Introduction

In The Interpretation of Dreams (Die Traumdeutung, 1900) Freud introduced what he called “the unconscious” (das Unbewusste) as the fundamental term of psychoanalysis. From this time onwards, Freud continually emphasized that his teachings were essentially a form of psychology which takes this “object” (i.e. the unconscious) to be its primary subject matter. As is well known, Freud then began to research the dynamics of the unconscious in the clinical context by researching and interpreting hysteria and dreams. Of key importance was the discovery that in internal psychic conflicts, embarrassing, distateful and unpleasurable mental contents are repelled (abgewehrt) and repressed (verdrängt). Under unfavorable circumstances, according to Freud, those repressed elements of the subject that are not integrated within the ego increasingly slip away from conscious control and can potentially develop into causes of mental disturbance. By contrast, the uncovering of repressions would, argued Freud, have a liberating and curing effect. As Freud later remarked, he arrived at the term “unconscious” through his teachings on repression: “the repressed is the prototype of the unconscious for us.”

In order to establish the scientific nature of his new path for psychology, Freud went beyond clinical psychology and began to focus on a more general theory of the psyche. He refers to this general theory as a metapsychology, a definition designed clearly to differentiate this form of psychology from metaphysics. As an empirical researcher, Freud credited himself with having found new methodological and clinical ways of studying the unconscious via psycho-therapeutic experiences.