The Interpretation Of Nature And The Psyche Containing Synchronicity

This book includes essays that emphasize the part played by pre-existing images or archetypes in the development of concepts and scientific theories and stress the need for complementary principles in nature. It is a translation of "Synchronizitat als ein Prinzip akausaler Zusammenhange". In 1952 Carl Jung and Wolfgang Pauli, both at the height of their reputations, co-wrote The Interpretation of Nature and the Psyche. It contained one essay by each author: Jung’s presents a challenge to mainstream science and advances the principle of synchronicity and Pauli’s argues for a more holistic conception of modern science. Roderick Main presents the original essays here with a brand-new introduction and commentary which reviews how the original text was viewed, and which traces the subsequent influences of both the essays and the two authors.

Also available in an open-access, full-text edition at http://oaktrust.library.tamu.edu/handle/1969.1/88024 In 1952 C. G. Jung published a paradoxical hypothesis on synchronicity that marked an attempt to expand the western world’s conception of the relationship between nature and the psyche. Jung’s hypothesis sought to break down the polarizing cause-effect assessment of the world and psyche, suggesting that everything is interconnected. Thus, synchronicity is both "a meaningful event" and "an acausal connecting principle." Evaluating the world in this manner opened the door to "exploring the possibility of meaning in chance or random events, deciphering if and when meaning might be present even if outside conscious awareness." Now, after contextualizing Jung’s work in relation to contemporary scientific advancements such as relativity and quantum theories, Joseph Cambray explores in this book how Jung’s theories, practices, and clinical methods influenced the current field of complexity theory, which works with a paradox similar to Jung’s synchronicity: the importance of symmetry as well as the need to break that symmetry for "emergence" to occur. Finally, Cambray provides his unique contribution to the field by attempting to trace "cultural synchronicities," a reconsideration of historical events in terms of their synchronistic aspects. For example, he examines the emergence of democracy in ancient Greece in order "to find a model of group decision making based on emergentist principles with a synchronistic core."

Jung was intrigued from early in his career with coincidences, especially those surprising juxtapositions that scientific rationality could not adequately explain. He discussed these ideas with Albert Einstein before World War I, but first used the term "synchronicity" in a 1930 lecture, in reference to the unusual psychological insights generated from consulting the I Ching. A long correspondence and friendship with the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Wolfgang Pauli stimulated a final, mature statement of Jung's thinking on synchronicity, originally published in 1952 and reproduced here. Together with a wealth of historical and contemporary material, this essay describes an astrological experiment Jung conducted to test his theory. Synchronicity reveals the full extent of Jung's research into a wide range of psychic phenomena. This paperback edition of Jung's classic work includes a new foreword by Sonu Shamdasani, Philemon Professor of Jung History at University College London.

Jung's discovery of the 'collective unconscious', a psychic inheritance common to all humankind, transformed the understanding of the self and the way we interpret the world. In On the Nature of the Psyche Jung describes this remarkable theory in his own words, and presents a masterly overview of his theories of the unconscious, and its relation to the conscious mind. Also contained in this collection is On Psychic Energy, where Jung defends his interpretation of the libido, a key factor in the breakdown of his relations with Freud. For anyone seeking to understand Jung's insights into the human mind, this volume is essential reading.

An authoritative collection of Jung’s writings on analytical psychology, including Synchronicity The Structure and Dynamics of the Psyche features a selection of Jung’s writings, ranging over four decades of his career, which illustrate the development of the conceptual foundations of analytical psychology. These pieces span the period from Jung’s break with Freud and the psychoanalytical school, when Jung began formulating his own theories, to the 1950s, when he published an account of his controversial theory of synchronicity. The contents are: On Psychic Energy • The Transcendent Function • A Review of the Complex Theory • The Significance of Constitution and Heredity in Psychology • Psychological Factors Determining Human Behavior • Instinct and the Unconscious • The Structure of the Psyche • On the Nature of the Psyche • General Aspects of Dream Psychology • On the Nature of Dreams • The Psychological Foundation of Belief in Spirits • Spirit and Life • Basic Postulates of Analytical Psychology • Analytical Psychology and Weltanschauung • The Real and the Surreal • The Stages of Life • The Soul and Death • Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle • On Synchronicity

C. G. Jung had a lifelong interest in the paranormal that culminated in his influential theory of synchronicity. Combining extracts taken from the Collected Works; letters; the autobiographical Memories, Dreams, Reflections; and transcripts of seminars, Jung on Synchronicity and the Paranormal sets out clearly his seminal contribution to our understanding of this controversial area. In his introduction, Roderick Main discusses Jung's encounters with and observations of the paranormal, the influences that contributed to his theory of synchronicity, and the central ideas of the theory itself. The selections include Jung's writings on mediumistic trance phenomena, spirits and hauntings, anomalous events in the development and practice of analytical psychology, and the divinatory techniques of astrology and the I Ching. The book also features Jung's most lucid account of his theory in the form of his short essay "On Synchronicity," and a number of Jung's less-known writings on parapsychology, his astrological experiment, and the relationship between mind and body. Jung on Synchronicity and the Paranormal addresses subjects that were fundamental to Jung's personal and professional development. Probing deeply into the theory of synchronicity, Roderick Main clarifies issues that have long been a source of confusion to Jung's readers.