The Unconscious in Rosenzweig's The Star of Redemption: On the Threshold of a Possible Revelation

This paper discusses Franz Rosenzweig's use of the term "the unconscious" (das Unbewufite) and possible influences on his understanding of it. I claim that for Rosenzweig, it is through the unconscious that the individual becomes aware of him-self and becomes capable of fulfilling his longing to achieve self-fulfillment and even-tually to take part in a collective redemption. The unconscious is often perceived as the mental sphere related to trauma and repression in which defense mechanisms and fantasies are evolved. Fantasies are psychological tools that allow the individual to cope with trauma, but they are also "layers of enclosedness," illusions that should be dissolved. Hence, in the unconscious, we find a possibility of liberation.