C.G. Jung and the Scientific Attitude

C.G. Jung and the Scientific Attitude is a survey and assessment of the contributions of the great Swiss psychiatrist. Since its viewpoint is that of an historian of psychology rather than that of a practitioner, stress is placed on the conceptual consistency of Jung’s approach, and the fundamental philosophical differences that separate it from most other works in psychology. Metatheoretical questions and implicit criticism of the narrow metatheoretical presuppositions that have so deleteriously affected academic psychology, pervade it. The first three chapters correspond to the three major phases of Jung’s creative career; respectively, they deal with the psychological complex, the personality typology, and the often-misunderstood concept of the collective unconscious. The fourth chapter covers Jung’s involvement with ESP and occult phenomena, and from that point of departure goes deeply into the question, what kind of undertaking a science of the psyche must be. The fifth chapter is concerned with the application of Jung’s ideas to important social problems, such as aggression, racism, women’s’ problems, and drugs. The origins of the persistent slanders of anti-Semitism and pro-Nazi sympathy against Jung are taken up. The sixth chapter examines the connections between Jung’s psychology and academic psychology, and shows some areas where academic psychology might benefit from Jung’s influence in the future. The seventh chapter is about the problem of applying Jung’s psychology, and includes a controversial critique of Jungian analysis as it is practiced.