Select Page

The evolution of the unconscious

by | Vol 20 (4) 2002

Psychoanalysis is reconceptualized as the scientific study of conflicting biological propensities. According to neo-Darwinian theory self-deception arose as a result of an evolutionary arms race between intraspecific deception and detection amongst hominids. The evolution of self-deception modified an earlier split between conscious and unconscious mental activities. Unconscious social cognition emerged to avoid conscious overload when dealing with highly complex Machiavellian social relations. Evolutionary theory suggests that countertransference, in the classical Freudian sense of the word, is inevitable. Psychoanalytic clinical literature provides support for the hypothesis of unconscious social cognition, as does cognitive science. Evolutionary theory suggests that unconscious responses to the psychoanalytic situation should be particularly responses to modifications of the frame. A clinical example is presented.

Download full text

Related articles

  • The Freudian Unconscious? A subversion of evolution as adaptation

    Smith (2002), in "The evolution of the unconscious", states that the Freudian unconscious consists of evolved psychological or biological propensities. In this paper, the author analyses Smith's statement through a critical discussion of the neo-Darwinian conception of evolution as adaptation. Varela, Thompson and Rosh's (1993) critique is outlined, and their alternative view on evolution as a sort of "natural drift" is introduced. The central idea is that living beings and their environments relate to each other through a mutual specification…

  • Cartesian Meditations: unconscious, truth and subjectivity

    In this contribution we will offer a reading of Freud’s ambiguous therapeutic “advice” to “say more than one knows”. Starting from some preliminary reflections on the issue of confession and Lacan’s theoretical distinction between enunciation/enunciated, we will propose three successive ideas with regard to the notions of unconscious, truth and subjectivity. Firstly, a connection will be established between unconscious enunciation and Austin’s couple of performative/constative utterances. Secondly, we will offer a psychoanalytic notion of “truth” through a brief comparison with…

  • Evolutionary Psychology and Psychoanalysis. On the Nature of the Unconscious

    One way in which the dynamic unconscious is justified is by taking into account the evolution and development of the psychical apparatus. It could be argued that evolutionary psychology is the right way to approach this issue. We contend however that the focus on survival value leads to the overestimation of a functional approach being and to neglect of a the structural viewpoint. This has consequences for how the unconscious is defined. Whereas in Freudian metapsychology both stances (the structural…