of neurotics whose sexual drives were suppressed and transformed into other types of human activity.
Psychoanalysis and Neo-Freudian Philosophy
Freud's ideas were picked up by his followers, their work on the development and further understanding of psychoanalysis led to new views on him. His students and followers went further, conceptualizing and developing psychoanalysis. In the philosophy of the 20th century, psychoanalysis occupies a significant place. The most famous representatives of neo-Freudianism are E. Fromm, C. Horney, G. Sullivan.
They recognized a certain role of the unconscious, the role of instincts, but at the same time believed that social factors are also important, which include social relations, people's relationships, as well as culture. They believed that the conditions in which a person lives significantly affect his behavior in society and the content of his activities.
The differences with Freud consisted primarily in the fact that, in comparison with him, which accepts only sexual energy, they recognized the participation of consciousness and the social factor in the development of personality. That is, they leaned toward classical philosophy, recognizing only the role of consciousness.
The role of neo-Freudians in the development of the theory of the unconscious is great. This can be explained by the fact that they study not only individual, but also social consciousness when dividing it into conscious and unconscious. They operate with such a concept as overcompensation - a response social response to a sense of inferiority. This is the basis for the appearance of great people endowed with remarkable abilities.
The conclusion follows: if Freud tried to find out the reason for a person to perform certain acts, then his followers, using the basic ideas of the philosophy of psychoanalysis, tried to explain the social structure of the life in which this person lives.
Carl Jung and his doctrine of the "collective unconscious"
Subsequently, A. Adler (personality psychology) and C. Jung (depth psychology) departed from Freud's followers and formed their own directions. The representative of the philosophy of psychoanalysis, C. Jung, is a Swiss psychiatrist, philosopher, Freud’s colleague for several years. His work expanded and strengthened his position in this direction. It is Jung who creates a new trend in the philosophy of culture - analytical psychology.
He was an advocate of therapies and the philosophy of psychoanalysis of Freud. Jung, who fully shared the medical and philosophical views of his older comrade and teacher, eventually disagreed with him regarding the unconscious. In particular, this applies to libido.
Jung did not agree with the philosophy of Freud's psychoanalysis in that all impulses of "It" were classified as sexuality, he interpreted it much more broadly. According to Jung, libido is all kinds of life energy that are perceived by a person as unconscious desires, aspirations.
According to Jung, the libido is not in an unchanged state, but undergoes transformation and complex transformations due to difficult life situations, and all this is far from sexuality. In this regard, in the minds of people there are experiences and images that are associated with ancient events of the beginning of human activity. These are not just words; Jung took these facts from his medical practice. It is the philosophy of Jung’s psychoanalysis that gives the unconscious “It” a collective and impersonal beginning, and after that, subjective and individual.
What are archetypes
The collective unconscious constitutes archetypes - universal basic innate structures, they are the cause of experiences of events from the ancient history of the origin of mankind, which can be a person in dreams and be the cause of unrest and mental disorders, they are the environment from which the spiritual life of a person and the whole culture are formed of humanity.
The definitions of most archetypes became a household word and entered the everyday life of people, like sayings, for example:
- Mask - a person’s face that he “pulls” in any contact with outsiders, as well as at official meetings;
- Shadow - the second person’s face, which consists of vicious traits of character or unacceptable qualities repressed into the subconscious.
Of great importance to man, according to Jung's definition, is the archetype “My True Self” or “Self,” which is a synthesis of all archetypes. The comprehension of this "I" person must engage in throughout life. The first results of this development, according to Jung, appear no earlier than middle age.
At this time, a person already has sufficient life experience. This also requires a mandatory high level of development of intelligence, persistent work on oneself. Only after reaching the cherished peak, the personality can be fully realized, understand the "incomprehensible", closed by mere mortals. Cognize his units, most of this is not given.
E. Fromm and his concept of "existential dichotomy"
The German philosopher, psychoanalyst E. Fromm, a follower of Freud’s teachings, introduced the concepts of existentialism and Marxism into psychoanalysis. He formulated his concept in the book "The Soul of Man." The concept of "existentialism" can be defined as a philosophy of survival, which is based on the duality of human nature. A dichotomy is a dichotomy, a gradual division into two entities, the internal connection of which is more tangible than the external. An example is a person who, in essence, is a biological being, but the presence of his mind takes him out of this circle, makes him a stranger in the natural world, and separates him and nature.
The philosophy of existentialism and psychoanalysis is, according to Fromm, a humanistic psychoanalysis designed to study a person’s personality from the point of view of his and society’s relationship, namely the person’s attitude to himself, to people around him and to society.
Fromm attached great importance to love. He argued that the emergence of feelings, his development change a person, make him better, reveal hidden depths in him, qualities that can ennoble him, raise him to an unprecedented height. It shows responsibility for another, a sense of affection for a loved one, for the whole world. This leads a person from pernicious egoism to humanistic feelings and altruism.