Consciousness and the Unconscious (Sigmund Freud)
The classical philosophical ideas about man consist mainly in the fact that he represents a rational, or conscious, being.
Man is intelligent, as is the world in which he lives.
Consciousness, or thinking, is its main distinguishing feature.
Let us recall Descartes 'famous statement:" I think, therefore I exist."
At the end of the XIX century, the idea was voiced that both the world and man are most likely unintelligent, and the mind is a small element of the world and plays an insignificant role in human life.
But these were philosophical statements.
Of the psychologists (from the Greek psyche – soul and logos – teaching), the Austrian scientist, doctor Sigmund Freud was the first to doubt the rational nature of man.
It seems to us, he says, that a person is a completely rational being who lives and acts only rationally or logically, that he understands the motives of his actions, can explain his actions and is always aware of his goals.
But science, unlike religion, considers man not a Divine creation, but a distant descendant of higher mammalian animals.
So has he really gone so far away from the realm of nature that there is nothing biological left in him?
Of course, it remains, we just donot want to notice it.
Moreover, according to Freud, there is much more biological or natural in a person than there is rational, cultural or social.
Everything biological in a person, representing the various instincts that any living being has, Freud called the area of the unconscious.
By virtue of its very nature (specificity), it is hidden from us, or rather, inaccessible to our consciousness or mind.
In other words, it exists in us, but we are not aware of it and therefore do not know or do not understand that it exists.
Imagine an iceberg – a huge block of ice floating in the ocean.
As you know, the surface, visible part of it is much smaller than the underwater, invisible part.
It seems to us that an iceberg is only something that is above the water, and we do not know its real size, because they are hidden from direct observation.
It is the same with the unconscious – it is an invisible, hidden part of the human psyche, and the consciousness, or mind, of a person is a visible and insignificant part of it.
Just as an iceberg is mainly something that is under water, and not above it, so a person is mainly the sphere of his unconscious, and not at all consciousness, as it seems to us.
The unconscious in a person is a combination of his natural qualities, primitive instincts inherited from animal ancestors.
These instincts determine human feelings, desires, thoughts and actions.
It is not in consciousness or in the mind that we should look for the main cause of human activity, but in the field of the unconscious.
It is it that directs each specific human life from unknown depths to us.
Of all the unconscious instincts, the most powerful is the sexual, or sexual, passion, which Freud calls "libido".
All the vital energy of a person is concentrated in it.
But, living in a society and in a collective, and not in a forest or in a herd, a person cannot fully fulfill or satisfy all his sexual desires.
He has to consciously limit them, suppress them, fight them.
In this case, his sexual energy rushes into some other channel: artistic creativity, scientific research, socio political activity, sports achievements and anything else.
Freud calls this repression of sexual desires and their transformation into other types of activity sublimation (from Lat. sublimare – to ascend or pass).
Another strong instinct after the sexual is, according to Freud, the desire for destruction, or the death instinct, which finds its expression in wars, murders and crimes that accompany the history of human society.
Thus, the life and activity of a person, from the point of view of Freud, are explained by the interaction of three layers, or layers, of his psyche.
Human thoughts, actions and actions determine the biological instincts that make up the sphere of the unconscious, the main of which are the sexual instinct (Greek – Eros) and the death instinct (Greek – Thanatos).
Freud calls this unconscious instinctive area the term "it".
In addition, human behavior is influenced by various social norms, principles and laws, which the Austrian scientist refers to by the term "superego".
Freud calls the human consciousness itself "I".
The diagram below illustrates the mechanism of interaction of these three components of the human psyche.
It turns out that the human consciousness (I) is not a "master in its own house", because it is constantly forced to split, to break in half between unconscious instincts and social restrictions.
A person always has to choose something in between his biological drives (desires) and the moral norms of the society in which he lives.
Simply put, he wants something and at the same time he canot do it.
He is forced either to suppress his desires, or to neglect social norms.
It is difficult for Him to do both.
On this basis, a person may have mental disorders, the main cause of which is, according to Freud, suppressed or repressed desires (usually of a sexual nature).
An Austrian scientist has developed a special method of treating mental diseases, which was called psychoanalysis (from the Greek psyche – soul and analysis – decomposition).
This term can be interpreted as the liberation of the soul.
Its essence is that the doctor, during a long conversation, finds out the true cause of the mental disorder (disease) of his patient, which is, most often, once suppressed sexual desires.
It shows (demonstrates) these reasons are given to him, and the patient, realizing or understanding them, can cope with his illness himself, because it is always much easier to fight with a visible enemy than with an invisible enemy.
It is not by chance that they say: "Forewarned means armed."
Test yourself
1.
Why can Freud's ideas about man be called non classical?
2. What is the unconscious in Freud's teaching?
How do consciousness and the unconscious relate, from his point of view?
3. What unconscious instincts did Freud consider the most powerful?
What is libido and sublimation?
4. What is the mechanism of interaction of the three layers of the human psyche, according to Freud?
What is the duality of human nature, from his point of view?
5. What is psychoanalysis?
What is its basic principle?
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