Intro to Carl Jung and Jungian Psychoanalytics
Does anyone have any short-to-medium length content that clearly introduces the ideas of Jung?
I don't mind it being dense philosophically, but there's sort of this deliberate obfuscation of ideas that Jungian content creators utilize towards some end.
In philosophy, specific terms and jargon is necessary to ensure philosophical precision of the idea being presented. If one looks up said jargon, they can gain context about what's being communicated.
As far as Jung content online goes, there's a lot of jargon being used, but I'd wager about 50% of it is made up on the fly. When looked up, the term often either doesn't exist, is an adhoc portmanteau of two random terms, or simply doesn't make sense within the context it's used. Why? It seems like they deliberately are obfuscating their ideas for seemingly no reason. Perhaps there's a perceived invulnerability to criticism if your position on basic ideas can't be nailed down?
It seems that Jordan Peterson is the most prominent idea-obfuscator in this tradition, but I understand why he does it; some of his audience likely wouldn't care for the fact that he's likely what they'd describe as an atheist if you were able to pin down the ideas he conveys (e.g., Christ is but one of many manifestations of a Jungian archetype.)
Kinds of content I'm looking for:
- Newb friendly
- Clearly communicates ideas
- Philosophically precise
- Critical, but not polemic (i.e., no "debunking" videos)
- Video/audio/books preferred
Thank you in advance (:
Disregarding everything else I'm about to say, if you just want the shortest intro to Jung that is possible, it's hard to go wrong with Jung: A Very Short Introduction by Anthony Stevens. It's 150 pages long, short but dense, briefly covering his life and all of the critical aspects of his analytical psychology.
Now, along with the recommendations others are giving here, if you really want to get to the heart of Jung, it may be helpful to have some background in Gnostic religions, especially of the Christian variety, as it was so impactful to the formation of his studies. The obfuscation of ideas putting the onus of work on the student to intuit meaning is an integral component which stems from esoteric traditions such as Gnosticism.
If you do decide to look into this, you may also want to already have some background in Christian orthodoxic theology, especially the works of the Apostle Paul, the Gospel of John, and some of the differing views on the first few hundred years of the Christian church. If you are already knowledgeable in that regard, I might recommend A Separate God by Simone Pétrement and From Jewish Magic to Gnosticism by Mohr Siebeck. If you are just getting started, then perhaps A History of Gnosticism by Giovanni Filoramo, Gnosis: The Nature & History of Gnosticism by Kurt Rudolph, or Gnosticism: New Light of the Ancient Tradition of Inner Knowing by Stephan A. Hoeller might be more approachable. Studying Gnostic scriptures is even more daunting however, so after having read one or two of the former, I'd recommend surveying some of the texts online, or grabbing a copy of The Gnostic Bible by Barnstone and Meyer (as you're probably not looking for a more complete set of Nag Hammadi or New Testament apocryphal texts).
Stephan A. Hoeller is also notable as he's one of the few to translate and publish Jung's Gnostic treatise in an explanatory book, The Gnostic Jung and the Seven Sermons to the Dead. Another book that handles this subject matter is the similarly named The Gnostic Jung including "Seven Sermons to the Dead" by Robert A. Segal. The Seven Sermons is the only part of Jung's Red Book (the summation of his private journals, his Black Books) that he released during his own lifetime, and neither will make much sense without some background in Gnostic theology and cosmology, and the way that Jung looked at people as microcosms.
Consider some of the various ways of interpreting this statement from Second Century theologian Monoimus:
This is not a dissimilar outlook to what seems to have internally driven Jung's views on early-twentieth century psychology. Likewise, the New Testament book of Philemon is of great importance to Jung, who viewed it as a dialectic on the sharing of useful knowledge to discover what is at the heart of oneself. He saw religion not as being done away with, but as part of a larger body of inquest that is still very much evolving as a spandrel within the archways of the human mind.
Christian Gnosticism is not the only thing that inspired Jung's work however, but it does play a key part. As others have pointed out, he was very prolific and his work bleeds into many, many different areas. With all of that said, once you have a decent background in Gnostic and Jungian thought, songs by The Smashing Pumpkins and Gorillaz, films like Blade Runner, or games like The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind become much easier to dissect, interpret, and understand (that is, their pneumatic messages become all the more clear against the common psychic ones).
This seems like a key point for OP’s questions. That to ‘get’ Jung (if that means anything), the way you describe is the only (useful) way to get to that point. It kind of prohibited me from really commit to looking further into Jung, as the practical application in clinical work is limited, however these starting points might peak my interest once more.. thanks!
Honestly, the Wikipedia article for Jungian Psychology might be what you're looking for based on your specifications. Might seem like a simple solution, but it's beginner friendly, clearly communicated the ideas of Jungian psychology, entirely well-cited for further reading. It's not a book/video and it's probably not critical, but it'll link to resources that are.
I first learned about Jung from the Wikipedia article about Synechdoche, New York. If you agree with the idea that the film follows these principles, it might be good viewing to see the principle concepts in action.
Thank you for the reply. I did start off reading multiple Wikipedia articles on Jung (including the one linked) and attempting to watch YouTube videos before trying here lol
Your best bet would be to brush up on the general history of ideas in the field at the time by reading the Wiki page and then go straight into reading Jung directly (there's not much academic continuity before or after Jung, so you wouldn't find a good synopsis of him from an academic psychologist). "Two Essays on Analytical Psychology" seems like a good starting point.
