Moshe Menasheof

Is it Necessary to Assume the Unconscious? Moshe Menasheof

Does the unconscious exist? This essay argues that this is not the right question to ask. Rather, what one should ask, and answer, is whether the unconscious is a necessary assumption in order to explain the structure of human episteme. The essay presents an attempt to arrive at the primary foundation of this assumption. The author argues that the primary reason for the need to assume the unconscious was the attempt to deal with the question "why does a person remember a specific content and not others in a particular moment?", or "why did a person have a certain dream and not another?" and that it was this question which led Freud to assume the existence of the unconscious. This assumption is questioned and an alternative is presented. This alternative represents a position which does not assume the unconscious to answer the aforementioned question or explain the entire structure of human episteme.