Psychology of the Unconscious: A Study of the Transformations and Symbolisms of the Libido. A Contribution to the History of the Evolution of ThoughtJung, C. G. (Carl Gustav)
Philosophy
Psychology of the Unconscious: A Study of the Transformations and Symbolisms of the Libido. A Contribution to the History of the Evolution of Thought
Jung, C. G. (Carl Gustav)
Libido (Psychology); Mother and child; Psychoanalysis; Subconsciousness; Symbolism (Psychology)
It becomes evident from even this brief description of the analytic
procedure that we are dealing with a very complex and delicate material,
and with a technique which needs to make definite use of all influences
available for the help of the patient. It has long been recognized that
the relation established between physician and patient has a great
effect upon the medical assistance which he is able to render—in other
words, if a confidence and personal regard developed in the patient
towards the physician, the latter’s advice was just so much more
efficacious. This personal feeling has been frankly recognized and made
of distinct service in psychoanalytic treatment under the name of
_transference_. It is through the aid of this definite relationship
which must be established in the one being analyzed towards the analyst
that it is possible to deal with the unconscious and organized
resistances which so easily blind the individual and render the
acceptance of the new valuations very difficult to the raw and sensitive
soul.
Freud’s emphasis upon the rôle of the sexual instinct in the production
of the neurosis and also in its determining power upon the personality
of the normal individual does not imply that he does not also recognize
other determinants at the root of human conduct, as for instance, the
instinct for preservation of life and the ego principle itself. But
these motives are not so violently forbidden and repressed as the sexual
impulse, and therefore, because of that repressive force and the
strength of the impulse he considers this primary in its influence upon
the human being.
The importance of this instinct upon human life is clearly revealed by
the great place given to it under the name of love in art, literature,
poetry, romance and all beauty from the beginning of recorded time.
Viewed in this light it cannot seem extraordinary that a difficulty or
disturbance in this emotional field should produce such far-reaching
consequences for the individual. The sexual impulse is often compared
with that of hunger, and this craving and need lying in all humanity is
called by Freud _libido_.
THE OEDIPUS PROBLEM
With further investigations into the nature of the repressed complexes a
very astonishing situation was revealed. The parental influence on
children is something so well recognized and understood that to call
attention to it sounds much like a banality. However, here an
extraordinary discovery was made, for in tracing out the feelings and
emotions of adults it became evident that this influence was paramount
not only for children but for adults as well; that the entire direction
of lives was largely determined quite unconsciously by the parental
associations, and that, although adults, the emotional side of their
nature was still infantile in type and demanded unconsciously the
infantile or childish relations.
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