0.2 Sigmund freud  (Page 13/37)

Freud also defended his theory of sexuality in logical ways. In his initial work on this topic, Three Contributions to the Theory of Sex (1905/1995), Freud specifically argued against the prevailing views that sexuality develops at puberty for the purpose of attracting a man and a woman to each other for the ultimate purpose of reproduction. He noted that there are individuals who are attracted to members of their own sex, that there are those who engage in sexual acts that disregard the genitalia (e.g., fetishes), and there are undeniable examples of children who become interested in their genitalia and obtain some excitation from them. Finally, in his Introductory Lectures… (Freud, 1917/1966) he declared his position quite clearly:

To suppose that children have no sexual life – sexual excitations and needs and a kind of satisfaction – but suddenly acquire it between the ages of twelve and fourteen, would (quite apart from any observations) be as improbable, and indeed senseless, biologically as to suppose that they brought no genitals with them into the world and only grew them at the time of puberty. (pg. 385).

Levels of Consciousness

From the very beginning of psychoanalysis, Freud and Breuer (1895/2004) recognized that their patients were often unaware of the connections between their symptoms and earlier traumatic events, and they might not even recall the events themselves. And yet, as described above, the memory of those events remained strong. How can a memory be strong but not remembered? The answer lies in the theory that there are different levels of consciousness. Freud described three levels of consciousness: the conscious , the preconscious , and the unconscious .

The conscious mind is our awareness, the knowledge that we exist and are alive. As you read this book you are conscious of it, when you talk to a friend you are aware of what they are saying and how you will respond (unless, of course, you respond with a Freudian slip!). Although the conscious mind is usually identified with our personality, and Freud recognized that people viewed consciousness as nothing more or less than the defining characteristic of the mind, his clinical experience with psychoanalysis made it impossible for him to accept the identification of the conscious mind with the mental mind (Freud, 1917/1966).

The unconscious mind, according to Freud, is the true psychic reality, and all conscious thought has a preliminary unconscious stage. And yet, the unconscious mind is truly inaccessible. In The Interpretation of Dreams (1900/1995), Freud wrote about the unconscious mind that:

…in its inner nature it is just as much unknown to us as the reality of the external world, and it is just as imperfectly communicated to us by the data of consciousness as is the external world by the reports of our sense-organs. (pg. 510)

How then does the unconscious mind affect our personality? Between the unconscious and conscious minds there is an intermediary: the preconscious. Technically, the preconscious mind is part of the unconscious, but only through the preconscious mind can the impulses arising in the unconscious enter into our conscious awareness. Freud distinguished between the two by theorizing that the unconscious cannot enter into consciousness, but if certain rules are followed, the preconscious can enter into consciousness (but perhaps only after being censored; Freud, 1900/1995).