When in his seventies, the Swiss psychologist extended his theory of the collective unconscious by throwing in synchronicity into the mix. This he did following a quarter of a century correspondence with the Nobel Prize winning physicist, Wolfgang Pauli. No longer was phenomena such as religion, science, narrative (etc) meaningful merely due to the fact that it had psychological origins and was our immediate experience… now such phenomena was also meaningful because inner and outer worlds were inextricably linked. (Synchronicity!) And when inner experiences and outer experiences are experienced as linked there we experience a meaningful connection. Meaning is virtually what Jung is all about. It is true that there is a personal conscious/unconscious side to Jung but the majority of his work concerns the psychology of religion east and west, archetypes, numinosity, synchronicity and all kinds of esotericism most notably alchemy and Gnosticism. The qualitative as well as the quantitative concerned Jung… the irrational at least as much as the rational. Myths, fairy-tales, the paranormal all were greatly valued by Jung and are referred to here simply to set the scene as Jung as someone who was hell-bent on establishing a meaning-based dogma. Synchronicity was an attempt (there were others) to establish meaning on scientific grounds. It was arguably his most interesting attempt from a neutral perspective
[...] Throughout both parts we will keep in-mind that Jung was motivated by the desire to establish meaning scientifically. Therefore Jung conveniently invented things. (e.g. archetypes, collective unconscious, synchronicity). Part 1 In his autobiography, Memories, Dreams, Reflections Jung writes science I missed the factor of meaning; and in religion, that of empiricism.”1 Hence Jung embarked on a process of trying to objectively validate his desire for meaning. He would take myths, fairy-tales and religions as collective psychological projections of meaning. He would then argue that given that they are collective phenomena (and not just personal and subjective) they are objective, to be valued and definitely worthy of vast respect and study. [...]
[...] If archetypes can be threatened by theories of the subliminal and cryptomnesia then synchronicity is threatened by the cry of ‘coincidence.' Only if this accusation can be overcome can synchronicity hope to establish itself as a respectable theory. As said in the introduction it is for physics to decide on these things, not psychology. Indeed only a scientific revolution can validate Jung! And the author of this essay even regards the archetypes as yesteryears collective representations. (explanations for the pre- scientific world that sufficed for pre-moderns as much sociological phenomena as psychological. [...]
[...] Hence, even the Jungian Claire Douglas writes in The Cambridge Companion to Jung that “Jung's interest in and knowledge about parapsychology adds a rich though suspect edge to analytical psychology which demands attention congruent with the extended scope of scientific knowledge today.”1 And there is support for my theory of Jung compensating for neurosis. I specifically referred in the introduction to Jung compensating for existential loss of meaning. The likes of Winnicott, Fordham and Stevens agree Winnicott believes that this is an argument against analytical psychology per se. [...]
[...] C p22 Stevens, A p111 Stevens, A p112 ibid Farndon, et al p59 & 60 Farndon, et al p61 Giegerich, p33 & p34 10: Noll, R Bibliography Donati, (2004) The Journal of Analytical Psychology: 49: 707-728: Beyond Synchronicity: The worldview of Carl Gustav Jung and Wolfgang Pauli (Blackwell Publishing) Eisendrath, P. and Dawson, (1997) The Cambridge Companion to Jung (Cambridge University Press) Farndon, et al, (2005) The Great Scientists (Arcturus Publishing Ltd) Giegerich, (2004) The End of Meaning and the Birth of Man: An Essay about the Stage reached in the history of consciousness and an analysis of C. [...]
[...] Jung's invention of synchronicity was his attempt to give scientific credibility to his dogma. However, it is for science (physics) to do that and not for a psychologist suffering from existential loss of soul to do so no matter how bright that psychologist may be. Conclusion The birth of ego consciousness since the scientific revolution has resulted in the end of esoteric meaning or in-ness - and the necessity to think for oneself as a detached and differentiating ego consciousness. [...]
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