Jung’s Theory Of Mind. Individuality: Lost, Gained, And Transcended

Abstract

The perception of Jung’s psychology as superstitious, mystical, or out of date is largely an illusion. My aim is to show that Jung’s theory still stands out, endures the test of time, and needs to be acknowledged as an integral and indispensable part of modern academic thinking. This paper deals with individual and collective attitudes, how they are represented to the brain as personified images, projected and identified with, and finally, transcended in order to be renewed. Jung showed that higher states of consciousness are not possible without the transcendence of psychological opposites. This thought is still fairly unknown, although it could solve many problems related to identity and fanaticism. A failure to transcend means a return to unconscious collectivism, as shown by Lenin’s radical materialism, a large-scale experiment with human consciousness. The tendency towards materialism is nevertheless viable also in the Western World and has dominated interpretation of psychological theories and religious symbolism for generations. Literal interpretation of religious symbolism, together with confounding the distinction between descriptive and evaluative opposites, actualises the unrecognised, or neglected shadow of all human characteristics and values. The rise and fall of nations and cultures, as well as ideology and the psychology of an individual are influenced by it. KEYWORDS Individuality, Consciousness, Collectivism, The battle of the sexes, Pairs of opposites, Transcendence, God-image.