Sigmund Freud: Father of the Conscious and the Unconscious

Sigmund Freud:
Father of the Conscious and the Unconscious

Prepared By: Madison Vartanian
Prepared For: Mr. Froese
Course: CHY4U
Due Date: Monday, January 16th, 2012

1 Envision a time when the mind of a man, woman, or child did not have infinite boundaries to be studied and new segments to be discovered. A time when the subconscious was unknown. This was the time before Sigmund Freud.[1] Sigmund Freud was an Austrian scientist who has become the father of the conscious and unconscious mind. Freud was incipiently neither a psychologist or a psychiatrist, but a neuro-scientist.[2] Regardless of his profession, Freud has revolutionized the study of psychology and the psyche eternally. He explained that delving into a human being 's inner life was essential in comprehending the nature of humanity.[3] His discoveries with the id, ego, and superego, the causes of repression, the development of psychoanalysis, and the interpretation of dreams have truly entitled him to a grand title of the Father of the Conscious and the Unconscious. Sigmund Freud perceived the mind as always conflicting with itself. This conflict was the paramount inducement of anxiety and unhappiness. Freud 's examination into these intimate struggles led him to the severance of the mind and the revolutionary discovery of the three dominant parts: the id, ego, and superego. This discovery has undoubtedly earned Sigmund Freud an exceptionally respectable platform. The id is instigated by the pleasure principle which strives for instant fulfillment of inner desires. The ego is compelled to keep the id reserved and express its desires in a proper manner.[4] Lastly, the superego is the sense of right and wrong and holds all moral archetypes, and strives toward perfection.[5] The id, ego, and superego operate in individual layers of consciousness. The communication between the three parts of the mind allows a consistent locomotion of items from one section to another.

