Description
Book SynopsisThis study of the emergence of a psychology of the 'unconscious' in the Romantic period provides a fascinating account of the rise and role of the 'unconscious' in modernity. It draws together interdisciplinary research that will appeal to readers from psychology, psychoanalysis, philosophy, Romanticism and intellectual history.
Trade Review'… persuasive, well argued and intellectually ambitious - this is an impressive piece of work.' Matthew Bell, King's College London
'… an impressive contribution to the history of philosophy and the history of psychoanalysis.' John Forrester, University of Cambridge
'It has long been recognised that Freud did not discover the unconscious and that the modern concept originated in philosophy not psychology. In his meticulous work, Ffytche traces the concept back to the German idealist philosopher Friedrich Schelling. Most original is the argument that the concept served a political function: to confer moral autonomy on the individual. Brilliant.' Robert A. Segal, The Times Higher Education Supplement
'Ffytche's excellent book sets a new standard for philosophically sensitive historical writing on the concept of the unconscious.' Tom Eyers, Radical Philosophy
'A thoughtful and intricate historiography of the unconscious … Ffytche's study will be useful to researchers and postgraduates engaged in contemporary theoretical speculations about the relationship between concepts of subjectivity, political life and the legacy of the Enlightenment.' Booknotes
Table of ContentsIntroduction: the historiography of the unconscious; Part I. The Subject before the Unconscious: 1. A general science of the I: Fichte and the crisis of self-identification; 2. Natural autonomy: Schelling and the divisions of freedom; Part II. The Romantic Unconscious: 3. Divining the individual: towards a metaphysics of the unconscious; 4. The historical unconscious; 5. Post-idealism and the Romantic psyche; Part III. The Psychoanalytic Unconscious: 6. Freud: the Geist in the machine; 7. The liberal unconscious; Conclusion.
