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Civilization in Transition (The Collected Works of C. G. Jung, Volume 10)

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This is Volume 10 of the Collected Works of Carl Jung (1875-1961), "Civilization in Transition". Unlike some of the other volumes in the Collected Works, this is a not a single document, but rather a collection of essays spanning four decades. All of them are concerned with some aspect of societal issues at large. Jung writes about anthropology ancient ("Archaic Man", 1931) and modern ("Woman in Europe", 1927). His topic range from the profoundly sober ("After the Catastrophe", 1945) to the seemingly absurd ("Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth", 1958). He explores professional issues in "The State of Psychotherapy Today" (1934) and "The Complications of America Psychology" (1959). He explores the interfaces of psychology with the moral ("Good and Evil in Analytic Psychology", 1959) and the spiritual ("What India Can Teach Us", 1939). In my mind, the gem of the collection is "The Undiscovered Self (Present and Future)" (1957), in which Jung explores the implications of psychological development, and the lack thereof, on the broadest scale of history. In Jung's view, the configuration of the conscious and the unconscious is the most important parameter in the life of an individual, and insofar as aspects of this configuration are identical across individuals in a culture, these aspect shape and constrain the development of the culture; that, in a nutshell, is the topic of this book.

Even if this book is only available in hardcover, I assure you that it is worth every penny. _Civilization in Transition_ is a collection of some of Jung's most important essays, including some all-time classic works of philosophical and political psychology. I will briefly describe the more important essays:
AFTER THE CATASTROPHE: One of Jung's all-time greatest essays. Jung does an excellent job explaining the psychological and theological implications of the holocaust.
THE FIGHT WITH THE SHADOW: Continues in the same direction as _After the Catastrophe_; this is another truly profound and fascinationg essay, dealing with the evil forces lurking deep within man.
WOTAN: Part three of Jung's holy triptich on the evil of man. Examines the violent history of the German people and the mythological precursers which foreshadowed Germany's tragic fate.
CIVILIZATION IN TRANSITION also contains the famous essay, THE UNDISCOVERED SELF. This essay has been described as a study on society and politics, but it struck me as much more universal and well rounded, dealing with intense, far-reaching philosophical and theological issues. THE UNDISCOVERED SELF is a perfect example of Jung's bold adventures into the realms of philosophy, politics, and religion, rightly recognizing that these issues are inextricably intertwined with human psychology. This essay is available by itself in paperback form, but it is probably wiser to buy the full length CIVILIZATION IN TRANSITION because the afformentioned essays on evil are alone worth the price of the volume.
Although CIVILIZATION IN TRANSITION contains many other useful essays (such as "Women in Europe", which is still very relevant and insightful), the last one I will mention here is FLYING SAUCERS: A MODERN MYTH OF THINGS SEEN IN THE SKY. I was very sceptical of this essay at first, because I thought it would contain Jung's characteristic rantings and ravings regarding his pet "archetypes", but really this essay is quite good. Jung describes several of his patients' dreams involving flying saucers, and I found these dream sequences to be absolutely fascinating and even potentially revelatory. FLYING SAUCERS is much better than most of Jung's works regarding archetypal dreams and visions.
Overall, CIVILIZATION IN TRANSITION is one of the most useful of the collected works. And unlike some of the collected works, you can read this one cover to cover without skipping anything. Every last page of CIVILIZATION IN TRANSITION is Jung at his very best.

_Civilization in Transition_ is Vol. 10 in the Collected Works of famous psychoanalyst Carl Jung. This volume consists of a series of essays and reflections by the doctor dealing with the nature of civilization, and modern man in relation to history, as well as the unique role of Jungian psychology in explaining both political and social trends within man. Jungian psychology includes notions of ego and archetype (anima and animus, and the shadow persona), as well as the unconscious and the collective unconscious (which contains ancestral memories preserved as archetypes). Much of the Jungian process can be understood as the attempt to integrate the abandoned contents of the shadow (the dark unconscious side of the personality) and achieve what is termed "individuation". Others have written linking Jungian psychology to Christian belief arguing that the process of individuation can be understood in terms of Saint Paul's putting on of the new man. Thus, Christianity plays an important part in the role of Jungian psychology and many of its most ardent adherents are indeed Christians of sorts. The book is divided into seven parts and an appendix. The first part consists of essays on "The Role of the Unconscious", "Mind and Earth" (emphasizing the cthonic nature of the Germanic mind and contrasting this to the mind of nomadic or Semitic peoples), "Archaic Man" (revealing the nature of taboo and what is naively dismissed as superstition), and "The Spiritual Problem of Modern Man". The second part deals with problems encountered within the modern world including "The Love Problem of a Student", "Woman in Europe" (which includes a description of the modern versus the medieval marriage with remarks about the anima/animus syzygy), as well as essays entitled "The Meaning of Psychology for Modern Man" and "The State of Psychotherapy Today" dealing with Jungian interpretations of modern day man. The third part deals mostly with the events of the World War. Here, essays dealing with "Contemporary Events" as well as an important essay entitled "Wotan" (which shows how the old Nordic pre-Christian deity lies behind the Germanic peoples and their battles) and two essays dealing with the catastrophe of the Third Reich entitled "After the Catastrophe" and "The Fight with the Shadow" (about German war guilt and collective guilt). The fourth section consists of the published volume _The Undiscovered Self (Present and Future)_ which deals with the plight of the individual in modern day society and the role of religion in that society in the West. The fifth section consists of an intereresting piece entitled _Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Skies_ which deals with both the psychological myth behind these saucers (the need for integration and wholeness manifested through an apocalyptic scenario). The sixth section contains essays dealing with "A Psychological View of Conscience" (dealing with the subtle problem of conscience as the "vox Dei"), "Good and Evil in Analytical Psychology", and an introduction by Toni Wolff. The seventh section includes reviews of writings by Count Hermann Keyserling, the social philosopher and obscurantist, as well as a piece on American psychology showing the influence of both the Negro (the problem of "going black" for the European) and the Indian on the American psyche, and two pieces on the psychology of India contrasting it with the European. An Appendix is included which includes various letters and addresses of the psychotherapeutic societies as well as Jung's particular remarks on the "Jewish problem", in which he notes the distinction between Jewish (Semitic) and European psychological make-ups. This volume is particularly interesting for all those who are intent on studying the Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung and his school of thought. While Jung himself often defies proper categorization within a traditional religious perspective, many within the traditional religions have seen value in his work and writings and have incorporated what he has written into their therapeutic practices.

Also of interest: By Baron Julius Evola, _Revolt Against the Modern World_.

While Jung is generally considered to be introverted, this volume addresses his understanding of relationships between individuals, other people, & society. It includes a plethora of profound, not intuitively obvious, observations & assessments. It added materially to my quotes collection. p. 115 "It is only the few who clearly express the spirit of the present in any age." I would say this matches the Normal Distribution if the mean is somewhat earlier than the chronological age. Perhaps the greatest problem or our age (& others) is: pp. 135-6 "The well-nigh ineradicable prejudice of simple-minded persons that everybody is exactly the same as them. Although it is true in general that psychic differences are admitted as a theoretical possibility, in practice one always forgets that the other person is different from oneself, that he thinks differently, feels differently, sees differently, and wants quite different things. Even scientific theories, as we have seen, start from the assumption that the shoe pinches everyone in the same place...This prejudice is evidently a vestige but a very potent one--of a primitive frame of mind which is based essentially on an insufficiently differentiated consciousness. Individual consciousness or ego-consciousness is a late product of man's development. It's primitive form is a mere group consciousness."

Further, Jung repeatedly notes the dangers of groups-- p. 200 "the devastating moral and psychic effects of living together in huge masses," p. 228 "Any large company composed of wholly admirable persons has the morality and intelligence of an unwieldy, stupid, and violent animal," & p. 500 "A collection of a hundred Great Brains makes one big fathead" (one of Jung's favorite expressions).

This is, I think, the context for at least this volume, & is a specific instance of the general observation that p. 153 "No one who does not know himself can know others and in each of us there is another whom we do not know. He speaks to us in dreams and tells us how differently he sees us from the way we see ourselves." Further, p. 138 "For primitive egoism, however, the standing rule is that it is never `I' who must change, but always the other fellow," p. 447 "Because most people are devoid of self-criticism, permanent self-deception is the rule," p. 181 "We always rediscover our unconscious psychic contents in other people," & p. 82 "It is, however, true that much of the evil in the world comes from the fact that man in general is hopelessly unconscious." Thus, to Jung, individuation=self-knowledge is the goal. This includes both integration of split off contents (the shadow), withdrawing unconscious projections, & attuning with the anima/animus via the transcendent function to connect with the Self. This is one of my favorite books in the Collected Works.