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The adjective is very widely used to refer to any element of mental activity that is not present within the field of the conscious mind at a given moment.
The noun-form is now usually used in the psychoanalytic sense, and refers to the unconscious system described by [[Freud]]'s first [[topography]] of the [[psyche]].
In the second [[topography]], the unconscious system is replaced by the agency of the [[id]], but [Freud]] continues to use "[[unconscious]]" as an adjective.
Although [[Freud]] is often credited with the discovery of the [[unconscious]], it is clear tha tthe notion of a non-conscious part of the mind has a long history in both [[philosophy]] and the psychological sciences.
A distinction has been made between the [[Freud]]ian [[unconscious]] and [[Jung]]'s concept of a 'collective unconscious'.
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[[Freud]]'s initial desriptions of the [[unconscious]] are based upon his analysis of dreams (1900).
Dreams are described as the royal road the the [[unconscious]] because they represent the fulfilment of [[unconscious]] [[wish]]es that are inadmissible to the [[preconscious]]-[[conscious]] system, usually because of their sexual nature.
Further confirmation of the existence of an unconscious system is provided by [[Freud]]'s study of phenomena such as [[parapraxis]] (101) and jokes (1905b); everyday phenomena such as slips of the tongue, bungled actions, lapses of memory and the inability to recall names all point to the existence of the [[unconscious]].
