The I and the Not-I: A Study in the Development of Consciousness

by Mary Esther Harding

This book provides a very accessible general introduction to the Jungian concept of ego development and Jung's theory of personality structure—the collective unconscious, anima, animus, shadow, archetypes.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction

254 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1965

About the author

Mary Esther Harding (1888–1971) was a British-American Jungian analyst who was the first significant Jungian psychoanalyst in the United States.

Reviews

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worth the read and pretty cohesive, but the sexism cannot be overlooked. I thought this was written by a man, to be honest, and, to my astonishment, it was not. Welp. Read at your own risk.

It is relatively enlightening and an easy guide, but, again, the sexism. Yikes. Should've expected it, though, with the whole animism making the animus/anima the inferior animal within one individual --- doesn't account for hermaphrodites, either, and also glosses over homosexuality really badly. The religion aspect with the whole 'us' was weird, too.

Come to think of it, I'm not sure it's worth the read, and I'm not even going to touch the author's "Women's Mysteries" book, but it was an interesting experience nonetheless and I am glad I've read this now. If you decide to read, great, but look out for the conditioned thinking.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

A useful and accessible introduction to a lot of Jungian terms and thoughts that I know, but don't 'know'. Not all of the concepts fit into place, but that may be inevitable when condensing a man's life work. Altogether a book that is helpful to one interested in understanding both the concepts and underlying structure Jung saw in the world and within us.

[Rjyan · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's some pretty dated passages about gender and sexual orientation, but they are brief and imo don't sink the whole book, which has some very clear and valuable explanations of the Jungian view of psychological projection.

[Bas · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't get used to the messy writing style. May be a good read if you already know the concepts and would like to have a deeper understanding of it.

[Malakai Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome sauce

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of good info. Some sections read like word salad, though

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the first philosophy/psych books that I have read. A really great introduction with plenty of food for thought for anybody.