The passages in this thread are taken from The Undiscovered Self (specifically the first three chapters), which is one of the very last works released by Jung before his death, originally published in 1957 and republished as part of Vol. 10 of his Collected Works in 1970.
They detail Jung's thoughts on:
- the insufficiencies of scientific rationalism as the sole means of interpreting the world
- man's psychological need for religion and the importance of viewing religion through the proper lens
- the causes of Communism and how it seeks to replace religion
I think the parallels to modern society and politics will be obvious, and those of you who are familiar with Jordan Peterson will probably recognize the main themes of his teachings here.
Jung sets the stage here with the problems faced by the Western world. Though the "Iron Curtain" no longer exists, the "split ... which divides humanity into two halves" is still very relevant.
That split would be between the materialist and spiritual, conscious and unconscious, objective and subjective, West and East.
In context, the "subversive minorities" Jung is talking about would refer specifically to Communists but also include other groups, and the implications here are wide ranging: the West's humanitarianism is easily subverted and used against it by groups that want to do it harm.
This begins an important theme here, which is the failure of a purely "rationalist" viewpoint to handle social and political issues.
Even at the best of times, reason can be difficult and inconsistent, and it becomes even more futile as the size of the group and the emotions of the situation increase.
As reason breaks down, irrationality takes hold, fringe ideas start to bubble to the surface, fueled by ulterior motives and resentments, and infect the masses.
This all happens more easily when man, as an individual, is separated from his spiritual, moral, emotional, etc. foundations by a purely rationalist viewpoint.
As pointed out in the last passage, the more extreme and pathological elements of society are "dangerous as sources of infection precisely because the so-called normal person possesses only a limited degree of self-knowledge
The Communist State seeks to destroy religion, removing man's defense to the material world, and replace it.
They detail Jung's thoughts on:
- the insufficiencies of scientific rationalism as the sole means of interpreting the world
- man's psychological need for religion and the importance of viewing religion through the proper lens
- the causes of Communism and how it seeks to replace religion
I think the parallels to modern society and politics will be obvious, and those of you who are familiar with Jordan Peterson will probably recognize the main themes of his teachings here.
Quote:Quote:
Historically, it is chiefly in times of physical, political, economic, and spiritual distress that men’s eyes turn with anxious hope to the future, and when anticipations, utopias, and apocalyptic visions multiply.
...
Today, as the end of the second millennium draws near, we are again living in an age filled with apocalyptic images of universal destruction. What is the significance of that split, symbolized by the “Iron Curtain,” which divides humanity into two halves? What will become of our civilization, and of man himself, if the hydrogen bombs begin to go off, or if the spiritual and moral darkness of State absolutism should spread over Europe?
Jung sets the stage here with the problems faced by the Western world. Though the "Iron Curtain" no longer exists, the "split ... which divides humanity into two halves" is still very relevant.
That split would be between the materialist and spiritual, conscious and unconscious, objective and subjective, West and East.
Quote:Quote:
Everywhere in the West there are subversive minorities who, sheltered by our humanitarianism and our sense of justice, hold the incendiary torches ready, with nothing to stop the spread of their ideas except the critical reason of a single, fairly intelligent, mentally stable stratum of the population.
In context, the "subversive minorities" Jung is talking about would refer specifically to Communists but also include other groups, and the implications here are wide ranging: the West's humanitarianism is easily subverted and used against it by groups that want to do it harm.
Quote:Quote:
A rather more pessimistic view would not be unjustified either, since the gift of reason and critical reflection is not one of man’s outstanding peculiarities, and even where it exists it proves to be wavering and inconstant, the more so, as a rule, the bigger the political groups are. The mass crushes out the insight and reflection that are still possible with the individual, and this necessarily leads to doctrinaire and authoritarian tyranny if ever the constitutional State should succumb to a fit of weakness.
[...]
Rational argument can be conducted with some prospect of success only so long as the emotionality of a given situation does not exceed a certain critical degree. If the affective temperature rises above this level, the possibility of reason’s having any effect ceases and its place is taken by slogans and chimerical wish-fantasies.
This begins an important theme here, which is the failure of a purely "rationalist" viewpoint to handle social and political issues.
Even at the best of times, reason can be difficult and inconsistent, and it becomes even more futile as the size of the group and the emotions of the situation increase.
Quote:Quote:
That is to say, a sort of collective possession results which rapidly develops into a psychic epidemic. Under these conditions all those elements whose existence is merely tolerated as asocial under the rule of reason come to the top. Such individuals are by no means rare curiosities to be met with only in prisons and lunatic asylums. For every manifest case of insanity there are, in my estimation, at least ten latent cases who seldom get to the point of breaking out openly but whose views and behaviour, for all their appearance of normality, are influenced unconsciously by pathological and perverse factors.
...
Their chimerical ideas, sustained by fanatical resentment, appeal to the collective irrationality and find fruitful soil there; they express all those motives and resentments which lurk in more normal people under the cloak of reason and insight. They are, therefore, despite their small number in comparison with the population as a whole, dangerous as sources of infection precisely because the so-called normal person possesses only a limited degree of self-knowledge.
As reason breaks down, irrationality takes hold, fringe ideas start to bubble to the surface, fueled by ulterior motives and resentments, and infect the masses.
Quote:Quote:
Apart from the agglomeration of huge masses in which the individual disappears anyway, one of the chief factors responsible for psychological mass-mindedness is scientific rationalism, which robs the individual of his foundations and his dignity. As a social unit he has lost his individuality and become a mere abstract number in the bureau of statistics. He can only play the role of an interchangeable unit of infinitesimal importance.
This all happens more easily when man, as an individual, is separated from his spiritual, moral, emotional, etc. foundations by a purely rationalist viewpoint.
As pointed out in the last passage, the more extreme and pathological elements of society are "dangerous as sources of infection precisely because the so-called normal person possesses only a limited degree of self-knowledge
Quote:Quote:
In this way the individual becomes more and more a function of society, which in its turn usurps the function of the real life carrier, whereas, in actual fact, society is nothing more than an abstract idea like the State. Both are hypostatized, that is, have become autonomous. The State in particular is turned into a quasi-animate personality from whom everything is expected. In reality it is only a camouflage for those individuals who know how to manipulate it. Thus the constitutional State drifts into the situation of a primitive form of society—the communism of a primitive tribe where everybody is subject to the autocratic rule of a chief or an oligarchy.
In order to free the fiction of the sovereign State—in other words, the whims of the chieftains who manipulate it—from every wholesome restriction, all socio-political movements tending in this direction invariably try to cut the ground from under religion. For, in order to turn the individual into a function of the State, his dependence on anything else must be taken from him. Religion means dependence on and submission to the irrational facts of experience. These do not refer directly to social and physical conditions; they concern far more the individual’s psychic attitude.
The Communist State seeks to destroy religion, removing man's defense to the material world, and replace it.