The first chapter of The Ego and the Id written by Sigmund Freud in 1923 is an explanation of Freud’s theory of consciousness. This work was written later in his career when many were familiar with Freud’s work and his role as the father of psychoanalysis. In a way, the theory of consciousness is an indirect defense of psychoanalysis, the only therapy which deals with the interworking of the conscious and unconscious. Freud’s main argument is that there are parts of the unconscious that effect daily life and states those who question this logic don’t know or understand the discoveries made through hypnosis and the study of dreams. Freud believes that some of these unconscious ideas are repressed but can be made conscious; this is done through the process of psychoanalysis. He develops his theory further by explaining there are technically two types of unconsciousness: preconscious in which mental processes are latent, but can be recovered and unconscious in which ideas are completely repressed passed the point of recovery. In a functional sense there is only one form of unconsciousness since ideas in the preconscious can be brought into the conscious. Freud than gives a brief introduction into the Ego; this mental process is coherent and acts like a censor to the unconscious parts of the mind. Freud explains that mental disorders are the result of conflict between the coherent and the repressed. Freud then argues that not all that is unconscious is repressed and part of the ego is repressed, so it is possible to resolve some of the conflict between the repressed and coherent.
Freud, Sigmund. “Conscious and what is Unconscious.” The Ego and the Id. 1923. Trans, James. Strachey, New York: Norton, 1960. 3-10. Print
I agree with Freud on his theory of unconsciousness. That is the part of the unconscious effect our life.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that the unconscious does play a part in our decision making and in our lives, but I don't think it's to the extent that the unconscious is a conglomeration of our repressed hidden desires. I believe that it's more complex than that.
ReplyDeleteI am just wondering why Freud would need to defend psychoanalysis at this time? Was it because no one believed his theories to begin with and he felt he needed this theory of unconsciousness to support him?
ReplyDeleteI think Freud is taking this concept way out of proportion. I do not think he has any sort of convincing evidence to back up what he is saying. Everything that he is saying sounds like opinion, and if it isn't, then why didn't he give some examples? It is very hard for me to believe anything that Freud has to say.
ReplyDelete@rdohner1, well I do think that everything needs a scientific basis, at this stage in life, with our technological standpoint, we can only evaluate certain things subjectively. For example, lets say a psychiatrist diagnoses a patient. The patient describes to the psychiatrist how he/she feels and what's hurting him/her, but in reality, neither the patient (generally) nor the psychiatrist had the same type of training. What does it mean to exhibit depression? When I first learned depression, I was always confused with anxiety; I'm sure others out there feel the same way. Sometimes being subjective is the best way to explain somethings. Until certain technological advances can measure our evidence for the mental thinking, then we must rely on subjective evaluations.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I was wondering when Freud says preconscious, is it our current understanding of subconscious?
Not to play devils advocate, but I would agree with Freud to a certain extent. First I think it is important to recognize that while Freud has been questioned on many theories, this seems to be one that lacks such attention. This is probably because it is hard to test and the findings are subjective. But i feel there is some importance in the fact that this proposal by Freud has yet to be replaced. We are still learning about it in psychology 101 on UT campus.
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