Psychoanalysis: Sigmund Freud: 2. The Theory Of The Unconscious
Instead of treating neurotic behavior as inexplicable, he insisted on
treating behavior by seeking explanations that caused the mental state of the
person involved. Therefore did he consider things like 'the slip of the
tongue', obsessiveness and dreams significant ... it suggests that 'freedom of
will' is more circumscribed as commonly believed ... which meant that our
choices are guided by hidden mental processes that we are unaware of and
therefore out of our control.Freud reasoned that there is such a thing as an unconscious mental state ... he persisted that the causation principle requires that such a mental state must exist.
He based his findings on the fact that, frequently, there is nothing in the conscious mind to trigger neurotic or similar behavior. He stated that an unconscious mental process does not merely come out of the conscious at a given time, but that the process is rather one that cannot be brought to the forefront of the conscious.
It defines that the mind is not and cannot be identified with the conscious or an object of the consciousness ... that it can rather be described as an iceberg in the sea ... it is the defining big part below the surface, influencing the conscious mind.
Freud also included instincts in this point of view.
He stated that instincts are the principal motivation behind the mental state ... the energy of the mind and its functions. He disclosed that we have an indefinite large number of instincts, but that there are a few basic instincts that we can concentrate on.
He grouped them into two categories: Eros [the life instinct] that covers
self-preservation and erotica ... and Thanatos [the death instinct] that covers
aggression, self-destruction and cruelty.
So, it is wrong to intepret Freud's thesis as a fact that all human actions originate from motivations which have sexual origins, since the instincts that sprout from Thanatos are not sexually motivated ... rather Thanatos is the irrational urge to destroy the source of all sexual energy in the destruction of oneself.
Freud made the sexual drive concept important in the daily human life of actions and behavior ... he argued that sexual drives can be noticed in children from birth [the theory of infantile sexuality], and that the libido [sexual energy] is the most important drive in an adult's life.
However, Freud redefined the term 'sexuality' into a broader definition so that it could cover all forms of pleasure, which the body can feel and enjoy.
His theory basically states that the instincts are the essential drives that energize a person ... and the person can be driven through his life by the desire to get and enhance bodily pleasure.
So, it is wrong to intepret Freud's thesis as a fact that all human actions originate from motivations which have sexual origins, since the instincts that sprout from Thanatos are not sexually motivated ... rather Thanatos is the irrational urge to destroy the source of all sexual energy in the destruction of oneself.
Freud made the sexual drive concept important in the daily human life of actions and behavior ... he argued that sexual drives can be noticed in children from birth [the theory of infantile sexuality], and that the libido [sexual energy] is the most important drive in an adult's life.
However, Freud redefined the term 'sexuality' into a broader definition so that it could cover all forms of pleasure, which the body can feel and enjoy.
His theory basically states that the instincts are the essential drives that energize a person ... and the person can be driven through his life by the desire to get and enhance bodily pleasure.
FIN
