Amanda Herzer
Professor Stephanie Rosen
RHE 309K
22 February 2012

Consciousness and What is Unconscious
Sigmund Freud was born in May of 1856 in Freiberg, Moravia, Austrian Empire, and died in London September of 1939. Freud was a thinker. He was the founder of psychoanalysis, a neuropsychologist, physiologist and a medical doctor. Most of Freud’s ethos comes from his experience in the medical world, and the concepts and theories he developed regarding the mind. Much of the developments in psychoanalysis can be traced back to Freud’s work. Sigmund Freud’s book from 1923, The Ego and the Id, (or Das Ich und das Es) discusses the conscious (ego) and unconscious (id) aspects of the mind. In particular, the first chapter of the book titled, “Consciousness and What is Unconscious,” introduces the two terms in essence of the psychical and to begin the further exploration of the id and ego.
        Sigmund Freud acknowledges his audience within the first page of his chapter. He states, “I could suppose that everyone interested in psychology would read this book,” but “some of my readers would already stop short and would go no further” (Freud 3). Freud already knows that the readers see his argument as absurd and illogical, damaging his logos as an author. By addressing the problems, he is able to encourage the reader to take part in studying the phenomena so that they will be able to understand this part of psychoanalysis. He continues to explain the psychical aspect and says the “psycho-analysis [sic] cannot situate the essence of the psychical in consciousness, but is obliged to regard consciousness as a quality of the psychical” (Freud 3). Sigmund Freud wants to open the eyes of the readers to the consciousness and the unconsciousness, and for people to recognize the complexity of the division and these qualities of the mind, which may or may not be present.
        Sigmund Freud knows there is a preexisting conversation about consciousness and unconsciousness when he says “there is nothing new to be said and it will not be possible to avoid repeating what has often been said before” (3). Since there is already a discussion, Freud attempts to present his argument. He argues, “The division of the psychical into what is conscious and what is unconscious is the fundamental premiss [sic] of psycho-analysis [sic]; and it alone makes it possible… to understand the pathological processes in mental life… and to find a place for them in the framework of science” (Freud 3). The division of consciousness and unconscious is important to the study of psychoanalysis in essence of understanding the mind and how ideas can be repressed or hidden until something triggers the idea to become conscious. With consciousness, it is seen as a characteristic of the psychical, and the psychical is relevant with the phenomena of hypnosis and dreams (Freud 3). Sigmund Freud views the mind as a complex energy system, which leads him to see a relation between the psychical, the phenomena of dreams, and the mind (Thornton). In other words, the conscious and unconscious are psychical experiences of ideas in the mind.
As the argument is presented, Freud explains the terms of “’being conscious’” as descriptive and a “perception of the most immediate and certain character,” whereas “’unconscious’ coincides with ‘latent and capable of becoming conscious’” (Freud 4). He further describes these terms and mentions one more term involving the psyche. First, consciousness is transitory, meaning “an idea that is conscious now is no longer a moment later” (Freud 4). Second, the preconscious is latent or hidden, and lastly, the unconsciousness is repressed and able to become conscious. After separating these terms from one another, he begins to “play about comfortably” to show the dynamics of these experiences in the mind (Freud 6). This dynamic demonstrates there is a spectrum, ranging from unconscious to conscious, and on this spectrum there is a mental life where the conscious, preconscious and unconscious become involved. Freud introduces the concept that “very powerful mental processes or ideas exist… which can produce all the effects in mental life that ordinary ideas do (including effects that can in their turn become conscious as ideas), though they themselves do not become conscious” (5). From this affect, the preconscious is recognized in these mental processes and is an important factor in psychoanalysis. Without the preconscious, an idea wouldn’t be hidden, and there wouldn’t be an interest for the idea to become conscious after being unconscious.
Throughout Sigmund Freud’s argument, he reminds the reader to “not forget that in the descriptive sense there are two kinds of unconscious, but in the dynamic sense only one” (6). Freud doesn’t want the reader to confuse the dynamic sense with the descriptive sense since there is an issue on what is psychical and what is not to some philosophers. Since one term is used in a way to explain the phenomena of ideas becoming conscious after being unconscious in the dynamic sense, the other term can cover the two unconscious terms when describing the phenomena to maintain simplicity. If a psychoanalyst has to explain to a patient what is occurring in their mind when they dream and how it effects their mental life, one term to describe the unconscious will only be necessary so that the patient will not become confused.
Ambiguity is found pertaining to the distinction between the dynamic and descriptive sense. Freud discusses that “the distinction between conscious and unconscious is in the last resort a question of perception… and the act of perception itself tells us nothing of the reason why a thing is or is not perceived” (7). This ambiguity further reminds the readers that there is a high level of complexity in these processes. He adds on to say “these distinctions have proved to be inadequate and, for practical purposes, insufficient” (Freud 8). Sigmund Freud begins to bring in the concept of the ego to the context, in which consciousness is correlated. Since it is the first chapter of his book on the ego and the id and everything related, Freud sees an opportunity to begin the connection of the ego with the psychical. With this chapter, Freud is able to introduce the background of the conscious and unconscious before digging deeper into the mind.
        Sigmund Freud’s style is more educational for those who are interested in philosophy and psychology, and adds perspective to how the mind works with ideas. He explains everything that might be confusing, and breaks down the structure of the psychical. With this type of organization, Freud is able to connect to the audience and present his argument in a convincing manner since he discusses issues. He doesn’t seem afraid to mention ambiguities or doubts. However, the original text was written in a different language other than English and there could have been misinterpretations or translation errors. Also, a slightly different audience might have been the focus, but only geographically. Doctors or other philosophers and psychoanalysts can still use Sigmund Freud’s concepts when looking at the psyche of a patient or experimenting. In the end, the audience would be persuaded that some distinctions in division are necessary, while others are not, just as ideas are either conscious or not.


Works Cited

Freud, Sigmund. “Consciousness and what is Unconscious.” The Ego and the Id. 1923. Trans. James Strachey. New York: Norton, 1960. 3-10. Print.

Library of Congress. Conflict Freud & Culture. 23 July 2010. Web. 21 Feb 2012<http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/freud/ex/73a.html>

Thornton, Stephen P.  Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 16 Apr. 2001. Web. 17 Feb. 2012. <http://www.iep.utm.edu/freud/>

Biography Channel. "Sigmund Freud Biography." Biography.com. 2011. Web. 21 Feb 2012. <http://www.biography.com/people/sigmund-freud-9302400>