the EGO in psychoanalysis

In psychoanalysis, the ego

Sigmund Freud's concept of das Ich (translated as ego here) is a fundamental concept in psychoanalysis. Here, the ego is discussed in relation to the superego and the id. Additionally, in American psychoanalysis, with the publication of James Strachey's translation of Freud's works in 1953, the German term das Ich (ego) was popularized as the Latin term ego, the German Über-Ich (superego) as super-ego (Latin: super, ego), and the German Es (id) as id (Latin: id).

 

 

Ego

Our psyche is constantly growing and changing. However, we still perceive ourselves as the same and distinguish ourselves from others. This self-awareness of identity is called the ego.

 

Before 1923, Freud's definition primarily centered around consciousness. It referred to something close to oneself. This was because, until 1923, he understood the mind through distinguishing consciousness from the unconscious. After 1923, when he began to speak of a new theory called psychological structuralism, the concept of the ego came to clearly refer to "the structure of the mind, including consciousness, preconsciousness, and unconscious defenses."

 

The ego (Ich) accepts demands from the id (Es) and the superego (Über-Ich), regulating external stimuli. It executes unconscious defenses, either defending and sublimating desires from the id or conflicting with prohibitions and ideals from the superego. In general, the ego (ego) is often depicted as a mediating presence among the id (Es), superego (Über-Ich), and external pressures.

 

The ego (Ich) is distinct from consciousness and is a concept defined strictly within the functions and structures of the mind. A famous saying attributed to Freud is "the ego is not master in its own house." Most of the ego's activities are understood through its functions and structures, and its defenses are largely unconscious for humans. Therefore, one should not equate "ego" with consciousness.

 

Additionally, the concept of "conscious self" is clearly distinguished in psychoanalysis as "self" or "self-image." While the term ego in Korean is often synonymous with "I," this only holds true within the scope of everyday language.

 

 

Id

The id (Es) constitutes a large part of the unconscious. More precisely, it encompasses emotions, desires, impulses, and past experiences excluding unconscious defenses.

 

The id is fundamentally driven by instinctual energies and is considered to be the motivating force behind human sexual (libido) and aggressive (death drive) impulses. Freud derived this understanding from clinical analysis and biology. Sexual impulses are seen as fundamental energy observable in hysteria, while aggression was postulated through phenomena such as negative therapeutic reactions. The id is also described as the repressed desires of childhood in some instances. Through the ego, all desires are expressed in the id. The ego controls, sublimates, or manages them through defense mechanisms.

 

The id is believed to be related to the functions of the hypothalamus. Furthermore, the term "Es" is used in works like Friedrich Nietzsche's, and in "Das Buch vom Es" ("The Book of Es") by Georg Groddeck. Freud introduced this term with his 1923 paper "The Ego and the Id."

 

 

Superego

The superego (Über-Ich) acts as a structure that traverses both the ego and the id, conveying rules, morals, ethics, conscience, prohibitions, and ideals.

 

It is strictly present in both consciousness and unconsciousness, although fundamentally not consciously perceived, it is often described as unconscious. The superego is frequently expressed as the "gift from the parents during infancy," internalizing ideal images or ethical attitudes. In psychoanalysis, it is thought to form after passing through the Oedipus complex.

 

The superego triggers the ego's defenses. Freud thought that the ego rarely acts alone or represses something. Furthermore, the superego also conveys the demands of the id. For example, it radiates unconscious desires through the demands of the superego in subconscious moments. In addition, the superego can be considered to include the ideals of the ego, and it is thought that the ego has a direction (ideals) to follow. As a result, Freud likened the superego to a judge or censor who controls the ego.

 

The superego is believed to be related to the function of the frontal lobe, but it is not empirically proven in neuroscience