Freud's hypothesis of the unconscious

[AmericanEagle]

I'm currently reading "The Unconscious" and "The Ego and the Id", and I need some opinions regarding Freud's theories. I think that he struggles to scientifically define what our unconscious mind is made up of, which is the id, ego, and superego. He also believed that these three aspects of life were driven by object-cathexes, and object-identification, which is apparent through the Oedipus Complex. Thus, he believed that the Oedipus Complex is a master narrative of everyone's life.

In my opinion, I believe that Freud's Oedipus theory was right, because children do grow an attaching affection towards the parent of the opposite sex during the oral stage. However, as the child grows, he or she does tend to manouvre his or her affection towards the parent of the same sex.

So what I do not understand from this theory is how he actually describes the phenomenon of how the unconscious mind relates to the Oedipus Complex. Freud used a limited number of case studies to arrive at this conclusion, so how can his theory be credible? How does Freud account for this phenomenon? Was he trying to pin down something that cannot be pinned down? And I remember reading that he recognized that the unconscious cannot be circumscribed. What do you guys think?

[Nightwalk]

Hello AmericanEagle. I think Freud's theory could be consistent in a realistic basis as in many or if not most instances the child usually is close to the parent of the opposite sex whether in youth or adulthood. Perhaps the subconscious fuels this, with reasons only one can conjecture ( competition? unknown/repressed sexual attraction? ).

I don't think anyone can truly put a finger on the inanimate at the moment and Freud's great contribution and legacy is to study and attempt to explain this enduring enigma in a logical and systematic manner.