Self: foundations of the unconscious

2025

The 19th century was a defining era for psychology, rich with an intellectual diversity that shaped modern thought but which remains largely overlooked. The roots of 20th century thought can be traced to the 19th century, when a mechanical worldview took hold, society grew increasingly secular, modern urban metropolises emerged, and evolutionist ideas reshaped the understanding of nature’s developmental principles. Throughout this century, the natural sciences extended beyond their traditional limits, influencing and reshaping the human, moral, and social sciences, among which psychology was especially impacted, as this transformation sparked profound debates on the very possibility of a science of the soul. Forgotten Streams in the History of 19th-Century German Psychology recovers the vibrant roots of psychology in empiricism, romanticism, idealism, phenomenology, among other streams of thought that explored consciousness, the soul, and the self before experimental psychology took center stage. Unlike the standard view, this book invites readers to reconsider psychology’s history, revealing a complex landscape that questions the simplistic story of a linear path toward empiricism. Through profiles of significant yet forgotten thinkers, this work uncovers how their ideas contributed to discussions of the unconscious, mind-body duality, and inner experience. Written by leading scholars, each chapter offers a unique window into an intellectual movement that continues to influence debates in psychology, philosophy, and beyond. Essential for historians, psychologists, and anyone curious about psychology’s deeper origins, Forgotten Streams is an indispensable reference that fills an important gap, enriching our understanding of psychology’s complex and multifaceted development.

Philosophy in Review, 2013

Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 2010

International Forum of Psychoanalysis, 2015

Pro Edu, 2019

The psychic is not homogeneous, uniforms, undifferentiated, linear, but it is present in various forms. It has a great functional and existential differentiation and uniformity. It manifests itself in the form of conscious psyche, subconscious and unconscious. The relationship between them, their harmony or conflict, determines the originality of human nature. The unconscious as a form of the psyche constitutes the most controversial level of organization of psychical life. It is stated that psychology stopped placing the notion of conscience in the center of its theoretical and practical preoccupations, making place for the unconscious. The unconscious is not only whatever became automatism, but also what I suppress. Freud explains suppression by a conflict between Superego (which represents the childhood interdictions which became interiorized) and Id, the natural pulsations which we were taught in childhood to blame. Freud urges us, through this, to regain the conscience of what is unconscious. The Superego is a necessary stage in the forming of moral conscience, but it should not be mistaken for the moral conscience itself. The genuine moral conscience does not reduce itself to the Superego. A psychological explanation of the origin of the Superego does not replace the foundation of the moral conscience. Psychoanalysis cannot account for values.

International Forum of Psychoanalysis, 2021

International Forum of Psychoanalysis, 2018

Freud and his Discontents; an aetiology of psychoanalysis, 2021

The book, ‘Freud and his Discontents; an aetiology of psychoanalysis’ (ISBN 978-87-4303-717-0) is published, available in Denmark and Germany, and will be promoted in Britain, America, and Canada. A synopsis of the book is contained in the pdf along with text samples from the book. The book runs from the records of the Freud family in Pribor, the Jewish Enlightenment from a center not too far of in Tysmenitz which, influenced Freud’s parents and his early years. His first three years were actually spent with a Catholic nanny which left him relatively positive to the Catholic faith but his family's beliefs in Judaism were strongly rejected. This, plus his reports of some sexualization in Freud records, leaves him with early sexual attachments to his mother and anger against his father - his response to his family was therefore rooted in Oedipal dynamics. Sexual theories of the time, including Havelock Ellis, von Krafft-Ebbing, and Albert Moll also play a part in his theory of libido. He also seems to hold to such templates where two mothers are present and with birth confusion, he records two possible fathers. Freud’s Oedipal theory established at age three, occur simultaneously when Freud significantly lost his nanny and returned to his mother. These factors become evident in his works up to and including his last work, Moses and Monotheism. A significant amount of Freud’s works are discussed including, the psychosexual stages, Leonardo da Vinci, Totem and taboo, and the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society. In this last section, there are brief entries describing the main ideas of those who met with Freud in Vienna on Wednesdays. These are the ‘discontents’ where despite stormy meetings, some remained as Freudians, and some, like CG Jung and Alfred Adler, go their own way. We then have a ‘diaspora’ of psychologists which, gives rise to the modern world of psychology and its disciplines as we find it.