You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
Though Freud's investigations of the unconscious were decisive, he had many precursors. Since the term 'unconscious' is used to designate a number of dissimilar concepts, studies of the unconscious before Freud cover a variety of phenomena. Ellenberger surveys the writings on the unconscious in its various senses and suggests the following classification of phenomena designated unconscious:
1The metaphysical unconscious: this includes the 'will' of Schopenhauer and the 'absolute unconscious' of von Hartmann. The concept is of a force that underlies all manifestations of life.
2The biological unconscious, with its formative and organic activity: this includes the 'physiological unconscious' of von Hartmann, the 'mneme' of Semon, and the organic unconscious of Marie Bonaparte.
3The deep psychological unconscious: the unconscious of the mystics, mesmerists, and parapsychologists, the seat of unconscious creative activity and of collective symbols (Jung).
4The more accessible psychological unconscious, including forgotten memories (Saint Augustine), subliminal perception (Leibnitz, Herbart), 'unconscious inference' (Helmholtz).
To these concepts, Freud added a new one: the dynamic unconscious, the unconscious of the repressed.