Pag 165 numero 2
The picture shows a symbolic representation of the human mind as an iceberg according to
Freud’s view of the conscious and unconscious mind. Freud studied the importance of the
unconscious in the understanding of conscious thought and behaviour. He called dreams the
‘royal road to the unconscious’ because they were a means of revealing the workings of the
unconscious mind. He developed his first theory of the psyche in The Interpretation of
Dreams , in which he stated that the unconscious is where dreams and all the automatic
thoughts that arise spontaneously without a recognisable cause are formed. The
unconscious is where the forgotten memories lie in a dormant state and they may become
accessible to the conscious mind at a later time. It is also the container of implicit knowledge
that has been passed down from generation to generation.
Esercizio 4
1. Freud’s theory of psychic conflict; He believed that a common source of psychic
conflict derived from sexual fantasies in childhood.
2. the main points behind the Oedipus complex. All small boys between the ages of 3
and 5 choose their mother as their primary object of desire. They subconsciously wish
to usurp their father and become their mother’s lover. This stage is an important
point in the formation of sexual identity. The analogous experience for girls is known
as the Electra complex. The child suspects that acting on these feelings would lead to
danger, thus he/she represses his/her desires. This leads to anxiety. In order to
resolve the conflict, the boy then identifies with his father and the girl with her
mother. It is at
1 It is divided into three main parts: the ego, the personal unconscious and the collective
unconscious.
2 what the ego represents; It represents the conscious mind, since it includes the thoughts,
memories and the emotions a person is aware of.
3 It is essentially the same as Freud’s unconscious: it contains memories that have been
suppressed for some reason but it does not include the instincts that Freud included.
4 It is a reservoir of our experiences as a species, a knowledge we are all born with but which
we can never be directly conscious of. It influences all human experiences and behaviours.
5 what the archetypes are; They are the contents of the collective unconscious. They have a
universal meaning and are linked to dreams, literature, art or religion.
6 It is the basis of the human psyche, influencing present behaviour.
7 The persona or mask is the public face or role a person presents to the world. Another
archetype is the anima the, which refers to the female aspect of man psyche and the male
aspect of woman psyche. Next is the shadow, sex and life instincts. It is the source of both
our creative and destructive energies. Finally there is the self, which is the ultimate unity of
the personality and is symbolised by the circle. For Jung, the ultimate aim of every individual
is to achieve a state of self-actualisation.