Searle's Theory Of The Unconscious Mind

Sigmund Freud’s unconscious theory states how different mental states belong in different conscious minds. Freud explains the importance of the conscious, unconscious and preconscious mind. The conscious mind is in which individuals are aware of their thoughts and surroundings. As for the unconscious mind, it deals with ideas and thoughts that were once conscious but now are not, and lastly, the preconscious mind deals with the ideas that are not yet conscious. Sigmund Freud explains a well-developed theory about the conscious/unconscious mind as they both connect to each other when processing mental states. Although, according to John Searle, the unconscious mind does not exist, since the conscious mind must be aware of all thoughts and all

Furthermore, this paper will show how Searle’s view on Freud’s unconscious theory is unclear as Searle relies on the ideology of connection principle and aspectual shape, and neurophysiological process – as these ideologies are repetitive and are unclear and misunderstanding Freud’s unconscious theory.

Firstly, John Searle rejects Sigmund Freud’s unconscious theory by stating that the unconscious mind does not exist, in fact, individuals have conscious experiences in which they experience different types of mental states. According to Searle, the unconscious mind is a mental state that could become conscious during a series of connections, also known as the connection principle. Within the connection principle, the unconscious must be a natural mental state that as a certain aspectual shape – an aspectual shape is the identity of a mental state that illustrates what makes the mental state a state that it is. Additionally, as stated by Searle, “These aspectual features are essential to the intentional state; they are part of what makes it the mental state it is (Searle, 157),” Searle’s connection principle exemplifies that mental states are identified and built upon aspectual

John Searle illustrates a modern look into Freud’s unconscious theory, however Searle fails to recognize the importance of the unconscious mind, since the unconscious mind goes through series of tasks as it is conjoined to the conscious. Additionally, Searle’s arguments about the unconscious theory are repetitive, as they all state the same thing and thus do not make a proper conclusion of his argument. Searle also fails to mention alternative unconsciousness of the mind, as he believes that the mind has neurophysiological processes that distinguish between conscious and unconscious mental states. Lastly, I have defended Freud’s theory of the unconscious because Freud’s theory illustrates a well understanding of the conscious mind and how it is necessary that the conscious mind must be connected with the unconscious, otherwise daily tasks would be impossible to