Pierre Janet (1859-1947), French psychologist, philosopher, psychotherapist. Janet introduced the concept of the subconscious, developed the idea of ​​psychology as a science of behavior, without excluding the highest forms of the psyche from its subject area; created an original theory of neuroses, as well as a therapeutic system for their treatment. Janet explained hysterical and psychasthenic states by “reduced mental tension” and introduced the concept of dissociation. However, today it is practically unknown. One of the most intelligent articles on the topic of the subconscious, despite the fact that it was written in the last century. The translation and comments to the text were made by psychologist Natalia Fedunina (the exact source is the candidate's dissertation "The Evolution of the Psychological System of Pierre Janet"). The works of Pierre Janet are based on a scientific approach in psychology. There is a clinic, hypotheses and testing in practice. I present excerpts that can relatively be perceived as a whole. The author's position on the formation of psychosomatic disorders is quite clear. It’s wrong in some ways, yes, but you can trace the thinking process. ⓿ Under the influence of Leibniz, Biran Janet came to the conclusion that consciousness can exist without understanding, “the idea of ​​“I” is not always attached to the sensations that we experience.” A hysterical patient may in reality belong to the visual type, and in a deep somnambulistic state again rely mainly on the muscular feeling that dominated in childhood, which also leads to the return of the corresponding memories. Somnambulism changes the dominant images, “it brings to light certain special images and makes of them a new center around which thoughts are grouped in a different order.” These groupings can be very strong and form their own idea of ​​self. Suggestion is an automatism that occurs under the influence of words or perceptions; characterized by obedience to some influence without realizing it. There are colossal differences between volitional and automatic actions: volitional action is guided by the idea of ​​expediency, necessity, automatic action is guided by the appearance of a certain image in the mind; volitional effort lies precisely in this systematization of images and memories, which subsequently emerge automatically; volitional effort is aimed at creating and maintaining unity and integrity of the individual. Due to the weak synthetic ability in the psyche, even elementary syntheses that form personal perception do not develop. Automatic activity is changeable; a volitional decision can determine activity over a significant period of time. Volitional action is individual and unique, automatic action is impersonal. Automatism turns out to be, in a sense, a problem of personal will (in this one can feel the influence of Biran and his ideas about free volitional effort as the basis of consciousness). Automatisms, according to Janet, do not create new sensations, new syntheses, but appeal to already existing ones. They rest on what has already been developed in the patient’s psyche. However, the automatic nature of an action does not mean that it is unreasonable. Automaticity can be of varying degrees of complexity and cover not only simple movements, but also complex mental skills. Thus, in the case of suggested actions, the subject can unconsciously carry out very complex mental operations. Having examined delayed suggestions (performing a specific action after a certain number of days), Janet concluded that “somnambulists can count the days and hours until the suggestion is carried out, although they do not retain any memory of the suggestion itself. Outside their consciousness, in some unknown way, a memory is preserved, a constantly intense attention is vigilant, and some kind of intelligent principle appears, which is capable of counting days, just as it can perform arithmetic calculations. "Instincts cannot be considered purely mechanical acts, but they are not attribute a rational, strong-willed beginning. An instinctive act, like inspired actions, is carried out under the influence of perceptions. Automatismsreveal themselves in habit and memory. “Our memories and habits give rise to a series of actions that we notice rather than consciously carry out. The consciousness of these phenomena is not destroyed, for we can again begin to be aware of everything that is stored in our memory or that we do out of habit; these processes are only left unattended by us, as if because they can proceed without damage, being left to themselves!”.❶ The further evolution of the idea of ​​the subconscious in Jeanne is associated with the concept of a “fixed idea” (from about 1891). Also J.-M. Charcot, following B. K. Brody and R. Reynolds, spoke about fixed ideas in hysterical patients and traced their beginning to emotional shock, causing a change in mental state. Janet attached special importance to fixed ideas and defined them as spontaneously developing ideas that gradually take over a person’s consciousness. This includes not only obsessions, but also stable emotional states that remain unchanged over a long period of time. Like automatisms, they can be partial or complete. In 1892, in a dissertation on the mental state of hysterical patients, he described hysteria by appealing to the fixed idea hypothesis. They can be caused by events in a person’s life that evoke strong emotions. The mental work performed in connection with these events absorbs all forces and can lead to a weakening and decrease in the function of mental synthesis. A fixed idea develops that supports the symptoms caused by the trauma, according to one's own ideas about the characteristics of the trauma. The fixed ideas of hysterics are mostly unconscious. Hysterical amnesia develops due to the fact that a fixed idea occupies a dominant position in the human psyche; it captures the already limited field of consciousness. The strength of fixed ideas depends on the degree of isolation of their position in the human psyche. It is not man who turns out to be the “master” of the idea, but the idea that commands man. Painful symptoms and serious emotional disturbances often do not appear at the very moment of the event that caused them. While circumstances are favorable, fixed ideas can be in a latent state, but they mercilessly invade when a person’s resistance decreases. The development of fixed ideas can lead to the phenomenon of dissociation, the formation of a new personality. Even the Paris school closely linked hypnotism, hysteria and dissociation. Janet even defined hysteria as a form of mental disintegration. Hysterical patients are not capable of synthesizing the diversity of phenomena experienced by them. “A partial system of thoughts is emancipated, becomes independent and develops by itself, at its own expense. As a result, such a system develops too magnificently, and on the other hand, in the general consciousness there is a gap, amnesia or unconsciousness in relation to this idea.” Hysterical people are characterized by a narrowing of consciousness (“mental weakness consisting in a decrease in the number of psychological phenomena that can simultaneously be combined in the same personal consciousness,” which runs in parallel with the dissociation of consciousness: what does not fall into the field of personal perception is collected in a new form - the second personality. ❷ Therapy of hysterical patients was not limited to the translation of painful experiences and fixed ideas into the conscious plane. In the famous case of Justine, the difficulties and various techniques of working with fixed ideas were fully presented. The patient, a 40-year-old woman, experienced a strong fear of contracting cholera; left thoughts of death and illness; the symptoms intensified over the years. When her husband brought her to the Salpêtrière (October 1890), the attacks, accompanied by vomiting and cries of “Cholera will come and take me!”, which she subsequently did not remember, lasted for several hours. Janet, who considered a fixed idea as a complex consisting of visual, auditory, olfactory and other components, worked with all this.