Implications of Freud’s Unconscious for Freedom and Accountability

Sigmund Freud, a strict determinist who is said to be one of the fathers of psychology, had the belief that everyday occurrences are explainable on the basis of prior causes. This theory led him to begin conducting psychoanalytic studies using hypnosis and the decoding of dreams. Psychoanalysis is based on the fact that all humans have hidden drives, impulses, and internal conflicts that influence our everyday decisions. By conducting these studies, Freud discovered that we as humans have three levels of consciousness in which we operate: the conscious, the preconscious, and the unconscious. While studying all of the levels of consciousness, Freud also discovered another way of looking at the inner workings of the personality which he called the id, ego, and superego.

The different levels of consciousness are known as Freud’s topography of the mind. All three of these states are always occurring in different levels and affecting our everyday lives, however, we are only aware of what is currently going on in our conscious state. The conscious state is everything that is within our immediate awareness. The preconscious state is everything that we are not immediately aware of but that is fairly accessible, such as ideas and thoughts. The unconscious state is everything about our inner personalities of which we are unaware. Unacceptable situations and occurrences are what we push into our unconscious, seeming to forget them. However, once they are pushed there, they silently affect us daily. Freud studied the unconscious by using hypnosis and the study of dreams. By studying these, he discovered that everyone has a dimension of their being, which is a hidden, unconscious feeling or fixation that affects our thoughts and behavior, but we are completely unaware of it. It is the unconscious that affects our behavior and explains our personalities and inner thoughts. According to Freud, the workings of these levels of consciousness are determined by prior causes within our lives, meaning we have no real options about our personality and the decisions that we make. Although we may feel as if we do, every so-called “decision” that we make is ultimately predetermined based on prior causes or feelings, primarily within the unconscious.

Freud’s structural model of the mind is the id, the ego, and the superego. The id is the stage in which babies are born and takes place within the unconscious state. This state operates primarily off of pleasure and has no sense of right from wrong. Behavior within this stage is determined by life instincts such as hunger, thirst, and sexual drives. The id is where the personality begins and grows since it is the original state in which we are all born.

The ego is the balance between the id and the superego and it takes place within the preconscious, conscious, and unconscious states. The ego is guided by the reality principle, which means that not only is the desire at hand considered, but what is within reach to satisfy that desire. The ego also controls the tensions of the id by dealing with the surrounding environment. Healthy personalities are typically signified by a strong ego. However, according to Freud, for a strong ego to occur, certain circumstances must make it possible. These circumstances include the person’s environment, whether or not they have a normal family life, and their ability to accept the limitations that society puts on satisfying our instinctual wants and desires.

The superego consists of our individual value system, which is put into place by our parents’ value system, and takes place within the preconscious, conscious, and unconscious states. The superego is where our conscience resides, which is our internal judge that determines what actions are right and wrong. When wrong actions are taken, the superego will punish the ego through guilt. When the right actions are taken in a situation, the superego can reward the ego through pride and self-esteem. The superego and the id are both similar in the fact that they are both unrealistic. The superego strives for perfection and is often dissatisfied.

All together, the id, ego, and superego represent impulsivity, rationality, and morality. The personality consists of all of these together; however it cannot be clearly divided into these three groups. Rather, these concepts are used to describe the different areas that