Probably the most detailed and precise of the various notions of 'unconscious mind' - and the one which most people will immediately think of upon hearing the term - is that developed by Sigmund Freud and his followers, and which lies at the heart of psychoanalysis. It should be stressed, incidentally, that the popular term 'subconscious' is not a Freudian coinage and is never used in serious psychoanalytic writings. Freud's concept was a more subtle and complex psychological theory than many. Consciousness, in Freud's topographical v ...

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Unconscious mind, Unconscious mind - Pre-Freudian history of the idea, Unconscious mind - Freud's definition, Unconscious mind - Controversy, Unconscious mind - Terminology, Unconscious mind - Unconscious mental processes, Unconscious mind - Questions about Unconscious mind, Unconscious mind - Application of unconscious

Read more here: » Unconscious mind: Encyclopedia II - Unconscious mind - Freud's definition

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Unconscious mind, Unconscious mind - Pre-Freudian history of the idea, Unconscious mind - Freud's definition, Unconscious mind - Controversy, Unconscious mind - Terminology, Unconscious mind - Unconscious mental processes, Unconscious mind - Questions about Unconscious mind, Unconscious mind - Application of unconscious

Read more here: » Unconscious mind: Encyclopedia II - Unconscious mind - Controversy

The idea originated in antiquity, and its more modern history is detailed in Henri F. Ellenberger's Discovery of the Unconscious (Basic Books, 1970). Certain philosophers preceding Sigmund Freud, such as Leibniz, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche, developed ideas foreshadowing the modern idea of the subconscious. The new medical science of psychoanalysis established by Freud and his disciples popularized this and similar notions such as the role of the libido (sex drive) and the self-destructive urge of thanatos (death wish), and the famous Oedipus complex, whe ...

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Unconscious mind, Unconscious mind - Pre-Freudian history of the idea, Unconscious mind - Freud's definition, Unconscious mind - Controversy, Unconscious mind - Terminology, Unconscious mind - Unconscious mental processes, Unconscious mind - Questions about Unconscious mind, Unconscious mind - Application of unconscious

Read more here: » Unconscious mind: Encyclopedia II - Unconscious mind - Pre-Freudian history of the idea

The notion of an unconscious or subconscious has been defined in a variety of ways over time, but in psychology it is considered to be the deepest level of consciousness, a part of which we are not directly aware, but still contains elements that affect conscious behavior. As defined by Sigmund Freud, the psyche is composed of different levels of consciousness, often defined in three parts as the waking consciousness, preconsciousness (which can be recalled with effort), and beneath both of these, the unconscious (which is beyo ...

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Unconscious mind - Pre-Freudian history of the idea Unconscious mind - Freud's definition Unconscious mind - Controversy Unconscious mind - Terminology Unconscious mind - Unconscious mental processes Unconscious mind - Questions about Unconscious mind Unconscious mind - Application of unconscious

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(Note: The next section does confuse the two but has not been removed because of the interesting examples that it gives) The unconscious is arguably not the most intuitive idea, so why bother with it? What's the evidence? What might the unconscious explain? The fact that most bodily processes are not consciously controlled e.g. breathing, blood circulation, blinking The fact that something - not the conscious mind - creates the dreams that we wander around in at night The mind spontaneously moving ...

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Unconscious mind, Unconscious mind - Pre-Freudian history of the idea, Unconscious mind - Freud's definition, Unconscious mind - Controversy, Unconscious mind - Terminology, Unconscious mind - Unconscious mental processes, Unconscious mind - Questions about Unconscious mind, Unconscious mind - Application of unconscious

Read more here: » Unconscious mind: Encyclopedia II - Unconscious mind - Unconscious mental processes

Somewhat related to the unconscious are nonconscious psychic events. The term nonconscious seems to be used in various ways. Some appear to use the term to avoid the somewhat value-laden term "unconscious" or "subconscious", but basically for the same purpose. Others use it to refer to events that can only be observed indirectly (e.g. certain acts of short-term memory), and still others use it to point to events such as brain activity controlled mostly by the autonomic nervous system (e.g. emotional reactions to certain smells). Not surprisi ...

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Unconscious mind, Unconscious mind - Pre-Freudian history of the idea, Unconscious mind - Freud's definition, Unconscious mind - Controversy, Unconscious mind - Terminology, Unconscious mind - Unconscious mental processes, Unconscious mind - Questions about Unconscious mind, Unconscious mind - Application of unconscious

Read more here: » Unconscious mind: Encyclopedia II - Unconscious mind - Terminology

The subconscious is not directly accessible to ordinary introspection, but it is capable of being "tapped" and "interpreted" by special methods and techniques such as random association, dream analysis, and verbal slips (commonly known as a Freudian slip), examined and conducted during psychotherapy. Thoughts, feelings and urges that are repressed are all present in the subconscious mind and "issues" need to be "worked out" with pr ...

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Unconscious mind, Unconscious mind - Pre-Freudian history of the idea, Unconscious mind - Freud's definition, Unconscious mind - Controversy, Unconscious mind - Terminology, Unconscious mind - Unconscious mental processes, Unconscious mind - Questions about Unconscious mind, Unconscious mind - Application of unconscious

Read more here: » Unconscious mind: Encyclopedia II - Unconscious mind - Questions about Unconscious mind