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Two Essays on Analytical Psychology (Collected Works of C.G. Jung Vol.7)

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This is one of Jung's finest although it makes some demands on the cerebral capacity of the reader. Its main benefit is that the Jungian notions here comes out in their full theoretical depth. It's imperative, namely, to get a thorough and deep understanding of Jungian psychology, otherwise you haven't understood it at all. Jungian psychology is plagued by this problem that the notions are shallowly understood. Not even the very central concept of the archetype is rightly understood in many quarters. But here Jung takes us to the deepest layers of his thinking. The archetype is described as a living complex within the psyche of the individual, as a reasonably autonomous personality with a certain conscious luminosity of its own. This goes for the god-complex, too, although, Jung underlines, this doesn't disprove the existence of a transcendental God. This book handles many important questions and constitutes in fact a survey of Jungian psychology: personal and collective unconscious, anima and animus, transcendental function, etc. As this book is Jungian psychology in a nutshell it could be recommended as introductory, provided that the reader is theoretically adept. In fact, I really recommend taking on this book early when studying Jung in order to avoid shallow miscomprehensions of his psychology. However, as the book thoroughly treats questions concerning the encounter with the unconscious, such as phenomena arising from the assimilation of the unconscious, it is very much directed towards professionals. This book will satisfy the appetite of any person with a theoretical disposition. /Mats W

_Analytical Psychology_ is one of the most succinct, miserly, and potent of all of Carl Jung's works. Most if not all of Jung's most important concepts are crammed into this slim volume. For experienced readers of nonfiction philosophy and psychology, this might be the best place to start reading Jung, especially if all you want is a crash-course in Jung's most important ideas. This is by no means an introductory-level book. For beginners, I would recommend Jung's masterpiece, _Modern Man in Search of a Soul_ (although that one's only slightly easier). _Analytical Psychology_ is for people who are already familier with Jung and want to reach the apex of his psychology, or for experienced readers who want to lean as much as possible about Jungian psychology in as little time as possible. Be forewarned that this book is extremely dense, yet this is a result of the inherent complexity of the subject matter, and not so much a result of bad writing or bad translation. Overall, I would say the knowledge contained in this book is well worth the effort. This book is packed with useful information that can actually improve the quality of your life, increase understanding and control of situations, decrease neurosis, and lead to overall enlightenment. Highly recommended.

This work is a comprehensive overview of Jung's major theories. The first essay reviews Jung's major discoveries concerning the unconscious contents of the human psyche: the personal and collective unconscious, Archetypes, and general approaches to including them in conscious awareness. The second essay deals with the specific issues involved in making the unconscious part of human consciousness through a process he called individuation.

In this work Jung suggests that there is a way for modern humans of Western descent to rekindle an experience with the unknown, transcendent reality. He challenges readers to reexamine their assumptions and preconceptions. He urges readers to examine their own experiences and to analyze them without prejudice or preconception, and Jung reports what he has discovered by so doing.

This volume is recommended to anyone who is ready to move to the next level in their reading of Jung; anyone who is involved with a process of psychological transformation and would like some guidance from a non-religious, "scientific" source, and anyone who desires an overview of Jung in his own words. Those unfamiliar with Jung's work might find this volume a bit intimidating.

This is perhaps Jung's most concise work. It has high knowledge-density & not very high readability, yet it's deep truths resonate & imbue the reader with profound realizations--not only within the individual but also between the individual & society. As Jung states, p. 239 "mankind is, in essentials, psychologically still in a state of childhood." As with the great geniuses throughout time, Jung herein attempts to help people grow up (wake up to consciousness via the unconscious)--on one hand:

pp. 4-5 "The great problems of humanity were never yet solved by general laws, but only through regeneration of the attitudes of individuals...But still too few look inwards, to their own selves, and still fewer ask themselves whether the ends of human society might not best be served if each man tried to abolish the old order in himself, & to practice in his own person & in his own inward state those precepts, those victories which he preaches as every street corner, instead of always expecting these things of his fellow men. Every individual needs revolution, inner division, overthrow of the existing order, and renewal...here is the beginning of a cure for that blindness which reigns at the present hour." (1918)

On the other hand: pp. 220-1: "I always advise my patients not to cherish the naïve belief that what is of the greatest significance to them personally also has objective significance...the vast majority of people are quite incapable of putting themselves individually into the mind of another...The most we can do, and the best, is to have at least some inkling of his otherness, to respect it, & to guard against the outrageous stupidity of wishing to interpret it." Jung looks towards the future by seeking universal truths via individual encounters. As he states, p. 203 "There are truths which belong to the future, truths which belong to the past, & truths which belong to no time." This book is timeless.

The two lengthy essays by Jung included in this volume date from 1912 and 1916. Here are some representative quotations from the book:

"The neurotic is only a special instance of the disunited man who ought to harmonize nature and culture within himself." (Pg. 19)
"I have long adopted the standpoint that the occasional occurrence of incest is no proof of a universal tendency to incest, any more than the fact of murder proves the existence of a universal homicidal mania productive of conflict." (Pg. 24)
"The transcendent function does not proceed without aim and purpose, but leads to the revelation of the essential man." (Pg. 110)
"The universal similarity of human brains leads to the universal possibility of a uniform mental functioning. This functioning is the collective psyche." (Pg. 147)
"'Beyond the grave' ... means, psychologically, 'beyond consciousness.' There is positively nothing else it could mean, since statements about immortality can only be made by the living, who, as such, are not exactly in a position to pontificate about conditions 'beyond the grave.'" (Pg. 191)
"Unfortunately our Western mind ... has never yet devised a concept, nor even a name, for the union of opposites through the middle path." (Pg. 191)
"The ego is the only content of the self that we do know." (Pg. 240)

I highly recommend it. One of the best books I have ever read in psychoanalysis. Srarting with an overview of "Eros Theory" (freud) and "Theory of Will" (Adler) went on to his own concept of collective unconscious and individuation. The collective unconscious is a model which enabled myself to coprehend many of the psychic phenomena I was always wondering about.

....and pioneering development in Jungian thought. Required reading in most Jungian analyst programs, it deals with the operation of the archetypes (Jung's early thinking about them, anyway). Difficult in places but not lacking in amplificatory material.