Jung's concept of the archetype: An existential phenomenological reflection

Abstract

The concept of the archetype became the central focus of Jung's analytic psychology. This paper will present some phenomenological reflections on this concept. It will first reason that the archetype is not a phenomenologically acceptable concept by drawing upon the absolutely unconscious nature of the archetypes, their independence from the individual's intentionaliry, and their separateness from Dasein. The paper will then argue that what Jung refers to as “archetypal” images, ideas, and experiences do have phenomenological value. As data pursuant to a phenomenological analysis, they may lead to a better understanding of those psychological experiences that may be common to all of humanity.     

Horizons of hermeneutics: Intercultural hermeneutics in a globalizing world

Starting from the often-used metaphor of the “horizon of experience” this article discusses three different types of intercultural hermeneutics, which respectively conceive hermeneutic interpretation as a widening of horizons, a fusion of horizons, and a dissemination of horizons. It is argued that these subsequent stages in the history of hermeneutics have their origin in—but are not fully restricted to—respectively premodern, modern and postmodern stages of globalization. Taking some striking moments of the encounter between Western and Chinese language and philosophy as example, the particular merits and flaws of these three types of hermeneutics are being discussed. The claim defended is that although these different types of hermeneutics are mutually exclusive from a theoretical point of view, as interpreting beings in the current era we depend on each of these distinct hermeneutic practices and cannot avoid living them simultaneously.     

Primordial texts: An object relations approach to biblical hermeneutics

What is object relations theory? What is the place of an object relations perspective in biblical hermeneutics as a process? After briefly introducing object relations theory, this presentation discusses the place of an object relations perspective in the hermeneutical process by analyzing D. Winnicott's “squiggle” game with childreń as a hermeneutical paradigm, and by examining critical themes such as: subject-object relations or the relationship between text and the interpreter or interpreting community, transitional space, and the suspension of disbelief or the locus of illusion in hermeneutical understanding.     

Phenotypic plasticity and archetype: a response to common objections to the biological theory of archetype and instinct

Since Jung’s death in 1961, scholars have attempted to integrate growing biological science data into Jungian concepts such as the collective unconscious, instincts and the archetypes. This enterprise has been challenging due to persistent false dichotomies of gene and environment occasionally arising. Recent works by Roesler (2022a, 2022b) for example, have raised objections to the biological theory of archetypes, but the objections are plagued by such dichotomies. The concept of phenotypic plasticity, however, helps to both avoid this problem as well as bridge the gap between competing theories into a more integrated model with solid biological foundations.     

Mental cookery: An illustration of fact retrieval from plans

Anyone who is able to cook a certain dish will probably also be able to list its ingredients from memory. Detailed recording of this verbal listing exposes structural regularities. These imply that people can search a representation which is essentially the same as that used in the actual cooking. In effect, the dish can be “mentally cooked” and the necessary ingredients reported when they occur. This ability to mentally simulate plans allows considerable cognitive economy.     

Death and Birth: An Initiation into Midlife

Throughout history people have created rituals and myths in an attempt to make sense of their existence and to provide life with structure and meaning. In postmodern societies, though, these traditional rituals have largely lost their meaning. Transitional turning points such as the highly charged threshold from adolescence into young adulthood are still celebrated but, they have mostly been diminished to social events and photo opportunities. Subsequently they have lost their power to break open the ego structure, which would allow for a new perspective and an opportunity for growth, propelling the youngster into adulthood. There is a growing understanding, though, that the psyche needs transformational experiences during times of transitions to channel the energies inherent in each stage of life. For most people living in Westernized societies, however, initiations happen spontaneously, when life suddenly rubs up so intensely that a person's only choice is to shed his or her skin and to emerge as a changed human being. The author explores the death of her father and the ensuing period of profound grief as an initiation from young adulthood into the more mature life as a mother and wife.     

Regression in the countertransference: working with the archetype of the abandoned child

Abstract :  The author describes briefly some experiences of his sense of non-existence as an analyst in relation to five patients. He considers the possible countertransference significance of these experiences and puts forward a hypothesis that his sense of non-existence as an analyst might be a clue to regression in the patient to the anxieties of a baby without a mother, even though other clinical evidence of regression might be lacking. Referring back to Jung's early formulation of transference and countertransference as aspects of the unconscious identity shared between analyst and patient, he further develops his hypothesis, suggesting that, in the cases he has presented, analyst and patient were relating through shared dynamic roots in the archetype of the abandoned child. He briefly demonstrates how the understanding thus achieved was of clinical use in the analyses of the patients he has presented.     