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The three functions of the mind have advocated for a higher understanding of personality.
Freud uses the terms in a descriptive form to explain how the ego feels, “If the ego is obliged to admit its weakness, it breaks out in anxiety – realistic anxiety regarding the external world, moral anxiety regarding the superego and neurotic anxiety regarding the strength of the passions of the id.”[6] Knowing and apprehending these sectors is unbelievably beneficial to one 's mental health. Freud has succeeded in doing so for millions of people around the world to earn him the title of father of the conscious and the unconscious. Discovering the three levels of the mind also helped to understand where repressions come from. Think of the old saying: out of sight, out of mind. This is rubbish. Once something is repressed, it will always be stored in your unattainable attic of the unconscious. Here it will continue to indulge and press for gratification.[7] Sigmund Freud coined the term repression to explain how one “immoral” wish or thought can manifest itself negatively in the mind. He explains how it happens, “[A] wish had been aroused, which was in sharp opposition to the other desires of the individual, and was not capable of being reconciled with the ethical, aesthetic and personal pretensions of the patient 's personality.”[8] It is very natural to have erratic desires, but sometimes this secret lust is difficult for the mind to comprehend. Freud continues, “There had been a short conflict, and the end of this inner struggle was the repression of the idea which presented itself to the consciousness as the bearer of this irreconcilable wish. This was then repressed from consciousness and forgotten.”[9] Even though this inner struggle is forgotten, that is only on the surface because it will forever haunt you from your unconscious. Therefore, the habitation of the incongruous wish or desire, will cause severe mental trauma. In regards to society, Freud argued that once the West
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advanced into elevated stages of civilization, people evolved to repress their own primal desires. He believed for society to repress its own bestial past, it would return to haunt subsequent generations.[10] The discovery of repression and how it is harmful to one 's psyche has reformed our perceptions on what normally would be strange desires. Freud has helped in the understanding of these desires and the explanation of repression. Therefore, proving to be the father of the conscious and the unconscious. Freud also helped uncover repressed thoughts through psychoanalysis. Freud first used the term psychoanalysis in 1896, first in French and then in German. He created his own method of psychotherapy from Breuer 's mechanism of hypnosis in conjunction with the healing talking cure.[11] Once something had been repressed to a degree that it was debilitating and caused neurotic symptoms, it was fundamental to the patient 's health to bring this repression to the surface. Freud explained what happened when he dealt with a woman who could not drink a glass of water, “She would take a glass of water in her hand, but as soon as it touched her lips she would push it away as though suffering from hydrophobia.”[12] To battle this strange phobia, Freud had to excavate her unconscious and find the root of the repression through psychoanalysis. With the help of hypnosis, he found out the cause and said, “She was talking one day in hypnosis about her English governess, whom she disliked, and finally told, with very sign of disgust, how she had come into the room of the governess, and how that lady 's little dog, that she abhorred, had drunk out of a glass.”[13] The woman had such a hate for her governess, that seeing her dog drink out of a glass disgusted her beyond belief. This repression of her disgusted feelings manifested itself physically to the point where she could not drink a glass of water. After reaching the root of the problem, Freud
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said, “Now, after she had given energetic expression to her restrained anger, she asked for a drink, drank a large quantity of water without trouble, and woke from hypnosis with the glass at her lips. The symptom thereupon vanished permanently.”[14] Since the patient had no idea why she was unable to drink a glass of water, bringing the repressed reason to light broke the barrier and now she has no difficulty whatsoever. After realizing what worked and did not work and the proper techniques of psychoanalysis, Freud explained, “[P]erhaps the majority of symptoms, originated in this way and could be removed by the same method.”[15] The patient has to be put into the same mindset that they were when the feeling, thought, or desire was repressed. This way, the repression will arise. Now, Freud comprehended how to extract a repression and went on to enlighten students with his revolutionary techniques. The development of psychoanalysis is one of the primary reasons why Freud is the father of the conscious and the unconscious. Another primary reason is his interpretation of dreams. “The interpretation of dreams is the royal road to a knowledge of the unconscious activities of the mind.”[16] Freud always knew that dreams had specific profound and unfathomable meaning. He came to the conclusion that wish-fulfillment is the significance of every single dream. Freud had to anticipate that there would be criticism to his wish fulfillment theory because of nightmares and dreams loaded with anxiety. But, in his defense he said that those particular dreams are dreams in which the censor has failed to camouflage the wishes enough to make them appropriate.[17] In these cases, the nightmares or anxiety filled dreams may be a result of repressions. Freud explains how suppressed material can divulge itself into dreams, “In waking life the suppressed material in the mind is prevented from finding expression and is cut off from internal perception […] but during the night, […] this
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suppressed material finds methods and means of forcing its way into consciousness.”[18]
Because there is no control over the conscious and unconscious when you sleep, it is much easier for these suppressed thoughts to slither their way into dreams. Freud was absolutely fascinated with dreams and believed that they had a colossal role in understanding of the psyche. He wrote, “By analyzing dreams we can take a step forward in our understanding of the composition of that most marvelous and most mysterious of all instruments. Only a small step, no doubt; but a beginning.”[19] The most marvelous and most mysterious of all instruments being the mind. Freud wholeheartedly supposed that by analyzing dreams, it was the beginning foundation of understanding the mind. This is because dreams represent deep wishes, and display repressions on a pedestal when they typically would not be acknowledged in waking life. He was the first to uncover this incredible discovery which ultimately changed the paradigm regarding dreams forever. Sigmund Freud is unquestionably the father of the conscious and unconscious. He has transformed the area of psychology and the study of the psyche infinitely. Firstly, his discoveries with the id, ego, and superego have advocated for a higher understanding of inner desires and the conflict between what 's right and wrong. Secondly, understanding repressions has reformed our perceptions on what normally would be strange desires that could potentially be harmful. Thirdly, psychoanalysis has helped to take power away from these repressions and allowed neurotic symptoms to vanish permanently. Lastly, interpreting dreams have encouraged people to understand their inner wishes. The study of psychology will always be in its infancy. Discoveries and epiphanies will be never ending. However, Sigmund Freud has advanced the field of psychology to a level that no one else has done, or perhaps will do, for years to come. This is why Sigmund Freud is the father of the conscious and the unconscious. 6
Bibliography

Cherry, Kendra. “Id, Ego and Superego.” About. 2011. 27 December 2011.

