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Brief notes concerning Carl Jung’s life and ideas

Jung’s mentor was Freud

Jung severed his mentorship with Freud in approximately 1913

Jung separated himself from “Orthodox psychoanalysis”

Jung created a theory titled “Analytical psychology”

Jung believed that “occult phenomena” is part of everyone’s life

Jung believed humans have:

(1) repressed experiences

(2) inherited experiences

“Inherited experiences” are known as the “collective consciousness”

Archetypes

 

Brief biographical notes concerning Carl Jung

Birthdate: July 26, 1875

Birthplace: Lake Constance, Switzerland

Paternal Grandfather’s occupation: highly recognized physician

Father: minister, Swiss Reformed Church

Mother: daughter of a theologian; mother’s family interested in spiritualism and mysticism

Jung’s older brother died when three days old

Jung’s sister was four years old when he was born

Jung was known to be emotional and sensitive

Jung (aged 4) family moved to the suburb of Basil

Earliest dream at this place

Jung saw himself as having two personalities

Extroverted / Introverted

(Introverted—young, extroverted—later on, introverted—mid-life)

Jung’s father died when Jung was in first year medical school

1900 Jung competed medical degree

Psychiatric assistant to Eugene Bleuler at Burgholtzli Mental Hospital, Zurich

1902–1903 Studied under Pierre Janet

1905 University teacher; private practice

1906 Freud and Jung exchanged letter regularly

1907 Freud and Jung meet in Vienna for discussion

Freud viewed Jung as extremely intelligent

1909 Freud and Jung were invited to give lectures in the USA (7 weeks)

1909 Jung has a relationship with a former patient

Later involved with a second relationship with patient Antonia Wolff while married to Emma

Did not hide relationship from Emma or others

1913 Freud and Jung took different theoretical positions

1913–1917 Self-reflection

Jung and dream interpretation

Wrote down his dreams

Jung’s interests were numerous—history, psychology, mythology, philosophy, religion, ethnology…

1944 Medical Psychology professor

1955 Emma died

June 6, 1961 Zurich, Carl Jung dies

 

Jung’s ideas and terms

 

Personal unconscious

• “below the threshold of consciousness”

• embraces all that is: repressed personal experiences, forgotten, subliminal

 

Complexes

• from both the conscious and unconscious

• associated ideas—emotionally honed

Example: word “mother” may spark emotional response

 

Collective conscious

• roots in ancestral past

• inherited and passed from one generation to another

• content similar across various cultures

• active

• human beings react in a certain way

“biologically inherited response tendency”

“Forms without content”

• certain types of perception and reaction

 

Archetypes

• ancient or archaic images that derives from collective consciousness

• (Different than “instinct“)

• biological basis

• experiences of early ancestors passed along

dreams

fantasies

illusions

 

Instinct

Jung’s definition—unconscious physical impulse toward action

 

Persona

• mask

• face that people present to others

Self realization comes from not identifying too closely with the persona

 

Shadow

• hidden aspects of self.

 

Anima

• all humans are bisexual

• have masculine and feminine side

 

Animus

• masculine archetype

• symbolic of thought and reason

 

Great mother

• archetype

• positive and negative feelings associated with

• fertility and nourishment / destruction

godmother

Mother earth

Mother of God

Mother of Nature

stepmother

witch

Fertility and power

 

Rebirth

reincarnation / baptism / resurrection / individuation / self-realization

People long for nirvana, heaven, paradise, perfection

 

Wise old man

• archetype

• represents wisdom and meaning

• pre-existing life mysteries

 

Hero

• part god

powerful

 

Self

• archetype of archetypes

• ultimate symbol

 

Mandala

• Circle within a square

• Order

• Unity

• Totality

 

Causality

• events in the present originate from previous experiences

 

Teleology

Motivation for present events from goals and aspirations for a possible future

 

Progression

• Person adapts to outside world

 

Regression

• Life turned inward

 

Psychological types

 

Jung—Attitude

• ” predisposition to act or react in a characteristic direction”

 

Introversion / extroversion

 

Feeling

“evaluating an event”

 

Sensation

• receives physical content

• transmits it to personal consciousness

 

Intuition

• sensing

• creative

 

Stages of development

 

Childhood

• anarchic islands of consciousness

• monarchic ego development / logical / verbalization

• dualistic objective / subjective

 

Middle age

• religious orientation

 

Old age

• philosophy of life

Jung used Word Association Test

• 100 words

respond to given word with first word that comes to mind

 

Dream analysis

• both Freud and Jung took dream analysis seriously

 

Active imagination

• concentrate on a vision or fantasy until it moves

• follow images to where they lead

• reveal archetypal images through active imagination

Psychotherapy

Transformation—change—self-realization

 

Jung—Humanity

1. Human beings—complex
2. Many opposites
3. View neither pessimistic nor optimistic
4. Neither deterministic nor purposive
5. Motivated by conscious and unconscious thoughts
6. Both introverted and extroverted
7. Personal—only a small piece of personality
8. Everyone has a shadow
9. Biological vs. social aspects of personality

 

Analytical psychology

• concentrates on similarities among people

• not much attention to individual differences

 

Freud—Humanity

1. Determinism vs. Free Choice—more deterministic
2. Adult personality formed by childhood experiences
3. Pessimism more common than optimism
4. Causality more than teleology
5. Social vs. biological differences—Freud leans toward the biological
6. Uniqueness vs. similarity—Freud takes a middle position

 

These notes are quite general and there are many sources available on and off line with similar information. See for instance:

• Jung: A Biography by Deirdre Bair. New York: Black Bay Books, 2003.
• Dictionary of Psychology, Penguin Reference.