Philosophy of the 20th and 21st Centuries

The Philosophy of Psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis has significantly enriched our understanding of humanity by revealing new dimensions of existence and previously unknown depths of human nature. Freudian psychoanalysis transformed perceptions of human consciousness and self-awareness, exposing numerous illusions about human behavior, desires, and aspirations.

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), an Austrian physician and thinker, empirically demonstrated the reality of the unconscious mind, a concept that had previously existed as a philosophical postulate in the works of E. Hartmann and F. Nietzsche. While psychoanalysis did not become a panacea for mental disorders in the tumultuous 20th century, Freud’s work led to an understanding that humans cannot be viewed merely as small cogs in a vast social machine and that individuals are often not masters of their own actions and desires. Instead, humans are seen as infinitely complex beings, with the internal meaning of existence likely remaining forever elusive.

Freud sought to apply psychoanalysis to fundamental cultural, religious, moral, and artistic questions, as well as to critique contemporary civilization. One of Freud's main ideas is the defining role of sexuality in culture. This perspective highlights the fundamental and unchanging conflict between human nature and society. Freud posited that humans are driven by two primal forces: the pursuit of sexual gratification and the desire for destruction. Sexual desires are aimed at achieving complete sexual freedom, and through experience, individuals recognize that sexual love provides a profound sense of satisfaction, akin to a model of happiness. Consequently, people are constantly in search of sexual pleasures, placing sexual eroticism at the center of their life priorities.

Freud believed that each person harbors a multitude of complexes, fears, and superstitions, which can manifest as harmless whims or carry overtly antisocial tendencies. Observing pathological deviations in the psyche, he concluded that the human consciousness contains a unique unconscious realm that cannot be fully explored through logical methods. The energy of this realm largely determines the functioning of human consciousness and external behavior. Freud conceptualized consciousness as comprising three levels:

• The Superego ("Superego" — rules of behavior, parental prohibitions, moral social censorship);
• The Ego ("Ego");
• The Id ("Id" — a collection of instincts, complexes, repressed or displaced experiences, with the most significant being the sexual instinct and the instinct for aggression).

A prominent indicator of these internal contradictions, according to Freud, is the so-called "Oedipus Complex," named after the ancient king Oedipus, who unknowingly killed his father, married his mother, and was punished by the gods. Such unconscious feelings contribute to the development of a sense of guilt, often manifesting in neurotics. This universal sense of guilt serves as a source of religion, morality, and culture.

Freud argued that psychiatry should treat not the body but the personality. The psychoanalytic method involved the analyst engaging in a form of excavation of the patient's subconscious during conversations, aiming to uncover "forgotten" or repressed experiences, usually from childhood, that had once harmed the psyche but continued to influence the individual. Once these experiences are brought to consciousness, they cease to dominate the psyche. Freud also regarded dream interpretation as a crucial aspect of this process, as dreams, in his view, are the state in which the unconscious expresses itself most adequately.

Freud’s teachings are deeply humanistic, as he believed that while full mastery over the unconscious or its subjugation to the individual is impossible, increasing our knowledge of our psyche allows us to diminish the influence of the "Id" and better manage our own lives.

During Freud's lifetime, his concepts of psychoanalysis and the role of sexuality were interpreted differently by his follower Alfred Adler (1870-1937), the founder of "individual psychology." As a member of Freud’s circle, Adler developed his own concept of mental illness based on the idea of compensating for feelings of inferiority. According to Adler, mental illness results from an unconscious drive to satisfy one's own sense of significance, fueled by feelings of inferiority, which can stem from physical or mental shortcomings. In contrast to Freud, Adler emphasized social factors as the foundation of human character. He argued that a person's character is a result of their "lifestyle." Adler introduced the term "inferiority complex" and viewed the desire for dominance over others as a means to compensate for these complexes. He saw neuroses as misguided attempts to overcome feelings of inferiority from a cultural perspective, representing a rebellion against society manifesting as a refusal to adhere to various social norms.

Adler’s key conclusions about upbringing included:

• Humans are social beings who need to belong to a specific social group;
• Social interests are the primary motivators of human activity;
• Human behavior always has a specific goal, and understanding a person requires knowing their aspirations;
• Each individual independently shapes their own lifestyle;
• The principle of equality proclaimed by society demands equal treatment of all its members;
• Cooperation within families is impossible without a sense of personal responsibility, which is closely related to freedom;
• Human behavior is directly influenced by the expectations individuals set for themselves.

Adler believed that the family atmosphere, values, and expectations are crucial in personality development. Children learn fundamental principles of social coexistence from their parents, making the family the primary context in which children form their value orientations and learn to live. Adler also viewed even poor behavior in children as an attempt to achieve a sense of security within the family, manifesting through attention-seeking, fear, or expressions of hurt feelings toward adults.

Carl Jung (1875-1961), a disciple of Freud, was convinced of the existence of a so-called transpersonal, collective, or "racial" unconscious. He encountered this notion during his psychiatric practice when he discovered similar texts or visions in poetic works, patients' delusions, shamanic rituals, and deep sleep states. This led him to believe that beneath the personal unconscious lies a more ancient, archaic layer of the psyche, formed in the primordial times of human consciousness formation. This collective unconscious consists of archetypes—ancient patterns of understanding and perceiving the world. For Jung, archetypes are figures of demons, humans, or events that recur throughout history wherever creative imagination is at play. These archetypal figures represent psychic remnants of numerous similar experiences. Jung argued that human psychology and ways of thinking do not change rapidly, remaining relatively constant despite rapidly changing cultures, at least over the short historical span we know. Archetypes themselves, existing in the realm of the collective unconscious, are neither good nor bad but acquire such qualities only upon contact with consciousness.

According to Jung, modern humans, due to rapid intellectual development, have become detached from their deep, unconscious foundations, no longer sensing the energy of archetypes and failing to recognize how their "rationalism," which has distorted the capacity to respond to divine symbols and ideas, has left them vulnerable to "psychic hell." People believe they have freed themselves from superstitions but have lost their profound, spiritual values. For instance, today we talk about "matter," analyzing its physical properties, but the term remains a dry, unfeeling, purely intellectual concept devoid of any psychic dimension. It lacks the primal image of matter as the Great Mother, which once encompassed deep emotional meaning as the Mother-Earth. Similarly, the spirit is now equated with intellect and is no longer seen as the Father of all. People no longer hear the voices of stones, plants, or animals, relegating such attributes to the realm of mental disorders. Their connection with nature disappears, along with the deep emotional significance that this symbolic link provided. Only dreams still surface our deep essence—instincts and specific ways of thinking—but they are expressed in the language of nature, which we no longer understand or feel.