It is customary to call the subconscious thoughts and ideas that at the given moment are outside of consciousness. In other words, these are thoughts that cannot become conscious.
From a philosophical point of view, the subconscious is a layer of consciousness that can reveal itself only in special cases. This refers to a dream or erroneous actions. In psychology, this term is used to refer to mental processes and states that lie outside the sphere of consciousness.
The term "subconscious" first appeared at the end of the eighteenth century. Then he designated the sphere of action of unconscious phenomena. In physiological theories, the subconscious is associated with a variety of physiological mechanisms of behavior. This term is an extremely important concept in psychoanalytic theory. But only from the moment Sigmund Freud began to use this concept, it began to be actively used in psychology.
Freud always considered the subconscious side of mental life much more important than the conscious one. He even compared the subconscious to an iceberg. In his opinion, it is the subconscious that contains important instincts and memories that could become conscious. But there was a sudden suppression. It turns out that the subconscious material is a force that prompts a person to actions of a certain nature. Freud developed a special technique for the study of the subconscious. He suggested that transferring some painful moments of the subconscious into consciousness would help alleviate mental illness. According to Freud, automatic behavior can be performed without conscious awareness. But at the same time, it cannot be considered subconscious.
The subconscious mind is central to sociological science, as it often turns to psychoanalysts. Post-Freudian theories were contrasted with his teachings about the subconscious. So, A. Adler was the first to try to radically revise the teachings of Freud. He put forward the principle of psychological compensation and tried to present all psychological activity as a struggle on a subconscious level. Jung suggested that the personal subconscious hides a deeper layer of the collective subconscious. And Fromm admitted the existence of an individual subconscious. In his opinion, society independently determines which thoughts and feelings can reach a conscious level, and which are dangerous for its existence. It turns out that the content of the subconscious can be determined by the structure of society itself.