Advertisement

The Post-Freudian Unconscious: Agency and Awareness

  • David D. Franks
Chapter
First Online:
Part of the SpringerBriefs in Sociology book series (BRIEFSSOCY)

Abstract

Dissatisfactions with Freudian notions of the unconscious are stressed, and two topics follow: a history of original meanings of the unconscious and viewing the unconscious as a process plus the consequences of this. Comments on the subject by the neurologist Gazzaniga are presented. Striking research by Amodio on implied racism comes next followed by Eisold’s discussion of seven realms of research increasing our knowledge of the unconscious. Next, Tomas Scheff emphasizes the surprising speed of social interaction compared to awareness. Next to be discussed is emotion, namely Scheff’s undifferentiated shame and his by-passed shame. Considered next is unconscious memory starting with patients with amnesia. Damasio’s stronger argument for the unconscious is then presented and his conclusions are discussed. Work by Zajonc and then Frith follow after this. An important theme throughout this book, why we lack self-understanding is considered next. Strategies by governments to make their publics willing to fight wars are provided, and how emotions make this possible are identified. “Systems justification theory” producing unconscious biases toward identification with power structures is considered next and measures used for them are discussed.

Keywords

Freud Unconscious Cognitive unconscious emotion Scheff Amnesia System justification theory Self-understanding 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

References

  1. Amodio, D. (2014, May 5). The science of your racist brain. Mother Jones. San FranciscoGoogle Scholar
  2. Anderson, J. (1983, June 22). A spreading activation theory of memory. The Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, pp 261–295.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  3. Bargh, J. A., & Morsella, E. (2008). The unconscious mind. Psychological Science, 3(1), 73–79.Google Scholar
  4. Becker, E. (1973). Denial of death. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
  5. Berlin, H. A. (2011). The neural basis of the dynamic unconsciousness. Neuropsychoanalysis, 13(1), 5–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. Bornstein, R. (1992). Inhibitory effects of awareness on affective responding: Implications for the affect-cognition relationship. In M. Clark (Ed.), Emotion: Review of personality and social psychology (p. 235). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
  7. Carter, R. (1999). Mapping the mind. Berkley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
  8. Damasio, A. (1999). The feeling of what happens: Body and emotion in the making of conscious. New York: Harcourt Inc.Google Scholar
  9. Damasio, A. (2003). Looking for Spinoza: Joy, sorrow and the feeling brain. New York: Hartcourt.Google Scholar
  10. Debner, J., & Jacoby, L. (1994). Unconscious perception: Attention, awareness and control. Journal of Experimental Psychology. Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 20, 304–317.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  11. Dijksterhuis, A. (2005). Why we are social animals: The high road and the low road to imitation as social glue. In S. Hurley & N. Chater (Eds.), Perspectives on imitation: From cognitive neuroscience to social science. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Press.Google Scholar
  12. Dovido, J., & Friske, S. T. (2012). Under the radar: How the unexamined biases in decision-making processes in clinical interactions can contribute to health care disparities. American Journal of Public Health, 102(5), 945–952.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  13. Edelman, G. (2004). Wider than the sky. The phenomenal gift of consciousness. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
  14. Eisold, K. (2012). The new unconscious: Opening wider perspectives on society. Sociological Analysis, 13, 13–26.Google Scholar
  15. Ekman, P., & Davidson, R. (1994). The nature of emotion: Fundamental questions. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
  16. Franks, D. (2010). Neurosociology: The nexus between neuroscience and social behaviorism. New York: The Springer Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  17. Franks, D., & Marolla, J. (1976). Efficacious actions and social approval as interacting dimensions of self-esteem. A tentative formulation through construct validation. Sociometry, 39(4), 324–341.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. Frith, C. (2007). Making up the mind: How the brain creates our mental world. Malden, MA: Blackwell Press.Google Scholar
  19. Gaillard, R., et al. (2007). Subliminal words durably affect neuronal activity. Neurology Report, 18(15), 1527–1531.Google Scholar
  20. Gazzaniga, M. (1998). The mind’s past. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
  21. Greenspan, S., & Shanker, S. (2004). The first idea: How symbols language and intelligence evolved from our primitive ancestors to modern humans. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge Press.Google Scholar
  22. Greenwald, A., & Banaji, M. (1995). Implicit social cognition: Attitudes and self-esteem and stereotypes. Psychological Review, 102(1), 4–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  23. Gregory, S., & Kalkhoff, W. (2013). Comprehending the neurological substratum of paraverbal communications: The invention of spitSpec system of technology. In D. D. Franks & J. Turner (Eds.), The handbook of neurosociology (pp. 269–383). New York: Springer.Google Scholar
  24. Jost, J., Banaji, M., & Nosek, B. (2004). A decade of system justification theory: Accumulated evidence of conscious and unconscious bolstering of the status quo. Political Psychology, 25(6), 881–919.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  25. Kihlstrom, J. (1987). The cognitive unconsciousness. Science, 237, 1445–1452.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  26. LeDoux, J. (1996). The emotional brain. New York: Simon and Schuster.Google Scholar
  27. Marcel, A. (1983). Conscious and unconscious perception: An approach to the relations between phenomenal experience and perceptual processes. Cognitive Psychology, 15, 238.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  28. Mead, G. H. (1934). Self and society from the standpoint of the social behaviorist. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
  29. Merikle, P., Joodens, S., & Stolz, J. (1995). Measuring the relative magnitude of unconscious influences. Consciousness and Cognition, 4(4), 422.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  30. Ohman, A. (1999). Distinguishing unconscious from conscious emotional processes: Methodological considerations and theoretical implications. In T. Dalgleish & M. J. Power (Eds.), Handbook of cognition and emotion (pp. 321–349). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
  31. Polanyi, M. (1958). Personal knowledge: Towards a post-critical philosophy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
  32. Pyszczynski, T., Solomon, S., & Greenberg, J. (2003). In the wake of 9/11: The psychology of terror. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  33. Ramachandran, V. S., & Blakeslee, S. (1998). Phantoms in the brain: Probing the mysteries of the human mind. New York: William Morrow.Google Scholar
  34. Scheff, T. (1990). Microsociology: Discourse, emotion, and social structure. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
  35. Scheff, T. (1999). Being mentally ill: A sociological theory. New Brunswich: Aldine Transaction.Google Scholar
  36. Smith, D. L. (2004). Why we lie: The evolutionary roots of deception and unconscious mind. New York: Mac Million Press.Google Scholar
  37. Tavris, C., & Aronson, E. (2007). Mistakes were made but not by me. New York: Harcourt Books.Google Scholar
  38. Wilson, T. (2004). Strangers to ourselves: Discovering the adaptive unconsciousness. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
  39. Zajonc, R. (2001). Closing the debate over the independence of affect. In J. Forgas (Ed.), Feeling and thinking: The role of affect in social cognition. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar

Copyright information

© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2019

Authors and Affiliations

  • David D. Franks
    • 1
  1. 1.Department of SociologyVirginia Commonwealth UniversityRichmondUSA

Personalised recommendations

Cite chapter

Buy options