Note 73 — LECTURE VI SUBCONSCIOUS PROCESSES

Also quite commonly termed the Subconscious. Unfortunately the term unconscious, as noun or adjective, is used in two senses, viz., (1) pertaining to unawareness (for example, I am unconscious of such and such a thing), and (2) in the sense of not having the psychological attribute of consciousness, i.e., non-conscious.

In the first sense the adjective is used, as in the phrase “unconscious process” to define a process of which we are unaware without connotation as to whether it is a psychological process or a brain process; also the noun (The Unconscious) is used to signify something not in awareness regardless of whether that something is psychological or not; on the other hand, as an adjective it is also used, as in the phrase “unconscious ideas,” to specifically signify real ideas of which we are unaware.

In the second sense, as noun or adjective, it is used to denote specifically brain residua or processes, which, of course, are devoid of consciousness. With this interchange of meaning the term is apt to be confusing and is lacking in precision. In the text unconscious will be used always with the second meaning, unless inverted commas or the context plainly indicate the first meaning. (Cf. Lecture VIII, pp. 248-254).