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Encountering Jung
Jung on Mythology
At least three major questions can be asked of myth: what is its subject matter? what is its origin? and what is its function? Theories of myth may differ on the answers they give to any of these questions, but more basically they may also differ on which of the questions they ask. C. G. Jung's theory is one of the few that purports to answer fully all three questions. This volume collects and organizes the key passages on myth by Jung himself and by some of the most prominent Jungian writers after him: Erich Neumann, Marie-Louise von Franz, and James Hillman. The book synthesizes the discovery of myth as a way of thinking, where it becomes a therapeutic tool providing an entrance to the unconscious.
In the first selections, Jung begins to differentiate his theory from Freud's by asserting that there are fantasies and dreams of an "impersonal" nature that cannot be reduced to experiences in a person's past. Jung then asserts that the similarities among myths are the result of the projection of the collective rather than the personal unconscious onto the external world. Finally, he comes to the conclusion that myth originates and functions to satisfy the psychological need for contact with the unconscious--not merely to announce the existence of the unconscious, but to let us experience it.
In the first selections, Jung begins to differentiate his theory from Freud's by asserting that there are fantasies and dreams of an "impersonal" nature that cannot be reduced to experiences in a person's past. Jung then asserts that the similarities among myths are the result of the projection of the collective rather than the personal unconscious onto the external world. Finally, he comes to the conclusion that myth originates and functions to satisfy the psychological need for contact with the unconscious--not merely to announce the existence of the unconscious, but to let us experience it.
288 pages, Paperback
First published July 27, 1998
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About the author
C.G. Jung
1,733 books11.5k followersCarl Gustav Jung (/jʊŋ/; German: [ˈkarl ˈɡʊstaf jʊŋ]), often referred to as C. G. Jung, was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist who founded analytical psychology. Jung proposed and developed the concepts of extraversion and introversion; archetypes, and the collective unconscious. His work has been influential in psychiatry and in the study of religion, philosophy, archeology, anthropology, literature, and related fields. He was a prolific writer, many of whose works were not published until after his death.
The central concept of analytical psychology is individuation—the psychological process of integrating the opposites, including the conscious with the unconscious, while still maintaining their relative autonomy. Jung considered individuation to be the central process of human development.
Jung created some of the best known psychological concepts, including the archetype, the collective unconscious, the complex, and synchronicity. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), a popular psychometric instrument, has been developed from Jung's theory of psychological types.
Though he was a practising clinician and considered himself to be a scientist, much of his life's work was spent exploring tangential areas such as Eastern and Western philosophy, alchemy, astrology, and sociology, as well as literature and the arts. Jung's interest in philosophy and the occult led many to view him as a mystic, although his ambition was to be seen as a man of science. His influence on popular psychology, the "psychologization of religion", spirituality and the New Age movement has been immense.
The central concept of analytical psychology is individuation—the psychological process of integrating the opposites, including the conscious with the unconscious, while still maintaining their relative autonomy. Jung considered individuation to be the central process of human development.
Jung created some of the best known psychological concepts, including the archetype, the collective unconscious, the complex, and synchronicity. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), a popular psychometric instrument, has been developed from Jung's theory of psychological types.
Though he was a practising clinician and considered himself to be a scientist, much of his life's work was spent exploring tangential areas such as Eastern and Western philosophy, alchemy, astrology, and sociology, as well as literature and the arts. Jung's interest in philosophy and the occult led many to view him as a mystic, although his ambition was to be seen as a man of science. His influence on popular psychology, the "psychologization of religion", spirituality and the New Age movement has been immense.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 29, 2021
Apologies in advance to anyone who reads all of my reviews because over the next couple of months you are going to see variations of this comment repeated for every one of the Princeton University Press series ‘Encountering Jung.’
I am a huge fan of the genius that was Carl Jung, but am also the first to admit that I used to find his writing really difficult to parse. That has changed with the ‘Encountering Jung’ series of books.
Each book begins with a lengthy introduction by a contemporary Jungian scholar and/or analyst in which Jung’s contribution to the theme of the book is contextualized so that the reader understands the historical context of Jung’s work, and how he came to his interest in the theme. Then the content of the remainder of the book, all of it Jung’s own writings, are chunked according to the big questions he asked, or the aspects of the theme that he elaborated. This makes Jung’s writing much, much easier to understand.
If interested, there are seven books in the ‘Encountering Jung’ series. Each title begins with ‘Jung on....’. They are Jung on: Active Imagination (read and reviewed), Mythology, Christianity, Evil, Synchronicity and the Paranormal, Alchemy, Death and Immortality.
I am a huge fan of the genius that was Carl Jung, but am also the first to admit that I used to find his writing really difficult to parse. That has changed with the ‘Encountering Jung’ series of books.
Each book begins with a lengthy introduction by a contemporary Jungian scholar and/or analyst in which Jung’s contribution to the theme of the book is contextualized so that the reader understands the historical context of Jung’s work, and how he came to his interest in the theme. Then the content of the remainder of the book, all of it Jung’s own writings, are chunked according to the big questions he asked, or the aspects of the theme that he elaborated. This makes Jung’s writing much, much easier to understand.
If interested, there are seven books in the ‘Encountering Jung’ series. Each title begins with ‘Jung on....’. They are Jung on: Active Imagination (read and reviewed), Mythology, Christianity, Evil, Synchronicity and the Paranormal, Alchemy, Death and Immortality.
February 26, 2010
I love any work by or about Carl Jung and I love mythology, so this book was of special interest to me, though I was already familiar with most of the material.
December 3, 2024
the monsters we create and then we fight, and not always win.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews