E - Jung

As a former pupil of Sigmund Freud - which aspects of his theory did Carl Jung disagree with him on?

• Accepted that religion was a psychological phenomenon.

• However he was opposed to the idea that it was:

1. A neurosis caused by sexual trauma and,

2. A dangerous entity

3. That should be discarded and replaced by science

Carl Jung himself did propose 4 observations about religion himself - what were they?

• Religion is a natural process that stems from the archetypes within the unconscious mind.

• It performs the function of harmonising the psyche.

• As such, it is a beneficial phenomenon.

• The removal of religion would lead to psychological problems.

What is a key quote about religion from Jung?

• ‘‘Religion maintains the balance of the mind. Religious images aid the process of individuation '‘ - Jung

 

Jung worked with a number of patients who had a similar neurotic condition - what was it?

• He worked with patients who had schizophrenia.

• Unlike Freud he didn’t believe this disorder was a result of repressed sexual trauma.

• He agreed it was a neurosis but had no sexual component.

What link did Jug make to visions from observing these patients?

• Patients who suffer from schizophrenia were recognised as having similar disturbances of the mind i.e. delusions, visions etc.

• They can experience generic images.

• Which could be perceived as religious experiences i.e. visions etc

What is the unconscious according to Jung and what does it contain?

• Jung agreed with Freud about the role of the conscious and the unconscious mind but he further separated the unconscious into two parts.

• The personal unconcious.

• The collectvie unconcious.

What is the personal unconscious?

• Contains the forgotten memories of the individual.

What is the collective unconcious?

• Common to all human beings. It is inherited and does not depend on the personal experience of the individual.

• Jung proposes that this is the oldest part of the mind.

• It contains a kind of 'blue print' for many of our ideas, perceptions and images.

• Each one of us is born with an ability to conceive similar and general images, they come to us in dreams and in their concept of God.

• So, God becomes an expression of the unconscious, or collective unconscious of the many.

• That’s why many of our perceptions about God are common amongst people.

How could Miss Miller’s dream support the idea of a collective unconcious?

• Dreamed she was a moth reaching out to light.

• Her dream compared her desire for God with a moths desire for light.

• Jung observed that the parallel between God and light can be found in many religious traditions.

• Christians - Jesus is the light of the world

• Aztecs - light

• According to Jung's concept of the mind, the fantasy of Miss miller and the likeness drawn by religions between light and the deity come from the collective unconscious.

What does the word ‘archetype’ mean?

• The term Jung gave to these images found in the collective unconscious was 'Archetypes'.

• Archetype - 'original pattern'

• The archetypes can be seen as 'image generators'. They are distinct from the actual images that they generate.

What is a key quote from Jung about archetypes?

‘‘it is not a question of inherited ideas, but of a functional disposition to produce the same, or very similar, ideas. '‘

Each archetype has its variants popularised in mythology, symbolism and culture. What are some examples of these common archetypes?

The Hero

• Superman is a variant of the ''hero' archetype, found in religions and cultures worldwide.

• Superman - sacrificial, morally good, allows himself to suffer to save others.

 

The Villain

• The joker - no morality, selfish, enjoys the evil.

 

The Mentor

• The person that guides the hero

 

The Mother -

• Virgin Mary

• Aunty May

 

The Orphan -

• Prophet Muhammad

• Spiderman/Peter Parker

Carl Jung proposed that there were 5 key archetypes that everyone has, what are they?

• The persona

• The shadow

• The Anima

• The Animus

• The Self

• God as an archetype

What is the Persona archetype? + key quote

• The persona is what we show to the world - it is a mask.

• We hide the parts of our character which we think people won't like and which society does not like and show off the parts which are pleasing to society.

• However repressing our true characters can be bad for our mental health.

• Thus, Jung believed that the Persona is ‘‘a very fruitful source of neurosis.''

What is the Shadow archetype?

• The shadow is made up of the parts of our personalities which we do not believe are acceptable in society and therefore are not suitable as part of the Persona.

• The Shadow can be seen in 'evil' people (cruel bosses), in ancient mythologies (fiend, tempter, Satan) and in fiction (Frankenstein, Mr Hyde, Shakespeare's Caliban)

• As we are ashamed of our shadows, we seek to project it onto others, such as the Devil.

What is the Anima archetype?

• The Anima is the feminine side of the male.

• Males are keen to include the masculine elements of their personality in the Persona, but repress their feminine characteristics.

• e.g. emotional, caring, overly conscious of their appearance.

What is the Animus archetype?

• The Animus is the masculine side of the female.

• Women have a feminine persona and repress the masculine parts of their personalities.

• e.g. strong, doesn’t show emotion, uncaring.

What is The Self archeype?

• Jung believed that the Self is the most important part of the psyche.

• The Self seeks the integration of all parts of our characters.

• It guides us through life.

• The self can be the part of humans which looks for fulfilment in religion and art.

• It can be seen as the 'God within', the mystical part of humans or the soul.

What is God as an archetype?

• Concerning religion, Jung's central claim was that our images of God are themselves archetypal.

• Each of us is born with the tendency to generate religious images of Gods, angels, and other religious phenomena.

• The same principles apply here as with other archetypes.

• That is, the actual images that we have of God are picked up through our own experiences in the world.

• The disposition to generate them is, however, innate.

What did Jung mean by the term individuation?

• Jung saw individuation as a process all humans go through to become a 'unique' individual.

• Individuation is allowing the parts of the unconscious mind to be integrated into the conscious.

• Thus, the parts of our personalities which have been repressed and neglected, like the Shadow, must be embraced.

What isa key quote about individuation from Jung?

• ‘‘Individuation means becoming an ‘in-dividual’’

Why is the process of individuation so important according to Jung?

• Individuation is where all the features of the personality need to be integrated.

• We need this for our psychological health.

• So, there needs to be a balance between the conscious mind and the unconscious.

• There also needs to be a balance between the different archetypes.

• The failure of this process causes mental disorders i.e. neurosis.

What are the two parts of our lives Jung mentions and how does each one relate to individuation?

• The first part of our lives (up to the age of 35/40) is about constructing a socially acceptable Persona and repressing parts of our personalities.

• The second part of our lives (35/40+) is about embracing ourselves, asking spiritual and philosophical questions about life and the purpose of existence.

 

• Therefore the process of individuation could be considered a religious process.

How does God as an archetype aid the process of individuation?

• The self actually aids individuation, as it creates images of wholeness.

• An example would be the religious image of God.

• Jung would suggest that the images created by the God archetype are the same as images created by the self-archetype.

• So through religious images, worship and behaviour personality achieves integration (that is, all aspects of our personality).

What was Jung’s ultimate conclusion about God and religion?

• Religion is an important means of achieving true self.

• If a person rejects religion they are less likely to individuate successfully and therefore more likely to experience neurosis.

• We can conclude then that for Jung, religion was extremely valuable.

 

• All that can be asserted is that God, and the whole entity of religion, exists as a psychic reality; that is, to those who experience the effects of the archetypes, God is real.

• In this sense Jung's answer is similar to Freud's; that is there is no proof of God either way.

What is an A03 critique about Jung’s conclusion here?

• Is Jung saying that non-religious believers are neurotic?

Is Jung’s belief about religion more positive than Freud’s?

• More positive as he sees religion as extremely valuable - if a person rejects religion they are less likely to individuate successfully and more likely to experience neurosis

• Whereas Freud sees religion as a neurosis that people would be better off without.

 

• However, Jung still reduces God to a product of the mind.