The Transcendent Function: Jung's Model of Psychological Growth Through Dialogue With the Unconscious [Hardcover]

Jeffrey C. Miller (Author), Joan Chodorow (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2004

A close examination of the heart of Jung's theory of psychological growth and individuation.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

The transcendent function is the core of Carl Jung's theory of psychological growth and the heart of what he called individuation, the process by which one is guided in a teleological way toward the person one is meant to be. This book thoroughly reviews the transcendent function, analyzing both the 1958 version of the seminal essay that bears its name and the original version written in 1916. It also provides a word-by-word comparison of the two, along with every reference Jung made to the transcendent function in his written works, his letters, and his public seminars.

About the Author

Jeffrey C. Miller is a licensed psychologist in Palo Alto, California.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: State Univ of New York Pr (February 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0791459772
• ISBN-13: 978-0791459775
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,537,608 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful book and great review of Jungian theory, February 4, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Transcendent Function: Jung's Model of Psychological Growth Through Dialogue With the Unconscious (Paperback)

I heard about this book because I was doing some digging into recent books about Carl Jung and his ideas. I found it amazingly helpful. Though it engages in a very thorough and detailed review of the transcendent function, one of Jung's central ideas, it does so in a very understandable fashion. It not only describes the theory but also shows how it applies to the life of the reader. In addition, the author ties the theory into other key parts of Jungian psychology and, in so doing, provides a really handy primer on some of Jung's major ideas such as individuation, the archetypes, the Self, the anima, the opposites, and the constructive view of the psyche. Having read quite a bit in this area, I found this book very enjoyable and incredibly informative. I highly recommend it both to those well-read in Jung and those just wanting to get started.

16 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very ambitious but a bit flawed, May 10, 2009

By 

Neal J. Pollock (VA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Transcendent Function: Jung's Model of Psychological Growth Through Dialogue With the Unconscious (Paperback)

THE GOOD--this very ambitious work has an awesome structure: it provides detailed analyses of Jung's Transcendent Function (TF) essays, contrasting 1916 & 1958 (Collected Works=CW) versions, traces TF in Jung's other works, contrasts it w/theories of other psychologies--e.g. object relations, client-centered, gestalt, post-modernist, archetypal, etc., analyzes the subject vs. object dichotomy, & explores TF uses in everyday life. Miller elucidates important Jung views including: balance vs. dominance of conscious & unconscious, importance & nature of liminality/initiation, value & methods of intra-psychic communications & interactions with society, etc. He says, profoundly, p. 102: "To many the reason that Jungian psychology is so intriguing is its avowal that subjective experience takes place within a larger field (the psychoid realm) & that the entire universe is the subject of which we are all small parts," p. 117: "The dualistic thinking of human consciousness tends to block psychological growth & cause stagnation," & p. 118: "Psyche is not inside us; we are inside it. The either/or dualities we impose on the world around us are more for use make sense of something we do not fully understand." This relates self to Self.

THE BAD--But, as a contemporary Jungian, unlike Jung (cf. CW1-3), he's not a scientist. Perhaps due to ignorance of Measurement Theory, Miller calls science dualistic (but is blind to the duality he creates w/science) & sees inconsistencies/ambiguities in Jung. While there may be some, none of those he describes seem applicable. Miller is unaware of the Inclusive OR, for example: in the common Exclusive OR, A but not B fits; B but not A fits, neither A nor B doesn't fit, & both A & B don't fit. But with the Inclusive OR, the last case (both A & B) also fits. He also misunderstands the difference between complementary & opposite; overlooks the existence of two kinds of alchemy: physical & transcendental; ignores synchronistic vs. causation & that cause--effect are often confounded by inexperienced observers; that Cartesian is not the only system (as decimal isn't the only # system--e.g. binary & hexadecimal). Science per se differs from scientists who are fallible humans; as Jung says: p. 130: "We must however not let ourselves be deceived by the all-too-human attitude of the practitioner." Miller is all too human.

THE UGLY--On pp. 141 & p. 205 n. 6, Miller admits his use of TF is an extension of Jung's. Miller uses TF as a paradigm (a high Level of Abstraction), but it's not: TF is a special case of Hegel's more generic dialectic--obvious from Set Theory & Systems Thinking. Perhaps due to his approach, Miller completely ignores the complexes of the Personal Unconscious, despite Jung's definition of TF: p. 145: "It means a psychological function comparable in its way to a mathematical function of the same name, which is a function of real & imaginary numbers. The psychological "transcendent function" arises from the union of conscious & unconscious contents." The elements of these functions are complex numbers--the source of Jung's term psychological complex. Thus, despite Miller's usage, TF is not archetypal (i.e. of the Collective Unconscious). As TV channels bridge between actor & viewer, TF bridges between conscious & unconscious. But TV channels are not alive, & TF is not archetypal. Such differentiation is Buddhist Discriminating Knowledge or Wisdom similar to Set Theory separating elements into homogeneous sets--not dichotomies but spectra. Perhaps this explains Miller's trouble with Jung's p. 157: "In general, dreams are unsuitable or difficult to make use of in developing the transcendent function." He cannot separate Jung's TF-specifics from the generic value of dreams. There's a qualitative difference (per Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory) between therapy (fixing mental & emotional problems) & analysis (achieving one's potential). TF catalyzes the latter; to expand it into a generic destroys its idiosyncratic value as process/method. Per virtually all capabilities, one's inherent abilities (TF process) may evolve naturally, but certain methods can constellate, develop, improve abilities through experience, practice, etc. This generic appears to be opaque to Miller.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lucid, February 19, 2010

By 

Slainte "customer" (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Transcendent Function: Jung's Model of Psychological Growth Through Dialogue With the Unconscious (Paperback)

This marvellously accessible book not only elucidate's Jung's 'transcendent function' so that even someone with only a basic knowledge of psychology can grasp it (although thesis(conscious)-antithesis(unconscious)-synthesis pretty much sums it up), it also gives the reader a gentle and utterly engaging open-door introduction to psychology clearly explaining concepts and schools of thought in a manner which lends a fuller understanding of psychoanalytical theory as a whole. Also included in the Appendices is a full translation of Jung's 1916 essay 'The Transcendent Function', showing emendations made to the essay for its publication in the Collected Works some forty years later. PS. Although this book seems hard to come by at the moment it is still available from Amazon France under English language books.