I shall try to elucidate the problem
discussed by realists, idealists, and solipsists by showing you a
problem closely related to it. It is this:
“Can we have unconscious thoughts,
96.
unconscious feelings,
etc.?” The idea of there being
unconscious thoughts has revolted many people.
Others again have said that these were wrong in supposing that
there could only be conscious thoughts, and that psychoanalysis had
discovered unconscious ones. The objectors to
unconscious thought did not see that they were not objecting to the
newly discovered psychological reactions, but to the way in which
they were described. The psychoanal
ysts on
the other hand were misled by their own way of expression into
thinking that they had done more than discover new psychological
reactions; that they had, in a sense, discovered conscious thoughts
which were unconscious. The first could have stated
their objection by saying, “We
don't wish to use the phrase ‘unconscious
thoughts’; we wish to reserve the word
‘thought’ for what you call
‘conscious thoughts’”.
They state their case wrongly when they say:
“There can only be conscious thoughts and no
unconscious ones”. For if they don't
wish to talk of “unconscious thought” they should
not use the phrase “conscious thought”,
either.