Carl Jung

Carl Jung Biography

Motto: “Thank God I am Jung and not Jungian” (C.G. Jung)

Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) had a significant contribution to the psychoanalytical movement and is generally considered as the prototype of the dissident through the impact of his scission and the amplification of the movement he created in his turn (analytical psychology).

Jung was the son of a Swiss reverend. He completed his medical studies, specialized in psychiatry and joined the staff of Burgholzli, the renowned psychiatric hospital in Zurich, run at that time by the famous Dr. Eugen Bleuler.

In 1902-1903 he attended a traineeship in Paris with Pierre Janet, and then returned to Zurich and he was called senior physician at Burgholzli.

It was in this context that Jung was introduced to Freud in 1907. Freud would be seduced by the prestige and personality of Jung and would soon see in him the spiritual son that could ensure the survival of psychoanalysis, so much so as Jung was not Jewish.

Intense, professional and friendship bonds form between the two, with an ambivalence dominated by the inclination of Jung to underestimate himself in comparison with Freud, the fervor of his devotion to the “father” of psychoanalysis and oneiric hostility (emphasized by Freud in the common interpretation of dreams).(1)

Jung had a swift ascension in the hierarchy of psychoanalysis. He became the editor of Jahrbuch.

In 1908, he traveled to the United States and in 1910 he became the first president o the International Association of Psychoanalysis.

The reluctance of Jung towards the Freudian theory referred to the role of sexuality in the psychic development. In fact, Jung never completely embraced the sexual theory of Freud.

Since 1912 he became more and more distant in his writings, which would cause a scission materialized in 1914 by his resignation from all the positions he already held.

After a period of personal turmoil, Jung founded his own school and produced a vast number of studies that would attract a great number of disciples.(2)

By abandoning the meanders of psychosexuality, Jung would establish himself in the fields of spirituality and esoteric science. The aim of his psychology is the so-called process of individuation , which is the accomplishment of the Self (the union of the conscious with the unconscious) and other guide marks, such as the archetypes, the collective unconscious, the assimilation of anima/animus and shadow, etc .

In the practice of dream interpretation, Jung introduces the method of amplification, illustrated in a great number of books, such as P sychology and Alchemy.

Notes:
1. A paper commenting on a dream of Carl Jung treats of this issue. You may order the PDF version of the paper here. http://www.carl-jung.net/paperstore.html#dreamjung
2. To consult the bibliography of Jung click here.http://www.carl-jung.net/bibliography.html