Interpreting the relative and absolute unconscious
- 1 January 1992
- journal article
- other
- Published by Taylor & Francis in Psychoanalytic Dialogues
- Vol. 2 (3) , 317-329
- https://doi.org/10.1080/10481889209538936
Abstract
Constructivist positions tend to emphasize the relativity of the unconscious to that which can be explicated in linguistically articulated, conscious experience. This notion emphasizes conscious creativity and change rather than unconscious repetition and resistance. The seemingly contradictory objectivist idea of the unconscious as a psychological system with its own integrity posits entities and forces that determine and shape behavior. This model of unconsciousness provides theorists a bulwark against reducing experience to purely social determinants. A dialectical view of the social‐constructiviness of experience is suggested that links the concepts of absolute and relative unconscious together.Keywords
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