Anthropology and psychoanalysis. The orthodox and non-orthodox psychoanalysis

As it may be noted from the above paragraph, the main peculiarity of a human consists in more developed psychics (possessing the ability to thinking). The modern psychology teaches that a human possesses as consciousness so sub- or unconsciousness. The rational thinking is perpetrated mainly by and in frame of the consciousness (that is that part of psychics which is realized by a human). The part which isn’t realized is called sub- or unconsciousness and is studied in the theory called psychoanalysis. For comprehension of human psychics’ nature the consideration of both components is necessary.

The Austrian physician S. Freud is considered the founder of psychoanalysis. Philosophic theories of unconsciousness existed long before Freud (e. g. theories of romanticists or the theory of Hartmann); Freud was the first who created namely medical theory, legitimating thereby a new sort of not only philosophic but also of purely scientific discourse and giving birth to a new trend in the psychological science. Freud asserted that three constituents of human psychics ought to be pointed out:

n Super-ego or the Censor or the Super-consciousness;

n Ego or the Consciousness;

n Id (It) or the Sub-consciousness.

The Sub-consciousness compounds the most part of psychics. The subconscious is a set of instinctive impulses and memory fragments which can’t be realized in the Consciousness because of restrictions or filters put by the Super-consciousness. The moving engine of the Sub-consciousness is compounded by instincts responsible for surviving, which are common for humans and animals. Their energy is called libido, i. e. the vital power understood mainly as the sexual energy. The subconscious is subordinated also to two main principles: the principle of pleasure (Eros) and that of death (Thanatos). The first principle means that all vital forces (libido) of a living creature are directed to achievement of pleasant sensations (from sex, food etc.). The principle of death (the existence of which was recognized by Freud reluctantly and much later that of pleasure) means that the program of self-destruction is input in the Sub-consciousness. Death is the realization of it. The images of the subconscious are not subdued to logic but to the principle of association. They can’t penetrate the Consciousness or Ego, if they are forbidden by the Super-ego or the Censor. The latter is a set of moral, cultural, social and other norms imposed by society on the individual psychics and interiorized in it. The censor installs philters, which don’t permit forbidden impulses and fantasies to penetrate the Consciousness. The forbidden elements don’t disappear, however. They remain and, being not realized by a human, continue to affect the psychics. The conflicts between them and the norms imposed by the Super-ego engender psychic problems and diseases [6, p. 336 – 363].

The treatment consists in revealing the conflicts causes. Being realized, they cease to inflict psychics. The impossibility of realizing some or other sexual desires (compounding the base of any fantasy or another subconscious aspiration) doesn’t lead to conflicts and frustration without fail. The libido, the energy of these desires can be sublimated (i. e. transformed and transferred into another channel). The transformation of the sexual energy is called sublimation. For instance, being unable to realize his sexual desire, a man cuts wood or writes poetry. According to Freud, all human civilization and culture are the result of the sublimation. The emergence of religion, for example, is explained as follows. Let’s pretend a primeval human herd, which existed in a prehistoric epoch. The strongest and most aggressive male stood at its head. He took all the females of the herd for his only using and didn’t let other males to them. He humiliated the males by any possible means and punished them cruelly for attempts of infringing his bans. The males tolerated this state for some time but eventually their patience was over. They gathered together and killed their leader. After it they shared females between themselves and began to live in their own pleasure. But the enjoyment with the life lasted not long. The restrictions and bans input in their consciousness by their former leader disappeared to nowhere but remained and went on their activity. They demonstrated themselves through that that we call remorse. In order to mitigate them the males were compelled to gather together again for making an effigy or a statue of their former leader to bring gifts and victims to him. Thus they tried to mitigate his anger for they were living with his females. So this cruel leader became a prototype of God.

Freud’s theory got widespread soon after its appearing. A lot of adherents and followers of the new teaching appeared. So the psychoanalysis started conquering minds. Many different schools and trends of psychoanalysis exist now. They may be divided by their attitude to the Freud’s inheritance. Those, which recognize main moments of Freud’s original theory, are called orthodox, others, which don’t recognize but revise some or other parts of Freud’s teaching are called non-orthodox. About 90 % of all practicing psychoanalysts are the Freudians. The other 10 % are representatives of the non-orthodox schools. There exist a great variety of the non-orthodox teachings. The most remarkable among them are those of A. Adler and K. G. Jung. So Adler, being a disciple of Freud, elaborated finally nevertheless his own theory. It’s noteworthy that it may be regarded as some sort of mirror reflection of Freud’s theory. So, repeating the main positions of Freud’s teaching, it replaces the principle of pleasure with the will to power (following Nietzsche). If Freud considered this will as a result of unsatisfied sexual desires sublimation, so Adler, on the contrary, explained sexuality as a means of the will-to-power realization. The same cases were interpreted and treated by the Freudians and the followers of Adler from their own points and approximately with the same success.

Date: 2014-12-21; view: 1738