Unconscious. The totality of all psychic phenomena that lack the quality of consciousness. (See also collective unconscious and personal unconscious.)
The unconscious . . . is the source of the instinctual forces of the psyche and of the forms or categories that regulate them, namely the archetypes.[The Structure of the Psyche,"CW8, par. 342.]
The concept of the unconscious is for me an exclusively psychological concept, and not a philosophical concept of a metaphysical nature. In my view the unconscious is a psychological borderline concept, which covers all psychic contents or processes that are not conscious, i.e., not related to the ego in any perceptible way. My justification for speaking of the existence of unconscious processes at all is derived simply and solely from experience.[Definitions,"CW6, par. 837.]
The unconscious is both vast and inexhaustible. It is not simply the unknown or the repository of conscious thoughts and emotions that have been repressed, but includes contents that may or will become conscious.
So defined, the unconscious depicts an extremely fluid state of affairs: everything of which I know, but of which I am not at the moment thinking; everything of which I was once conscious but have now forgotten; everything perceived by my senses, but not noted by my conscious mind; everything which, involuntarily and without paying attention to it, I feel, think, remember, want, and do; all the future things that are taking shape in me and will sometime come to consciousness: all this is the content of the unconscious.[On the Nature of the Psyche,"CW8, par. 382.]
The unconscious also contains "psychoid" functions
that are not capable
of consciousness and of which we have only indirect
knowledge, such as the
relationship between matter and spirit.
Whenever
the unconscious
becomes overactive, it comes to light in symptoms that
paralyze conscious
action. This is likely to happen when unconscious
factors are ignored or
repressed.
The demands of the unconscious then force themselves imperiously on consciousness and bring about a disastrous split which shows itself in one of two ways: either the subject no longer knows what he really wants and nothing interests him, or he wants too much at once and has too many interests, but in impossible things.[General Description of the Types,"CW6, par. 573.
In general, the compensating attitude of the unconscious works to maintain psychic equilibrium.
The unconscious processes that compensate the conscious ego contain all those elements that are necessary for the self-regulation of the psyche as a whole. On the personal level, these are the not consciously recognized personal motives which appear in dreams, or the meanings of daily situations which we have overlooked, or conclusions we have failed to draw, or affects we have not permitted, or criticisms we have spared ourselves.[The Function of the Unconscious,"CW7, par. 275.]
In terms of typology, the unconscious manifests
through the opposite
attitude and the less developed functions. In the
extravert, the
unconscious has a subjective coloring and an
egocentric bias; in the
introvert, it can appear as a compulsive tie to
persons and things in the
outside world.
Jung attributed to the
unconscious a creative
function, in that it presents to consciousness
contents necessary for
psychological health. It is not, however, superior to
consciousness; its
messages (in dreams, impulses, etc.) must always be
mediated by the
ego.
The unconscious is useless without the human mind. It always seeks its collective purposes and never your individual destiny. [C.G. Jung Letters, vol. 1, p. 283.]
Consciousness should defend its reason and protect itself, and the chaotic life of the unconscious should be given the chance of having its way too--as much of it as we can stand. This means open conflict and open collaboration at once. That, evidently, is the way human life should be. It is the old game of hammer and anvil: between them the patient iron is forged into an indestructible whole, an "individual."[Conscious, Unconscious, and Individuation," CW9i, par. 522.]
Unconsciousness. A state of psychic functioning marked by lack of control over the instincts and identification with complexes.
Unconsciousness is the primal sin, evil itself, for the Logos.["Psychological Aspects of the Mother Archetype," Ibid, par. 178.]
An extreme state of unconsciousness is characterized by the predominance of compulsive instinctual processes, the result of which is either uncontrolled inhibition or a lack of inhibition throughout. The happenings within the psyche are then contradictory and proceed in terms of alternating, non-logical antitheses. In such a case the level of consciousness is essentially that of a dream-state. A high degree of consciousness, on the other hand, is characterized by a heightened awareness, a preponderance of will, directed, rational behaviour, and an almost total absence of instinctual determinants. The unconscious is then found to be at a definitely animal level. The first state is lacking in intellectual and ethical achievement, the second lacks naturalness.["Psychological Factors in Human Behaviour," CW8, par. 249.]
The greatest danger about unconsciousness is proneness to suggestion. The effect of suggestion is due to the release of an unconscious dynamic, and the more unconscious this is, the more effective it will be. Hence the ever-widening split between conscious and unconscious increases the danger of psychic infection and mass psychosis.[The Structure and Dynamics of the Self,"CW9ii, par. 390.]
Union of opposites. See opposites.
Unus mundus. See coniunctio.