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Summary of 'The Unconscious (Chapters II, IV, V, and VII)' by Freud
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Summary, explanation and conclusion of the main ideas of the text 'The Unconscious (Chapters II, IV, V, and VII)' by Freud.
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THE UNCONSCIOUS (CHAPTERS II, IV, V, AND VII)Sigmund Freud (1915)
Summary:
II. THE MULTIVOCALITY OF THE UNCONSCIOUS, AND THE TOPICAL POINT OF VIEW
Before we go any further, it is crucial to recognize that the condition of the unconscious is only a superficial facet of the psyche and
does not provide a complete understanding. There are various psychic acts that share the characteristic of being unconscious, from
those that are barely latent to repressed processes. While it would be useful to dispense with the distinction between conscious
and unconscious altogether, in practice it is complicated. Therefore, we often use the terms "conscious" and "unconscious" in a
descriptive and systematic way, which can cause confusion.
In terms of the psychic process, it generally goes through two phases: an initial unconscious phase and a later phase where it can
become conscious. However, their relationship to consciousness is not determined solely by this belonging. This preconscious
system is also called "preconscious" because it can become conscious under certain conditions.
With the acceptance of these psychic systems, psychoanalysis differs from the descriptive psychology of consciousness by adopting
a dynamic conception of mental processes and considering psychic topology. This perspective, known as the psychology of the
deep, allows us to better understand how mental processes unfold and their relationship to consciousness.
If we wish to seriously address the topography of psychic acts, we must face a crucial question: what is the nature of the
transposition of a psychic act from an unconscious system to a conscious or preconscious one? Is it a new fixation, a second
transcription of the representation in a new psychic locality, or is it rather a change of state within the same material and the same
locality? This question is complex since it involves both psychological aspects and the relationship of the psychic apparatus with
anatomy.
Although we know that soul activity is linked to brain function, we cannot yet determine the precise location of soul processes in
the brain. Our research focuses on the regions of the psychic apparatus, regardless of their anatomical location. Therefore, we are
free to proceed according to our needs, remembering that our assumptions are only intended to illustrate and do not claim
absolute validity.
The first possibility considered, a re-transcription of the representation elsewhere, seems the simplest but also the most
rudimentary. The second possibility, a change in functional status, is more plausible but more difficult to handle. We cannot
distinguish between these possibilities at the moment, but perhaps in the future we will discover factors that tip the balance
towards one of them. Perhaps our initial focus is insufficient and the difference between unconscious and conscious
representations needs to be determined differently.
IV. TOPIC AND DYNAMICS OF REPRESSION
We conclude that repression is essentially a process that affects representations at the boundary between the unconscious and
preconscious (conscious) systems. Now, we can try to describe this process further. It appears to be a subtraction of investiture,
but we have yet to determine in which system this subtraction takes place and to which system the subtracted investiture belongs.
When we consider the case of repression proper, it consists in removing the preconscious investiture from the representation of
the preconscious system. However, this process of libido subtraction does not fully explain another aspect of repression. We need
another process which, in some cases, maintains repression and in others produces and maintains it, and we find it in the counter-
investiture, which protects the preconscious system against the siege of unconscious representation.
Little by little, we have delineated a third point of view in addition to the dynamic and the topical: the economic one, which seeks
to follow the fate of the excitation magnitudes and obtain a relative estimate of them. I propose that when we describe a psychic
process in its dynamic, topical, and economic aspects, we call it a metapsychological exposition. However, reaching this level of
understanding will only be possible in a few places given the complex nature of psychic phenomena.
Let us attempt to give a metapsychological description of the process of repression in the three known transference neuroses. We
can substitute "investiture" for "libido," since we are referring to the destinies of the sexual drives.
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