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Author | Erich Neumann |
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Original title | Ursprungsgeschichte des Bewusstseins |
Translator | R. F. C. Hull |
Country | Germany |
Language | German |
Subject | Consciousness |
Publisher | Rascher Verlag, Princeton University Press |
Publication date | 1949 |
Published in English | 1954 |
Media type | Print (Hardcover and Paperback) |
Pages | 493 (English edition) |
ISBN | 978-0691163598 |
LC Class | 53-12527 |
The Origins and History of Consciousness (German : Ursprungsgeschichte des Bewusstseins) is a 1949 book by the psychologist and philosopher Erich Neumann, in which the author attempts to "outline the archetypal stages in the development of consciousness". It was first published in English in 1954 in a translation by R. F. C. Hull. The work has been seen as an important and enduring contribution to Jungian thought.
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Neumann describes the book as an attempt to "outline the archetypal stages in the development of consciousness", explaining that it is based on depth psychology, specifically the analytical psychology of the psychiatrist Carl Jung. He discusses subjects including mythology, including the figure of Osiris, archetypes, such as that of the Great Mother, matriarchy, ontogeny and phylogeny, the collective unconscious, a psychological process he refers to as "centroversion", masculinity, femininity, and homosexuality. He maintains that, "Consciousness, as such, is masculine even in women, just as the unconscious is feminine in men." He writes that male homosexuality almost always involves "a matriarchal psychology where the Great Mother is unconsciously in the ascendant." [1]
The book includes a foreword by Jung, who praises it and compares its emphasis on "matriarchal symbolism", and use of the symbol of the ouroboros, to his own work. Jung credits Neumann with making a valuable contribution to a psychology of the unconscious by placing the concepts of analytical psychology on an evolutionary basis. [2]
introduction of the book talks about how our understanding and growth of mind are influenced by deep psychology, particularly the ideas of C.G. Jung. It says that our mind develops in certain patterns, called archetypes, which are like pictures in our mind that guide how we think and feel. These patterns are not just personal but are shared by all people because they come from a part of the mind that we all have in common, called the collective unconscious. The book aims to show that these archetypes play a big role in myths and that by understanding them, we can better understand ourselves and the problems we face. The book also wants to connect these ideas to therapy, helping both individuals and society. It argues that by exploring these deep parts of the mind, we can find new ways to solve old problems and improve our mental health. [3]
The Origins and History of Consciousness was first published in 1949 by Rascher Verlag. In 1954, it was published in R. F. C. Hull's English translation by Princeton University Press. [4]
The psychologist James Hillman argued that Neumann's "Apollonic definition of consciousness" led him to mistakenly conclude that consciousness as such is masculine even in women. [5] The philosopher Walter Kaufmann singled out The Origins and History of Consciousness as a "perfect illustration" of the "utterly tedious, pointless erudition coupled with a stunning lack of even elementary concern with objections and alternatives" that distinguishes "most of the literature on archetypes and the collective unconscious". He described Neumann as dogmatic and accused him of operating "with a notion of evidence" similar to that of theologians who prove points with biblical verses. He criticized him for failing to consider diffusion as an alternative explanation for the presence of a given phenomenon in multiple cultures. [6] The book has been described as "Jungianism at its learned best" by the critic Camille Paglia, who identified it as an influence on her work of literary criticism Sexual Personae (1990) and her personal favorite among Neumann's works. She described Neumann's theory of "centroversion" as "idiosyncratic." [7] [8]
Hopcke called The Origins and History of Consciousness, along with The Great Mother (1955), "Neumann's most enduring contribution to Jungian thought". He noted that Neumann's view of homosexuality is neither original nor intended to be original, and differs relatively little from that of Jung. [9] The psychiatrist Anthony Stevens called The Origins and History of Consciousness, "a great but misguided book". Stevens argues that Neumann's assumptions that ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny, that preliterate human beings were "unconscious", and that Western consciousness has been subjected to different selection pressures to that of other civilized populations, are fallacious and biologically untenable. [10]
Carl Gustav Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. He was a prolific author, illustrator, and correspondent, and a complex and controversial character, presumably best known through his "autobiography" Memories, Dreams, Reflections.
The concept of an archetype appears in areas relating to behavior, historical psychology, and literary analysis.
Collective unconscious refers to the unconscious mind and shared mental concepts. It is generally associated with idealism and was coined by Carl Jung. According to Jung, the human collective unconscious is populated by instincts, as well as by archetypes: ancient primal symbols such as The Great Mother, the Wise Old Man, the Shadow, the Tower, Water, and the Tree of Life. Jung considered the collective unconscious to underpin and surround the unconscious mind, distinguishing it from the personal unconscious of Freudian psychoanalysis. He believed that the concept of the collective unconscious helps to explain why similar themes occur in mythologies around the world. He argued that the collective unconscious had a profound influence on the lives of individuals, who lived out its symbols and clothed them in meaning through their experiences. The psychotherapeutic practice of analytical psychology revolves around examining the patient's relationship to the collective unconscious.
Analytical psychology is a term coined by Carl Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist, to describe research into his new "empirical science" of the psyche. It was designed to distinguish it from Freud's psychoanalytic theories as their seven-year collaboration on psychoanalysis was drawing to an end between 1912 and 1913. The evolution of his science is contained in his monumental opus, the Collected Works, written over sixty years of his lifetime.
