Chapter 2 Freud: Psychoanalysis 29phylogenetic endowment (Freud, 1917/1963, 1933/1964). Freud’s notion of
phylogenetic endowment is quite similar to Carl Jung’s idea of a collective uncon-
scious (see Chapter 4). However, one important difference exists between the two
concepts. Whereas Jung placed primary emphasis on the collective unconscious,
Freud relied on the notion of inherited dispositions only as a last resort. That is,
when explanations built on individual experiences were not adequate, Freud would
turn to the idea of collectively inherited experiences to fill in the gaps left by
individual experiences. Later we will see that Freud used the concept of phyloge-
netic endowment to explain several important concepts, such as the Oedipus com-
plex and castration anxiety.
Unconscious drives may appear in consciousness, but only after undergo-
ing certain transformations. A person may express either erotic or hostile urges,
for example, by teasing or joking with another person. The original drive (sex
or aggression) is thus disguised and hidden from the conscious minds of both
persons. The unconscious of the first person, however, has directly influenced
the unconscious of the second. Both people gain some satisfaction of either
sexual or aggressive urges, but neither is conscious of the underlying motive
behind the teasing or joking. Thus the unconscious mind of one person can
communicate with the unconscious of another without either person being
aware of the process.
Unconscious, of course, does not mean inactive or dormant. Forces in
the unconscious constantly strive to become conscious, and many of them
succeed, although they may no longer appear in their original form. Uncon-
scious ideas can and do motivate people. For example, a son’s hostility
toward his father may masquerade itself in the form of ostentatious affection.
In an undisguised form, the hostility would create too much anxiety for the
son. His unconscious mind, therefore, motivates him to express hostility indi-
rectly through an exaggerated show of love and flattery. Because the disguise
must successfully deceive the person, it often takes an opposite form from
the original feelings, but it is almost always overblown and ostentatious.
(This mechanism, called a reaction formation, is discussed later in the section
titled Defense Mechanisms.)
Preconscious
The preconscious level of the mind contains all those elements that are not
conscious but can become conscious either quite readily or with some difficulty
(Freud, 1933/1964).
The contents of the preconscious come from two sources, the first of which
is conscious perception. What a person perceives is conscious for only a transitory
period; it quickly passes into the preconscious when the focus of attention shifts
to another idea. These ideas that alternate easily between being conscious and
preconscious are largely free from anxiety and in reality are much more similar to
the conscious images than to unconscious urges.
The second source of preconscious images is the unconscious. Freud believed
that ideas can slip past the vigilant censor and enter into the preconscious in a