The Archetypes And The Collective Unconscious

Essays which state the fundamentals of Jung's psychological system: "On the Psychology of the Unconscious" and "The Relations Between the Ego and the Unconscious," with their original versions in an appendix.

As a current record of all of C. G. Jung's publications in German and in English, this volume will replace the general bibliography published in 1979 as Volume 19 of the Collected Works of C. G. Jung. In the form of a checklist, this new volume records through 1990 the initial publication of each original work by Jung, each translation into English, and all significant new editions, including paperbacks and publications in periodicals. The contents of the respective volumes of the Collected Works of C. G. Jung and the Gesammelte Werke (published in Switzerland) are listed in parallel to show the interrelation of the two editions. Jung's seminars are dealt with in detail. Where possible, information is provided about the origin of works that were first conceived as lectures. There are indexes of all publications, personal names, organizations and societies, and periodicals.

Essays which state the fundamentals of Jung's psychological system: "On the Psychology of the Unconscious" and "The Relations Between the Ego and the Unconscious," with their original versions in an appendix.

One of Jung's most influential ideas has been his view, presented here, that primordial images, or archetypes, dwell deep within the unconscious of every human being. The essays in this volume gather together Jung's most important statements on the archetypes, beginning with the introduction of the concept in "Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious." In separate essays, he elaborates and explores the archetypes of the Mother and the Trickster, considers the psychological meaning of the myths of Rebirth, and contrasts the idea of Spirits seen in dreams to those recounted in fairy tales. This paperback edition of Jung's classic work includes a new foreword by Sonu Shamdasani, Philemon Professor of Jung History at University College London.

The author presents a stimulating panorama of Jung's psychology, and shows how accurately it corresponds to the strange world described by twentieth-century scientists in fields other than psychology. He traces the development of the concept of the archetypes of the collective unconscious from the dawn of the scientific method in the Renaissance to twentieth-century mathematician Kurt Godel's proof of the limits of science. Robertson's presentation of Jung's psychology is the most complete to date, treating it as a connected whole, from the early experimental studies to the final work using alchemy as a model of psychological dynamics."

In the thirties Jung was at the height of his powers and found himself swept up in the international politics of his day. At this time he was president of what was to become the International General Medical Society for Psychotherapy. As a consequence of Hitler's rise, Jung and his ideas were placed in the centre of a whirlwind of theoretical and political controversy. These chaotic times led him to comment widely on political events and saw his most extensive attempt to explain these events in terms of his theories of the collective and his use of the archetype of Wotan to explain Nazi Germany. This work is part of the ongoing reappraisal of the intellectual fabric of Jung's theory and the perspective he sought to establish, and seeks to re-examine the period, to unravel some of the confusion by setting out the historical background of Jung's ideas, and provide a fresh debate on Jung and his collective theory.

The author explores and defends the bold thesis that the idea of the collective unconscious can be reconciled with a scientific world outlook as he sketches a big picture from Jung's psychological viewpoint. In his examination of Jung's archetypes, Shelburne considers the chief critical views of the scientific import of Jung's thesis as he discusses the issue of rationality posed by the theory. There is also a discussion of how the ideas of James Hillman contrast with those of Jung on the issue of the scientific nature of archetypes. Shelburne presents scientific evidence for the existence of archetypes and shows how the theory fits in with modern evolutionary biology.

The concept of archetypes is at the core of C. G. Jung’s analytical psychology. In this interesting and accessible volume, Roesler summarises the classical theory of archetypes and the archetypal stages of the individuation process as it was developed by Jung and his students. Various applications of archetypes, in cultural studies as well as in clinical practice, are demonstrated with detailed case studies, dream series, myths, fairy tales, and so on. The book also explores how the concept has further developed as a result of research and, for the first time, integrates findings from anthropology, human genetics, and the neurosciences. Based on these contemporary insights, Roesler also makes a compelling argument for why some of Jung’s views on the concept should be comprehensively revised. Offering new insights on foundational Jungian topics like the collective unconscious, persona, and shadow, C. G. Jung’s Archetype Concept is of great interest to Jungian students, analysts, psychotherapists, and scholars.