Part One: the hermeneutics of modern religious education

Hermeneutical reflection on the nature, process, and scope of understanding tends to flourish whenever standard procedures of interpretation begin to falter. The contemporary study of religion is a case in point: conflicting results reflect a lack of consensus regarding appropriate methods of investigation. As a result, hermeneutics enjoys an increasingly significant role in religious and theological exploration. The discipline of religious education, despite constant wrestling with the ambiguity of religion, has not followed suit: it possesses no developed and sustained tradition of hermeneutical deliberation. This attempt to open up hermeneutical debate within the field of religious education begins by identifying romanticism, post‐modernism and critical realism as three key perspectives within contemporary hermeneutical theory (Bleicher, 1982; Jeanrond, 1994; Mueller‐Vollmer, 1986; Palmer, 1969; Thiselton, 1980, 1992). This article offers an account of the hermeneutics implicit in religious education from 1960 to the present, arguing that the subject has—at considerable cost to its integrity—drawn uncritically on the traditions of romanticism and post‐modernism. A second article will propose a critical theory for religious education rooted in the hermeneutics of critical realism.     

Binding legacies: ancestor,archetype and Other

This article discusses the multicultural interconnection between Jungian analysts’ training and Africanist training candidates. The importance of ancestral lineage and archetypal influences in the clinical setting are explored for better understanding of issues related to the transference and therapeutic interventions. A discussion of racial relations and racism is addressed as a frequently missing element in the psychoanalytical training of future Jungian analysts.     

Interpretation without hermeneutics: A plea against ecumenism

I have been much helped by Axel Bühler writings on hermeneutics (in particular by his unpublished Conference sull'ermeneutica) and would like to thank him and Donald Davidson for comments.     

Career commitment processes in the young adult years: An illustration from the ROTC/Army career path

This paper presents and tests a model of career commitment in the young adult years. Data for the study were collected from nationwide stratified random samples of approximately 1000 high school seniors, 1600 college students, and 600 ROTC-graduate Army officers. It was found that the model could predict membership in ROTC and the strength of the individual's commitment to a military career and that hypotheses that had been made about the career commitment process were generally confirmed. Many of the specific findings, differences in the demographic, aptitude, and sociopsychological profile of participants and nonparticipants in a career path, the widening of these differences with the passage of time, the importance of early exposure to the career eventually chosen, the relationship between initial motivation in exploring a career path and subsequent commitment to the career, and the changes in the nature of influential factors as an individual matures, may be generalizable to other types of careers.     

From concept to word: On the radicality of philosophical hermeneutics

Continental Philosophy Review -     

Felicitometric hermeneutics: interpreting quality of life measurements

The use of quality of life (QOL) outcomes in clinical trials is increasing as a number of practical, ethical, methodological, and regulatory reasons for their use have become apparent. It is important, then, that QOL measurements and differences between QOL scores be readily interpretable. We study interpretation in two contexts: when determining QOL and when basing decisions on QOL differences. We consider both clinical situations involving individual patients and research contexts, e.g., randomized clinical trials, involving groups of patients. We note the ethical importance of such understanding: proper interpretation and communication facilitate health care decision making. Communication that facilitates interpretation is of moral significance since better communication can attenuate ethical problems and inform choices. Much of what is communication worthy about QOL assessments is determined by the particular QOL instrument used in the assessment and how it is administered. In practice, these choices will be driven by the purpose of the assessment, but, it is argued, to maximize understanding, we should combine the information garnered from traditional standardized QOL instruments, from individualized QOL assessments, and from a recently proposed dialogic paradigm, where QOL is determined by shared conversation regarding the interpretation of texts. And, while some studies can surely succeed using abbreviated methods of administration (e.g., postal surveys may suffice for certain purposes), we will focus on methods of administration involving interviewer?Crespondent interaction. We suggest that during the QOL elicitation process, interviewer and respondent should engage in a two-way conversation in order to achieve a shared understanding of the ??answers?? to QOL ??questions?? and, finally, to reach a shared interpretation of the individual??s QOL.