The unconscious: before, after, and independent of Freud

Background. The study of the unconscious concept extends beyond Freud's psychoanalytic approach, which long dominated scientific discourse. Despite psychoanalysis's significant contributions, modern psychology requires a re-evaluation of the unconscious through the lens of cognitive science, neuroscience, and philosophy of mind. The relevance of this work stems from the need to overcome terminological confusion between psychoanalytic and cognitive understandings of the unconscious. Purpose. Reveal the historical and philosophical premises of the idea of the unconscious. Materials and methods. The article primarily employs theoretical-analytical methods, along with historical-scientific and philosophical analysis. Results.Historical analysis has revealed that the concept of the unconscious existed long before Freud (for example, in the works of Alhazen, Leibniz, Helmholtz), but was marginalised due to the dominance of the Cartesian paradigm. Criticism of psychoanalysis has shown that its terminological expansion overshadowed other scientific approaches, slowing the study of cognitive aspects of the unconscious. The cognitive unconscious has proven its empirical validity but requires further theoretical development, particularly regarding the 'intelligence' of the unconscious. Domestic science pays little attention to the cognitive unconscious, despite the potential for research in this field (for example, D.N. Uznadze's set theory).