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Sigmund Freud. The Mind in Conflict. Today’s Lecture. Brief history of Freud’s ‘discovery’ of the unconscious mind Touch upon Freud’s methods of psychoanalysis Explore how Freud saw the mind as being in a state of conflict Look at the implications of his ideas for philosophy.
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Sigmund Freud The Mind in Conflict
Today’s Lecture • Brief history of Freud’s ‘discovery’ of the unconscious mind • Touch upon Freud’s methods of psychoanalysis • Explore how Freud saw the mind as being in a state of conflict • Look at the implications of his ideas for philosophy
The Unconscious Mind • Paracelsus is credited as the first to make mention of an unconscious aspect of cognition • The term "unconscious mind" was coined by the 18th century philosopher Friedrich Schelling • Spinoza, Leibniz, Schopenhauer, Hegel, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche all refer to it • "It is difficult—or perhaps impossible—to find a nineteenth-century psychologist or psychiatrist who did not recognize the unconscious”
Hypnosis Jean Martin Charcot French neurologist Initial work in Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson’s Disease Became famous for hypnotising hysterics Believed that hysteria was the result of defects in the patient’s nervous system
Misogyny or History? • Hysteria was widely discussed in the medical literature of the 19th century. • A physician in 1859 claimed that a quarter of all women suffered from hysteria • One physician cataloged seventy-five pages of possible symptoms of hysteria and called the list incomplete
Josef Breur an Austrian physician whose works laid the foundation of psychoanalysis. A close friend, mentor, and collaborator with Freud Breuer is perhaps best known for his work with Anna O
The Case of Anna O Joseph Breur told Freud of the incident in 1882: • Anna nursed her father as he died of a long illness • After his death she took to her bed • Developed a severe nervous cough • An aversion to food and water • Began to suffer ‘absences’ • Hallucinations • Violent and ‘naughty’ behaviour
Treating Anna • Whilst in a trance, Anna would mutter to herself • On one occasion, Breur repeated some of these words to her • Anna joined in and told the story in which these words occurred • She then woke up much calmer • Breur found that in time as Anna O repeated a story, so a symptom disappeared • Each symptom could be traced back to a traumatic event • This event remained in the ‘unconscious mind’
Studies on Hysteria 1895 • Book was co-authored by Breur and Freud • Breuer describes the causes of hysteria by supporting a neurophysiologic cause, while Freud uses a psychological standpoint. • Freud questioned Charcot’s claim that heredity is the unique cause of hysteria
Freud’s technique • Struggled with hypnosis • Pioneered the ‘pressure technique’ • Began to use ‘free association’ • Realises that he is encountering ‘defence’ • The wishes of the unconscious mind are repressed and disguised
Dynamic Theory of the Mind • Freud begins to develop a model of the mind which stresses conflict • An event is experienced – ‘incompatible idea’ • The person tries to forget the idea • The idea is redirected into a hysterical symptom • In Freud’s view, the unconscious mind is continuously at work affecting our behaviour, which might reveal itself in slips of the tongue or psychological symptoms
Illness is Ideogenic • In the main, hysteria had been regarded as a physical condition • The Greeks characterised it as a ‘floating womb’ • In contrast, Freud saw the origins of hysteria are ideogenic • Derived from experiences and ideas
Libido Freud defined libido as the instinct energy or force, contained in the id • These libidinal drives can conflict with the conventions of civilized behaviour • This energy is redirected by the ego • Excessive use of ego defenses results in neurosis
Dreams • During sleep the mind’s defenses are lower • Incompatible ideas can ‘slip’ through
Interpretation of Dreams • “Dreams are the royal road to a knowledge of the unconscious activities of the mind" • Manifest and Latent Content
According to Freud, dreams weredisguised,hallucinatoryfulfilmentofrepressedwishes.
if expressed in undisguised form, would so disturb the dreamer that he would wake up.
Dream Disguise • Condensation one dream object stands for several associations and ideas • Displacement a dream object's emotional significance is separated from its real object or content • Visualization a thought is translated to visual images. • Symbolism • a symbol replaces an action, person, or idea
The Case of Dora The crisis that led her father to bring Dora to Freud was her accusation that Herr K had made a sexual advance to her
Dora’s Dream 1 • The house was on fire. My father was standing beside my bed and woke me up. I dressed quickly. Mother wanted to stop and save her jewel-case; but Father said: 'I refuse to let myself and my two children be burnt for the sake of your jewel-case.' We hurried downstairs, and as soon as I was outside I woke up.
Interpretation? • The house on fire? • The jewel case? • Father’s refusal?
Freud’s Interpretation • Freud stressed that Dora was actually attracted to Herr K • Hence the repression and neurotic symptoms • Many feminist critics were furious about this case
Symbolization, in which some neutral object stands for some aspect of sexual life
Why I love Freud? • Psychoanalytical readings allow a text to be seen as much more complex than surface meaning • The act of interpretation is therefore ‘opens up the text’ • Readers look for latent content as much as manifest content • It means that the writer is no longer in control of their meanings
Philosophical Implications • Epistemological challenges • Nature of consciousness • Primacy of reason • The Enlightenment Project • The Socratic Inheritance
René Descartes cogito ergo sum Mind body dualism
Empiricism • Empiricism is a theory of knowledge that asserts that knowledge comes only or primarily from sensory experience • Freud’s view of the mind disagrees with this view
Rationalism • In politics, rationalism since the Enlightenment historically emphasized a "politics of reason" centred upon rational choice • Freud’s thinking brings into question the primacy of reason • In fact, a reason governed society is ultimately a neurotic society
Socratic Inheritance The Socratic ideal of ‘know[ing] thyself But what if you can’t get access to the self? Does our mission become knowing thyselves?
A Much Criticised Figure • Pseudo-scientist • Misogynist • Fantasist • Misrepresented cases • Ignored physiological elements of mental illness
Legacy • In 1939 W. H. Auden wrote, in a poem dedicated to him: "to us he is no more a person now but a whole climate of opinion under whom we conduct our different lives"
