Introduction

Abstract

What is unconscious thought? Does it exist? How does it work? What is its relation to conscious thought? How does it contribute to human identity? This book attempts to answer these questions, in philosophical and psychoanalytic terms. There are many books with “the unconscious” in the title, but no other book attempts to answer these questions, focusing on the mechanisms of unconscious thought, or thought of which we are not aware. In order to answer these questions, this book undertakes a thorough analysis of works throughout the history of philosophy and psychoanalysis that lay a groundwork for understanding the concept, organization, structure, mechanisms, contradictions, effects and consequences of unconscious thought. The analysis is undertaken in chronological order from the classical to the present in order to understand how the concept of unconscious thought has evolved and developed in relation to changing philosophical and epistemological frameworks. Classical, medieval, and modern conceptions of unconscious thought laid the groundwork for concepts of unconscious thought in psychoanalytic theory. It is necessary to explore and understand the philosophical concepts in order to understand modern concepts of the unconscious.