Doidge, Norman. “HISTORY: The Doctor Is Totally In: On the 150th Anniversary of Freud 's Birth, Science Is Proving He Was Right.” Maclean 's. (2006)

Domhoff, G. William. “The Interpretation of Dreams.” American Scientist. (2000)

Freud, Sigmund. The Origin and Development of Psychoanalysis. Sioux Falls: NuVision Publications, LLC, 2007

Freud, Sigmund. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. London: The Hogarth Press, 1986

Gay, Peter. Freud: A Life for Our Time. New York: W.W. Norton, 1998

Haberman, Arthur, and Shubert Adrian. The West and the World Since 1500. Toronto: Gage Learning Corporation, 2004

Starks, Lisa S. “Remember Me: Psychoanalysis, Cinema, and the Crisis of Modernity.” Shakespeare Quarterly. (2002)

Trupp, Michael S. On Freud. Belmont: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2000

Wolozin, Harold. "The Human Mind, Institutions, and Economic Behavior." Journal of Economic Issues. 38.2 ( 2004)

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[1] Michael Trupp, On Freud (Belmont: Wadsworth/Thompson Learning, 2000), p. 1.
[2] Norman Doidge, “ HISTORY: The Doctor Is Totally In: On the 150th Anniversary of Freud 's Birth, Science Is Proving He Was Right,” Maclean 's (2006)
[3] Arthur Haberman, and Adrian Shubert, The West and the World Since 1500 (Toronto: Gage Learning Corporation, 2004), p. 209.
[4] Kendra Cherry “The Id, Ego and Superego.” 2011. . 27 Devember 2011
[5] Harold Wolozin, “The Human Mind, Institutions, and Economic Behaviour,” Journal of Economic Issues. 38.2 (2004)
[6] Sigmund Freud, The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud (London: The Hogarth Press, 1986), p. 78.
[7] Peter Gay, Freud: A Life for Our Time (New York: W.W. Norton, 1998), p. 366.
[8] Haberman, and Shubert, p. 211.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Lisa S. Starks, “Remember Me: Psychoanalysis, Cinema, and the Crisis of Modernity,” Shakespeare Quarterly (2002)
[11] Gay, p. 103.
[12] Sigmund Freud, The Origin and Development of Psychoanalysis (Sioux Falls: NuVision Publications, LLC, 2007), p. 10.
[13] Ibid.
[14] Ibid.
[15] Ibid.
[16] Haberman, and Shubert, p. 210.
[17] G. William Domhoff, “The Interpretation of Dreams,” American Scientist (2000)
[18] Haberman, and Shubert, p. 210.
[19] Ibid., p. 211.

Bibliography: Cherry, Kendra. “Id, Ego and Superego.” About. 2011. 27 December 2011. Doidge, Norman Domhoff, G. William. “The Interpretation of Dreams.” American Scientist. (2000) Freud, Sigmund Freud, Sigmund. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. London: The Hogarth Press, 1986 Gay, Peter Haberman, Arthur, and Shubert Adrian. The West and the World Since 1500. Toronto: Gage Learning Corporation, 2004 Starks, Lisa S Trupp, Michael S. On Freud. Belmont: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2000 Wolozin, Harold ----------------------- [1] Michael Trupp, On Freud (Belmont: Wadsworth/Thompson Learning, 2000), p [6] Sigmund Freud, The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud (London: The Hogarth Press, 1986), p. 78. [7] Peter Gay, Freud: A Life for Our Time (New York: W.W. Norton, 1998), p. 366. [10] Lisa S. Starks, “Remember Me: Psychoanalysis, Cinema, and the Crisis of Modernity,” Shakespeare Quarterly (2002) [11] Gay, p [12] Sigmund Freud, The Origin and Development of Psychoanalysis (Sioux Falls: NuVision Publications, LLC, 2007), p. 10. [17] G. William Domhoff, “The Interpretation of Dreams,” American Scientist (2000) [18] Haberman, and Shubert, p