Question

I have recently started studying Freud and have so far managed to read part of his Studies on Hysteria, as well as The Neuro-Psychoses of Defense. In reading his Interpretation of Dreams, I have had trouble understanding what is over- and multiple determination and not only that (more on this below). As I understand it, being overdetermined refers to the elements of a dream. Each of the elements of the dream content is variously conditioned, has a number of corresponding points in the thoughts behind the dream/dream-thoughts. If it is determined by more than one item, it is overdetermined or multiply determined. Moreover, as I have understood being overdetermined refers not only to elements of the dream content, but in general to elements of the psyche, which later become dream-thoughts, once the dream is formed, that are ""reinforced from many directions""

And in Chapter VI The Dream-work, Chapter B, I started having problems. Freud writes:

...a dream can reject elements which are thus both highly stressed in themselves and reinforced from many directions, and can select for its content other elements which possess only the second of these attributes.

In order to solve this difficulty we shall make use of another impression derived from our enquiry [in the previos section] into the overdetermination of the dream-content. Perhaps some of those who have read that enquiry may already have formed an independent conclusion that the overdetermination of the elements of dreams is no very important discovery, since it is a self-evident one. For in analysis we start out from the dream-elements and note down all the associations which lead off from them; so that there is nothing surprising in the fact that in the thought-material arrived at in this way we come across these same elements with peculiar frequency. I cannot accept this objection; but I will myself put into words something that sounds not unlike it. Among the thoughts that analysis brings to light are many which are relatively remote from the kernel of the dream and which look like artificial interpolations made for some particular purpose. That purpose is easy to divine. It is precisely they that constitute a connection, often a forced and far-fetched one, between the dream-content and the dream-thoughts; and if these elements were weeded out of the analysis the result would often be that the component parts of the dream-content would be left not only without overdetermination but without any satisfactory determination at all. We shall be led to conclude that the multiple determination which decides what shall be included in a dream is not always a primary factor in dream-construction but is often the secondary product of a psychical force which is still unknown to us. Nevertheless multiple determination must be of importance in choosing what particular elements shall enter a dream, since we can see that a considerable expenditure of effort is used to bring it about in cases where it does not arise from the dream-material unassisted.

It thus seems plausible to suppose that in the dream-work a psychical force is operating which on the one hand strips the elements which have a high psychical value of their intensity, and on the other hand, by means of overdetermination, creates from elements of low psychical value new values, which afterwards find their way into the dream-content

I have a number of questions:

Why ""we shall be led to conclude that the multiple determination ... is often the secondary product of a psychical force ...""? How does that follow? If multiple/over-determination as the state of being reinforced from multiple directions is caused by some psychical force (i.e. it is a product of this force), then what force is that?

What does Freud mean when he talks about ""psychical force creating, by means of overdetermination, from elements of low psychical value new values, which afterwards find their way into the dream-content""? Is that the same force which enables over-determination (point 1) and, if so, does he mean it makes these low value elements over-determined and this state is one of the reasons they find their way into dream-contents? Is that the same thing that happened with word ""botanical"" in a dream about botanical monography? What about this psychical force ""stripping the elements which have a high psychical value of their intensity"", is this intensity transferred to low-value elements and, because of the combination of this transferred intensity and the elements being overdetermined, they find their way into the dream?

Answer 1

Freud asserts that the elements of our dreams are often overdetermined, shaped by unknown psychical forces diminishing high-value elements while elevating low-value elements into dream contents.

Step-by-step explanation:

Freud's concept of overdetermination suggests that the elements of a dream are conditioned by multiple factors and reinforced from various directions in the psyche. The multiple determination of dream content raises the idea that these factors are not always primary in the construction of dreams, but might be the result of secondary psychical forces that are not completely understood. Freud identifies a psychical force that seemingly diminishes the intensity of elements with high psychological value while enhancing elements of low psychological value, thereby allowing them to enter the dream-content through overdetermination.

This force could refer to underlying defense mechanisms or the unconscious mind's effort to resolve inner conflicts. When Freud discusses this psychical force 'creating new values,' he implies that elements with low inherent psychological importance can become significant in the dream due to being overdetermined. This condition allows these elements to be included in the dream's content. The reference to the botanical monograph suggests that a seemingly trivial detail can achieve prominence in a dream narrative through this process.