Following Wittgenstein, this paper argues that psychoanalytic theory is vitiated by a confusion between reasons and causes. Causal explanations can contribute to an understanding of human action, but not in the manner proposed by psychoanalytic theory. Following the lead of Schafer and others, it attempts to reconstruct an understanding of unconscious motivation that is not predicated upon the confusion between reasons and causes in a manner that is consistent with the later philosophy of Wittgenstein.