Das Noch-nicht-Bewusste. Protentionales Bewusstsein und die Entstehung des Neuen

Human thought about the future includes not only conscious plans and expectations but also preconscious or unconscious tendencies, hunches, and anticipations—what Ernst Bloch called the not-yet-conscious. This not-yet-consciousness emerges spontaneously, surprising the subject, and gives rise to phenomena like the conspicuous, accidental, new, and improvised. These are key to understanding creative and therapeutic processes. The article develops a general phenomenological framework for understanding not-yet-conscious dynamics by examining their structure through the concept of protention.

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Abstract

Not only our conscious expectations, wishes and intentions are directed towards the future, but also pre- or unconscious tendencies, hunches and anticipations. Using a term coined by Ernst Bloch, they can be summarized as the not-yet-conscious. This not-yet-consciousness usually unfolds spontaneously and without a plan; it is not expected or striven for, but rather emerges in consciousness in such a way that the subject is surprised by itself, so to speak. This gives rise to phenomena such as the conspicuous, the accidental, the new and the improvised, which are particularly important for understanding creative and therapeutic processes. The aim of this article is to develop a general phenomenological framework for understanding not-yet-conscious dynamics and their unfolding in different contexts. To this end, the structure of the not-yet-conscious is examined in the light of protention, in which the phenomenon is fundamentally located.