| The Social Unconscious,Civilization and Sexuality | 0 comments |
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29 Mar 2008 @ 09:32, by John Grieve
Social Unconscious, Civilization and Sexuality
The rational mind was the great celebrated faculty of the Enlightenment era, after which came the French revolution and Terror, and even worse things in the 20th century. All this was followed by the scientific elaboration of the notion of the Unconscious mind by Freud, just over one hundred years later which threw rationalism into turmoil.
Just as the individual has a rational or conscious mind, and also an Unconscious, so too, I now propose, does society as a whole. The analogy of society/individual is an old one, but I think this comparison of a social conscious and a Social Unconscious is new. Certainly society tries to be very rational with its theories, sciences, laws, rules and regulations and so on, and this corresponds naturally to the rational mind of the individual. What of the Social Unconscious, what does this consist of ? We are at an introductory stage in the study of this subject and I now propose three areas to look at, though I am sure that in due course more will come to light. These areas are Civilization, Sexuality and a structure in society which I call the Pyramid or triangle, which I will not be elaborating in this piece but will cover at length in an essay dedicated solely to it.
Civilization is a very strange subject and area of study. In one way it is a specific form of society as delineated by anthropologists, Marxists etc. but in another way it is a thing about which people have very personal and emotional, even irrational views and they feel very threatened by any criticisms of it to the extent of accusing you of wanting to destroy it if you make anything in the nature of a critique of it. Furthermore, there is no proper study of this subject. It is very broad and considered too much so for any one academic discipline. It is the area of dilettantes like Freud who wrote “ Civilization and its Discontents” and many other writers who weren’t specialists in this field. Every subject under the sun has an academic discipline devoted to it, except this one. Even though civilization is presently under great threat from climate change and other dangers, and every civilization that has ever existed has ultimately collapsed, there is still an incredible reluctance on the part of most people to talk about the subject, discuss it rationally And make plans to save it from destruction. All of these things, and I could say more, suggest to me that this subject of civilization is part of the aforementioned Social Unconscious. To say that society and people have a total blindspot to this subject is a vast understatement. Like many blindspots and neuroses and states of denial it can prove fatal if not brought to light and subjected to therapeutic treatment.
Much the same can be said about the subject of sexuality. One can discuss it rationally but many people can’t, and seem very ill at ease in any proximity to the subject. I have sometimes tried to discuss the ideas of that genius Oscar Wilde with seemingly intelligent people, only to be told “ I don’t want to talk about that homosexual”. Obviously their own problems with their own sexuality makes it impossible for them to even talk about any subject even approximately close to their difficult feelings. It’s not just individuals who have these problems with sexuality, society as a whole has taboos, no-go areas, evasions, distortions, denials, hypocrisies and double-standards of all sorts and that too suggests that sexuality is part of the Social Unconscious.
In a later writing I will look at a structure in society which seems to be unknown to social and political scientists, which in itself suggests that it may be part of this Social Unconscious, and which I have termed the Pyramid or Triangle.
Just as neurotic individuals need to do therapy to become healthier people, so our society needs to do some social therapy. It needs to look at the subject of civilization closely and discuss it widely. The same with the taboo areas of sexuality and all the connected issues. This is not an option but a necessity.
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Category: Counseling, Psychology
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