The Art of C. G. Jung

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What is it that leads us to create art? Is there a psychological drive at work, a subconscious force which simmers away beneath the surface before emerging in an explosion of creativity? Is there an innermost essence to this process, something which embodies our propensity to express ourselves through art? R Langs. Freud on a Precipice. How Freud's Fate pushed Psychoanalysis over the Edge. (Lanham MD: 2010)

Thinking’ individuals make decisions based on logic and objective considerations, while ‘Feeling’ individuals make decisions based on subjective and personal values.

Furthermore, this psychic energy or libido also drives us towards seeking pleasure and fulfillment, which are integral to our self-realization and growth. The third archetype is the shadow, representing the darker side of a person. Jung believed that artistic inspiration came from shadow. The final and probably most important archetype is the self. When the self is developed, one can connect to the conscious and the unconscious. The developed self means that a person has a formed personality. Sigmund Freud and Carl Gustav Jung were two pioneering figures in the field of psychology, and while they shared some common ground, they also had significant differences in their theories. Here are some of them: The Unconscious Mind This aspect of the unconscious mind contains memories, perceptions, and thoughts that may not be consciously accessible but can potentially become conscious. It also includes complex combinations of such contents, which Jung referred to as “complexes”.

Jung, C. G. (1923). On The Relation Of Analytical Psychology To Poetic Art 1 . British Journal of Medical Psychology, 3 (3), 213-231. For great artists, this impulse can be all-consuming. As Jung rightly observes, “ The biographies of great artists make it abundantly clear that the creative urge is often so imperious that it battens onto their humanity and yokes everything to the service of the work, even at the cost of ordinary health and human happiness”. The biographies of the likes of Beethoven, Marcel Proust and many others are a testament to the creative process as “a living thing implanted in the human psyche.” A brief look at some historical examples of artistic geniuses and it is tempting to believe that there is something approaching madness in the creative spirit. Jean Piaget writes of 'schemata' which are innate and lay a foundation for perceptuo-motor activity and aid in the acquisition of knowledge. Samuels makes the claim that schemata are comparable to archetypes through their innateness, activity, and need for environmental correspondence. [5] The Persona, as explained by Carl Jung, is the aspect of our personality that we present to the world as a means of social adaptation and personal convenience.Related Content: 48 Hours of Joseph Campbell Lectures, Free on Spotify 9. We’re not saying it’s aliens, but… Dryden, Windy; Reeves, Andrew (2013). The Handbook of Individual Therapy, Sixth Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. p.76. ISBN 978-1-4462-0136-7. The Red Book has been described as Jung’s most important work, although he fretted that publication would bring him ridicule. At its core, it marked his move away from science to the realms of myth, magic and the soul. Because Jung's viewpoint was essentially subjectivist, he displayed a somewhat Neo-Kantian perspective of a skepticism for knowing things in themselves and a preference of inner experience over empirical data. This skepticism opened Jung up to the charge of countering materialism with another kind of reductionism, one that reduces everything to subjective psychological explanation and woolly quasi-mystical assertions. [79] In Jungian psychology, the libido is an important component of individuation, which is the process of integrating the conscious with the unconscious, while still maintaining one’s individuality.