Abstract
This paper investigates the claims made by both Freudian psychoanalysic thought and Husserlian phenomenology about the unconscious. First, it is shown how Husserl incorporates a complex notion of the unconscious in his analysis of passive synthesis. With his notion of an unintentional reservoir of past retentions, Husserl articulates an unconscious zone that must be activated from consciousness in order to “come to life.” Second, it is explained how Husserl still does not account for the Freudian unconscious. Freud's unconscious could be called, in phenomenological terms, a repressed retentional zone that differs from both near and far retention. Finally, an analysis is offered for the significance of this psychoanalytic argument for phenomenology. Does phenomenology provide a complete account of the psychical life of the subject without the Freudian unconscious? Does phenomenology suggest, as is often done, that Freud's “discovery” of the unconscious is a fantastical invention? Or, does the Freudian unconscious represent a true stumbling block for phenomenology?
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Brentano, Franz. (1995). Psychology from an Emprical Standpoint. Trans. Antos C. Rancurello, D.B. Terrell and Linda L. McAlister. London: Routledge.
Fink, Eugen. (1970). Appendix VIII of The Crisis on the “Unconscious” In Edmund Husserl. The Crisis of European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology. Trans. David Carr. Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press. pp. 385–387.
Freud, Sigmund. (1913). Scientific Interest in Psycho-analysis. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. Vol. XIII. Trans. James Strachey. London: The Hogarth Press.
Freud, Sigmund. (1915a). The Unconscious. In Papers on Metapsychology. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. Vol.XIV. Trans. James Strachey. London: The Hogarth Press.
Freud, Sigmund. (1915b). Repression. In Papers on Metapsychology. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. Vol. XIV. Trans. James Strachey. London: The Hogarth Press.
Freud, Sigmund. (1923). The Ego and the Id. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. Vol. XIX. Trans. James Strachey. London: The Hogarth Press.
Freud, Sigmund. (1933). Revision of the Theory of Dreams. New Introductory Lectures on Psycho-analysis. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. Vol. XXII. Trans. James Strachey. London: The Hogarth Press.
Husserl, Edmund. (1966). Analysen zur Passiven Synthesis. In Margot Fleischer (Ed.), Husserliana Band XI. Den Haag: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.
Husserl, Edmund. (1970). The Crisis of European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology. Trans. David Carr. Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press.
Husserl, Edmund. (1980). Ideas Pertaining to a Pure Phenomenology and to a Phenomenological Philosophy. Second Book: Studies in the Phenomenology of Constitution. Trans. Richard Rojcewicz and André Schuwer. Dordrecht: Kluwer.
Laplanche, Jean and Leclaire, Serge. (1972). The Unconscious: A Psychoanalytic Study. In French Freud: Structural Studies in Psychoanalysis. Trans. Patrick Coleman. Yale French Studies, Number 48. New Haven: YUP.
Schöpf, Alfred. (1989). Das Problem des Unbewußten in Brentanos >>Psychologie vom empirischen Standpunkt<<. In Brentano Studien: Internationales Jahrbuch der Franz Brentanos Forschung, Band I. Dettelbach: Verlag Josef H. Röll.
Searle, John. (1992). The Rediscovery of the Mind. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Zahavi, Dan. (1999). Self-Awareness and Alterity: a Phenomenological Investigation. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Welsh, T. The Retentional and the Repressed: Does Freud's Concept of the Unconscious Threaten Husserlian Phenomenology?. Human Studies 25, 165–183 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015504610851
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015504610851