Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) was the son of a Swiss pastor. While still quite young, he was disillusioned by the Protestant Christianity of the time, and his spiritual hunger forced him to look elsewhere. Thus, while studying for Medicine at the University of Basel, he came across, and studied, Spiritualism, German Idealism, Mysticism, and Swedenborg. In Zurich he studied hypnotism, before becoming a devoted follower of Freud; a relationship which lasted from 1907 to 1913. Jung was Freud's favourite disciple, and his defection, over disagreements in many areas - especially Freud's over-emphasis on sexuality (which can be seen in perspective as a response to and interpretation of the puritanical Victorian attitude of the time), and rejection of spirituality, occultism, and religion - was a great loss for Freud. Jung was understandably stifled by the Freudian interpretation of the psyche, and formulated his own radically different, much popularised and much misunderstood, conception.
Today, Jung's significance in the field of clinical psychology, relative to Freud and to the behavourist B. F. Skinner, is minimal; but his influence - especially his idea of the "Collective Unconscious" - in New Paradigm and New Age thought, as well as the popular mythology of the day, is truely tremendous.
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Links - C. G. Jung | |
Carl Jung
- good basic intro
Jung,
Carl Gustav (1875-1961) - good but very brief intro
Carl
Jung - not a very good intro
Carl Jung - Wikipedia page
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