I've read the first two chapters, and I'm quite impressed.
Jung defines any jargon before using it, and makes a point to attribute it (Nietzsche, Freud, etc.) He's a phenomenal storyteller, his stories about various patients are gripping. Also, I believe this essay is after his break with Freud, however he still holds him in high regard and "compliment-sandwiches" each time he draws a distinction between his view and Freud's.
Surprisingly, Jung is far more accessible himself than the new-age JBP acolytes making YouTube videos about him.
Hey Tealblue,
I did read the wiki before posting here, but I will get on reading "Two Essays on Analytical Psychology". I appreciate the recommendation
Edit: just bought the book, thanks @tealblue
Memories Dreams and Reflections by Jung is about his life and work.
Joseph Campbell used Jungian archetypes in his analysis of literature.
Thank you for the reply. Any recommendations for introductory material to Joseph Campbell's work? I see the name floated often by Jungians but haven't dug deeply yet.
His most influential book is the Hero with a Thousand Faces.
Would you recommend just picking that up and reading that, or would it be better to start somewhere else?
Edit, sorry that sounded patronizing. Not my intent. I would read it.
Are you comfortable reading nonfiction targeting educated nonspecialists in the 1940s? It was read widely and very popular, but it was assumed at that time that high level vocabulary and complex sentence structure would be appreciated by educated readers. If you read on an e-reader, you can tap for definitions if needed.
I'll give it a try, I greatly appreciate the recommendation 😊
In addition to diving right in to Hero with a Thousand Faces, there is a fantastic book compiled by Bill Moyers called Joseph Campbell: The Power of Myth. It's a shorter read at less than 300 pages but it surveys Campbell's ideas and is based on this six-part documentary series of the same name, if you're up for a lengthy, informative watch.
I don't have the background to recommend anything more specific (though I will concur with you that Jung content online is full of jargon and there are tons of people with weird Jungian woo out there).
I will say that as someone with a general interest in philosophy but no direct academic background in it (though I do have experience in adjacent fields), I recommend this YouTube channel -- it's pretty dry but it strikes the right balance of newb-friendliness and philosophical precision. I've only watched some of the shorter videos so far and even when I disagreed with his conclusions (on the one video that touched my area of adjacent expertise lol) I felt that he did a good job of laying out the ideas and arguments like a philosopher would but communicating it fairly clearly to people without that experience. I can't find anything specifically about Jung but his titles tend to be more approachable so it's possible it's in some of them. Either way I figure you might find it enriching even if it's not the Jungian stuff you're looking for.
I'm pretty well versed in philosophy already (even mistakenly went to school for it for awhile) but basically no familiarity with Jung. Best I can tell, Jungian psychoanalysis isn't taken seriously by academia aside from being a historical curiousity in psychology's past.
It might be valuable to learn some psychoanalysis, which is where Jung splintered from. I recommend Totem and Taboo and Civilization and Its Discontents.
I'm not really knowledgeable on Jung proper, but if you're really serious on that journey there are probably things by Jung himself you can read. Old-school psychology is highly intuitive, even more so Jung since many of his concepts were absorbed by culture as a whole. Just Google "Jung reading order".
Thank you for the recommendation.
Have you checked out the MemeAnalysis YouTube channel? The content obfuscates the message in another way, but the content creator seems to have an understanding of themes out of Jungian and esoteric works. It’s either way an entertaining way to get in touch with some of the ideas, albeit unstructured for your goal.
Something clicked for me watching this video.
Philosophy focuses on making statements clear and precise. Jargon exists to increase the precision and decrease the ambiguity of a given statement. This is the inverse of the Jungian content I've engaged with so far.
Modern Jugians seemingly focus on making statements obscure and ambiguous. Jargon seems to exist to decrease precision and increase the ambiguity of a given statement. You'll see this in any Peterson debate: the way jargon is used is internally inconsistent, and often the jargon is made up on the fly seemingly to avoid having his ideas clearly pinned down.
Ah, I see you state this in the OP as well; jargon being a way to be more precise. In my own experience, the
incompetent (edited)incorrect use of jargon could lead to obfuscation and confusion. If this is the goal in some contexts? Could be.Another point that stands out to me is the notion that philosophy aims on clarity and precision, which I feel assumes the analytical tradition instead of continental. Not sure if this is intentional, anyway just an observation.
Thirdly, maybe something else to think about. In psychoanalytical theories, generally thinking can be divided in conscious, rational thinking and subconscious, associative/fantasy/magical/fairy tale like thinking. Something like system 1 and 2 from Kahneman (thinking fast, thinking slow), but not quite. It’s quite ubiquitous in art; read a poem, listen a song, watch a movie. Watch what you hear; did you see it? What was said, what was withheld, how do you feel, did you want to desire this feeling?
I get carried away, this is less and less about Jung. It’s good to shake thinking up once in a while “like a dog getting out of the water, shaking water drops off.”
I suppose it's been awhile since I've read A Thousand Plateaus lmfao. It's nearly impossible to discuss philosophy broadly without there being exceptions to whatever you intend to say about the subject. I guess my school primarily had classes on analytic philosophy (before I realized I much preferred computer science.)
I don't think you're getting carried away; your third point seems right on the mark. Jung's incorporation of Gnostic interpretation introduces somewhat of a triplicate approach: