Number and Time: Reflections Leading Towards a Unification of Psychology and Physics

by Marie-Louise von Franz, Ernst Klett Verlag (Primary Contributor), Andrea Dykes (Translator)

C. G. Jung's work in his later years suggested that the seemingly divergent sciences of psychology and modern physics might, in fact, be approaching a unified world model in which the dualism of matter and psyche would be resolved. Jung believed that the natural integers are the archetypal patterns that regulate the unitary realm of psyche and matter, and that number serves as a special instrument for man's becoming conscious of this unity.

Writen in a clear style and replete with illustrations which help make the mathematical ideas visible, Number and Time is a piece of original scholarship which introduces a view of how "mind" connects with "matter" at the most fundamental level.

Genres: Psychology, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Physics, Science, Mathematics, Number

332 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1970

About the author

Marie-Louise von Franz was a Swiss Jungian psychologist and scholar.
Von Franz worked with Carl Jung, whom she met in 1933 and knew until his death in 1961. Jung believed in the unity of the psychological and material worlds, i.e., they are one and the same, just different manifestations. He also believed that this concept of the unus mundus could be investigated through research on the archetypes of the natural numbers. Due to his age, he turned the problem over to von Franz. Two of her books, Number and Time and Psyche and Matter deal with this research.
Von Franz, in 1968, was the first to publish that the mathematical structure of DNA is analogous to that of the I Ching. She cites the reference to the publication in an expanded essay Symbols of the Unus Mundus, published in her book Psyche and Matter. In addition to her many books, Von Franz recorded a series of films in 1987 titled The Way of the Dream with her student Fraser Boa.
Von Franz founded the C. G. Jung Institute in Zurich. In The Way of the Dream she claims to have interpreted over 65,000 dreams. Von Franz also wrote over 20 volumes on Analytical psychology, most notably on fairy tales as they relate to Archetypal or Depth Psychology, most specifically by amplification of the themes and characters. She also wrote on subjects such as alchemy, discussed from the Jungian, psychological perspective, and active imagination, which could be described as conscious dreaming. In Man and His Symbols, von Franz described active imagination as follows: "Active imagination is a certain way of meditating imaginatively, by which one may deliberately enter into contact with the unconscious and make a conscious connection with psychic phenomena."

Reviews

[Lex · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is dense and classically Jungian in Von Franz style. Her attitude of nonchalance and her "if you get it, you get it" tone ring clear. Her grasp and love of synchronicity is always the best. The book is peculiar indeed and kin minds will glean its gold.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carl Jung's protege, MLvF was a great psychologist. Not a great mathematician though. She throws around terms like "continuum" and "field" without understanding them. Nonetheless the book contains many useful insights into the workings of the collective unconscious, so I'll give it 4 stars ... but please take all the math and physics discussions with a big grain of sodium chloride.

[Guy · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the clearest enunciations of the limitation of science to deal with unique events, in this case, the uniqueness of number. Brilliant read.

[Citizin.Brain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of valuable information here on synchronicity and the archetypal significance of numbers. I admittedly struggled with the first half or so due to the abundance of technical information about mathematics and physics, which I wasn't expecting (kudos to von Franz for her extensive research outside the domain of psychology). The qualitative side of number is so important to our time since we are so one-sided in our quantitative bent which, as von Franz points out, is associated with the death of individuality. I did not realize how consonant the notion of synchronicity is with Jung's whole focus of his psychology, namely the particular, unique individual, who cannot be replicated by a quantitative method. The failure to acknowledge synchronicity then mirrors our failure to admit the significance of the individual, being captured by quantitative thinking. IMO, it is of utmost importance to note that the scientific method would seem, by definition, to preclude the possibility of synchronicity due to its nature as a unique event, "an act of creation," which cannot be replicated. Thus, ignoring synchronicity as though it is merely chance, coincidence or superstition, amounts to writing off the significance of the individual life as chance, coincidence, superstition. Number is not just a unit but a meaning, the same way an individual is not just a social unit, but a meaning. As such, this book brings Jung's work forward in a deep way.

[Kyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another amazing journey into depth psychology with a look at how numbers related to the archetypes discovered by Jung and expanded upon by von Franz. She draws from ancient divinatory systems and contemporary spiritual belief as well as modern science. While she only gets to the first four natural numbers, with a few brief sentences about five and six, there is a strong sense that inexhaustible meaning could be derived from just these: the entanglement between one and infinity; the sense of polarity, balance and completeness that comes with two, three and four; and how straightforward counting relates to the mysterious qualities of time. All of her writing goes to show that there are many facets of the mind that could be looked at more closely, but also she shows the way to trust in one’s self to figure out how it all adds up. And now with more works by von Franz arriving on the bookshelves, it would be great to track down Psyche and Matter to see the full flowering of her post-Jung analysis, before the latest editions take the older copies out of print.

[Erik Graff · Rating 2 out of 5]

Marie-Louise von Franz appears too immersed in the small pond of Jungian psychology to be able to make much connection with physics in this peculiar book.