In analytical psychology, the shadow is an unconscious aspect of the personality that does not correspond with the ego ideal, leading the ego to resist and project the shadow, leading to a conflict with it. In short, the shadow is the self's emotional blind spot - the part the ego does not want to acknowledge - projected as archetypes—or, in a metaphorical sense-image complexes, personified within the collective unconscious; e.g., trickster.
Erich Neumann was a German psychologist, philosopher, writer, and student of Carl Jung.
A complex is a structure in the unconscious that is objectified as an underlying theme—like a power or a status—by grouping clusters of emotions, memories, perceptions and wishes in response to a threat to the stability of the self. In psychoanalysis, it is antithetical to drives.
James Hillman was an American psychologist. He studied at, and then guided studies for, the C.G. Jung Institute in Zürich. He founded a movement toward archetypal psychology and retired into private practice, writing and traveling to lecture, until his death at his home in Connecticut.
The anima and animus are a syzygy of dualistic, Jungian archetypes among the array of other animistic parts within the Self in Jungian psychology, described in analytical psychology and archetypal psychology, under the umbrella of transpersonal psychology. The Jungian parts of the Self are a priori part of the infinite set of archetypes within the collective unconscious. Modern Jungian clinical theory under the analytical/archetypal -psych framework considers a syzygy-without-its-partner to be like yin without yang: countertransference reveals that logos and/or eros are in need of repair through a psychopomp, mediating the identified patient's Self; this theoretical model is similar to positive psychology's understanding of a well-tuned personality through something like a Goldilocks principle.
Depth psychology refers to the practice and research of the science of the unconscious, covering both psychoanalysis and psychology. It is also defined as the psychological theory that explores the relationship between the conscious and the unconscious, as well as the patterns and dynamics of motivation and the mind. The theories of Sigmund Freud, Carl Gustav Jung, and Alfred Adler are all considered its foundations.
Archetypal psychology was initiated as a distinct movement in the early 1970s by James Hillman, a psychologist who trained in analytical psychology and became the first Director of the Jung Institute in Zürich. Hillman reports that archetypal psychology emerged partly from the Jungian tradition whilst drawing also from other traditions and authorities such as Henry Corbin, Giambattista Vico, and Plotinus.
Puer aeternus in mythology is a child-god who is eternally young. In the analytical psychology of Carl Jung, the term is used to describe an older person whose emotional life has remained at an adolescent level, which is also known as "Peter Pan syndrome", a more recent pop-psychology label. In Jung's conception, the puer typically leads a "provisional life" due to the fear of being caught in a situation from which it might not be possible to escape. The puer covets independence and freedom, opposes boundaries and limits and tends to find any restriction intolerable.
The Jungian interpretation of religion, pioneered by Carl Jung and advanced by his followers, is an attempt to interpret religion in the light of Jungian psychology. Unlike Sigmund Freud and his followers, Jungians tend to treat religious beliefs and behaviors in a positive light, while offering psychological referents to traditional religious terms such as "soul", "evil", "transcendence", "the sacred", and "God". Because beliefs do not have to be facts in order for people to hold them, the Jungian interpretation of religion has been, and continues to be, of interest to psychologists and theists.
Active imagination refers to a process or technique of engaging with the ideas or imaginings of one's mind. It is used as a mental strategy to communicate with the subconscious mind. In Jungian psychology, it is a method for bridging the conscious and unconscious minds. Instead of being linked to the Jungian process, the word "active imagination" in modern psychology is most frequently used to describe a propensity to have a very creative and present imagination. It is thought to be a crucial aid in the process of individuation.
The Collected Worksof C. G. Jung is a book series containing the first collected edition, in English translation, of the major writings of Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung.
Anthony Stevens was a British Jungian analyst, psychiatrist and prolific writer of books and articles on psychotherapy, evolutionary psychiatry and the scientific implications of Jung's theory of archetypes.
Jungian archetypes are a concept from psychology that refers to a universal, inherited idea, pattern of thought, or image that is present in the collective unconscious of all human beings. The psychic counterpart of instinct, archetypes are thought to be the basis of many of the common themes and symbols that appear in stories, myths, and dreams across different cultures and societies. Some examples of archetypes include those of the mother, the child, the trickster, and the flood, among others. The concept of the collective unconscious was first proposed by Carl Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst.
This is a list of writings published by Carl Jung. Many of Jung's most important works have been collected, translated, and published in a 20-volume set by Princeton University Press, entitled The Collected Works of C. G. Jung. Works here are arranged by original publication date if known.
The persona, for Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, is the social face the individual presented to the world—"a kind of mask, designed on the one hand to make a definite impression upon others, and on the other to conceal the true nature of the individual."
The Great Mother: An Analysis of the Archetype is a book discussing mother goddesses by the psychologist Erich Neumann. The dedication reads, "To C. G. Jung friend and master in his eightieth year". Although Neumann completed the German manuscript in Israel in 1951, The Great Mother was first published in English in 1955. The work has been seen as an enduring contribution to the literature inspired by Jung, and was the first to analyze an archetype with such depth and scope.