Psychological Reflections: A New Anthology of His Writings 1905-61

by C.G. Jung, Jolande Jacobi (Editor), R.F.C. Hull (Editor)

Beginning with Jung's earliest correspondence to associates of the psychoanalytic period and ending shortly before his death, the 935 letters selected for these two volumes offer a running commentary on his creativity. The recipients of the letters include Mircea Eliade, Sigmund Freud, Esther Harding, James Joyce, Karl Kernyi, Erich Neumann, Maud Oakes, Herbert Read, Upton Sinclair & Father Victor White.

Genres: Psychology, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Reference

Paperback

First published January 1, 1945

About the author

Carl Gustav Jung (/jʊŋ/; German: [ˈkarl ˈɡʊstaf jʊŋ]), often referred to as C. G. Jung, was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist who founded analytical psychology. Jung proposed and developed the concepts of extraversion and introversion; archetypes, and the collective unconscious. His work has been influential in psychiatry and in the study of religion, philosophy, archeology, anthropology, literature, and related fields. He was a prolific writer, many of whose works were not published until after his death.

The central concept of analytical psychology is individuation—the psychological process of integrating the opposites, including the conscious with the unconscious, while still maintaining their relative autonomy. Jung considered individuation to be the central process of human development.

Jung created some of the best known psychological concepts, including the archetype, the collective unconscious, the complex, and synchronicity. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), a popular psychometric instrument, has been developed from Jung's theory of psychological types.

Though he was a practising clinician and considered himself to be a scientist, much of his life's work was spent exploring tangential areas such as Eastern and Western philosophy, alchemy, astrology, and sociology, as well as literature and the arts. Jung's interest in philosophy and the occult led many to view him as a mystic, although his ambition was to be seen as a man of science. His influence on popular psychology, the "psychologization of religion", spirituality and the New Age movement has been immense.

Reviews

[R.K. Cowles · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 3/4 stars

[Greg Talbot · Rating 5 out of 5]

In all of my psychology training, I think Jung came up once. With psychology having moved from psychoanalysis, to the reductionalist approach of behaviorism, then to the study of cognition in the 1960s, and now being propelled by neuroscience/neuropsychology, it might be easy to dismiss Jung's work as archaic. But his insights read more like poetry than any experimental science. Often deep, insightful reflections that add clarity to lofty topics. His reflections here are categorized into sections such as "Recognition of the Psyche, The Archetypes, Youth and Age, Western and Eastern Points of View, The Development of the Personality and The Way to God".

Here's a quote that exemplifies the novel, "Every science is a function of the psyche, and all knowledge is rooted in it. The psyche is the greatest of all cosmic wonders."

I imagine reading Jung's other works will be more structured or more topic-specific. But here you have Jung postulating the nature of man, the drive of our unconscious desires, and our magnetic pull toward transcendence.

It's really quite something.

[Skashinath · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't like this book much because it wasn't a story about Carl Jung's life and lessons.Rather, it was a collection of his thoughts and phrases on a variety of topics which I couldn't relate to. So I skimmed through a few pages and then stopped!

[Erik Graff · Rating 2 out of 5]

I rather dislike these collections of extracts, especially if they are marketed, as this one was, as a means to comprehend the person quoted. Without being thoroughly familiar with the author a reader cannot ascertain the prejudices of the all-powerful editors of such things.

[Brute Waltz · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my bibles.