Sigmund Freud

Freud was an Austrian Philosopher who always expressed an interest in psychology of the human mind.

He is famous for his work on Psycho-Analysis and his theory of Psycho-sexual Development.
He developed theories behind the existence of the unconscious mind. Freud believed that our unconscious mind was responsible for the decisions we make in day to day life. Freud was also interested in the mechanisms behind repression. He created three 'personalities' that he felt our minds were split into. They were:

• The ID - This part of our mind, we are completely unconscious of. It is a 'child-like' state and seeks immediate gratification and pleasure. 

• The Ego - This part of our mind tries to create balance between the impulsive, impatient nature of the ID and the impractical  morals of the Super Ego.

• The Super Ego - This is responsible for our morals and what we consider to be the right decision to make in certain situations. 

As well as this, Freud created the well know 'Oedipus Complex'. In this, Freud explained that every child is born with this desire for incest, but we are forced to repress this into our unconscious mind. For boys, they are born with a constant love for their mother and a desire to kill their father. This eventually subsides during the five Psycho sexual Stages of development. 

• Stage One - The Oral Stage - At this stage, children are pleasured by their mouths. E.g, breastfeeding and putting objects into their mouths to learn what objects are. 

• Stage Two - The Anal Stage - Children are pleasured by the need to empty their bowels. 

• Stage Three - The Phallic Stage - Children become aware of their genitalia. 

• Stage Four - The Latency Stage - This relates to the Oedipus Complex. Children realise that their sexual desire for their parent cannot be pursued so they seek love in another individual of the same gender as their parent.   

• Stage Five - The Genital Stage - This stage occurs just before the child hits puberty. They begin to realise they have sexual urges. 

An Iceberg model has been created to show how Freud thought the three 'personalties' in our minds were shown. 

Freud also discussed dreams. He said that having dreams fulfilled our wishes and desires. Without dreams, Freud claimed we would always be awake.  He published his work on dreams in 1899.