By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
What is the id? And why is it called the ‘id’? To answer these key questions, it’s necessary to think about how the founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), thought of the mind. Freud believed that the mind or ‘psyche’ was composed of several different elements: an ego (which we might think of as the conscious self), the id (which is the primitive part of our minds governed by pure desires and drives), and the superego (which is a bit like our inner police officer, or conscience, telling us when something is inadvisable or immoral).