Forgetting the Individual for the Safety of the Crowd

C.G. Jung’s “The Undiscovered Self.” Essays on the relationship between the individual and society, and the difficulties of ignoring one for the other. The need to feel empowered through joining with a group often leads to the rising up of a person who, speaking with the voice of the masses, succumbs to the temptation of thinking mere ego is all that’s needed to understand a shared humanity.

“…the gift of reason and critical reflection is not one of man’s outstanding peculiarities, and even where it exists it proves to be wavering and inconstant, the more so, as a rule, the bigger the political groups are. The mass crushes out the insight and reflection that are still possible with the individual, and this necessarily leads to doctrinaire and authoritarian tyranny if ever the constitutional State should succumb to a fit of weakness. Rational argument can be conducted with some prospect of success only so long as the emotionality of a given situation does not exceed a certain critical degree ” (Jung & Hull, 2006)

For a copy of the book, click here

See also: A Democracy of Kingship and Identity Trumps Decency

 

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