On the Nature of the Psyche

Jung's discovery of the 'collective unconscious', a psychic inheritance common to all humankind, transformed the understanding of the self and the way we interpret the world. In On the Nature of the Psyche Jung describes this remarkable theory in his own words, and presents a masterly overview of his theories of the unconscious, and its relation to the conscious mind. Also contained in this collection is On Psychic Energy, where Jung defends his interpretation of the libido, a key factor in the breakdown of his relations with Freud. For anyone seeking to understand Jung's insights into the human mind, this volume is essential reading.

“'This book contains the clearest and most thorough exposition we have of what that phrase the archetypes of the collective unconscious really means. Jung weaves a profound web in which imagination, emotions and bodily instincts are envisioned as equal partners in the construction of our world as we know it.' - Andrew Samuels, Professor of Analytical Psychology, University of Essex 'In this essay Jung reveals himself as the most original and widely informed psychologist of the twentieth century. With a dazzling combination of scholarship and clinical acumen, he addresses the problem of how we can know that the unconscious exists and how we can bring its contents to consciousness. With his characteristic emphasis on the primacy of psychic experience - 'the only reality which is given to us without a medium' - he carries his thinking beyond the psychodynamics of patients in analysis to examine the social and political catastrophes which follow when collective consciousness becomes dissociated from the collective unconscious. A basic text for anyone concerned with the spiritual life and psychic destiny of our species.' - Anthony Stevens”

'Indispensable for anyone who wants to understand something of Jung's psychology and metapsychology.' - Rosemary Gordon, Journal of Analytical Psychology

'In this essay Jung reveals himself as the most original and widely informed psychologist of the twentieth century. With a dazzling combination of scholarship and clinical acumen, he addresses the problem of how we can know that the unconscious exists and how we can bring its contents to consciousness. With his characteristic emphasis on the primacy of psychic experience - 'the only reality which is given to us without a medium' - he carries his thinking beyond the psychodynamics of patients in analysis to examine the social and political catastrophes which follow when collective consciousness becomes dissociated from the collective unconscious. A basic text for anyone concerned with the spiritual life and psychic destiny of our species.' - Anthony Stevens

'Next to Freud, no psychiatrist of today has advanced our insight into the nature of the psyche more than Jung has.' - Hermann Hesse

Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) Founded the analytical school of psychology and is responsible for bringing psychology into the twentieth century by developing a new theory of the unconscious.

Jung's discovery of the 'collective unconscious', a psychic inheritance common to all humankind, transformed the understanding of the self and the way we interpret the world. In On the Nature of the Psyche Jung describes this remarkable theory in his own words, and presents a masterly overview of his theories of the unconscious, and its relation to the conscious mind. Also contained in this collection is On Psychic Energy , where Jung defends his interpretation of the libido, a key factor in the breakdown of his relations with Freud. For anyone seeking to understand Jung's insights into the human mind, this volume is essential reading.

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