Sharpening Psychology's Concepts

The Spirit of Jungian Psychology and the Danger of Faulty Thinking

Wolfgang Giegerich

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9781040386293
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Jungian Psychology
• Index: Psychology

A big problem of psychology in the tradition of C.G. Jung is that many concepts and orientations are being used by its adherents that are not really compatible with a true psychology because they have their home ground in other orientations.

It is essential for psychology that its views and concepts are ultimately derived from a rigorous notion of psychology and from the concept of its key metaphor, soul. This book diligently examines a host of diverse psychological stances and concepts using this insight as its compass. Beginning with a thorough elucidation of the unique foundational orientation of Jung's psychology as an additional crucial guidepost and then exploring the lasting significance of James Hillman's achievement in the field of psychology, it goes on to engage with works from psychologists such as Robert Romanyshyn, Mark Saban, and Stanton Marlan. By reviewing the various theses presented, examples being that synchronicity could be a gate to meaning, that one's anxiety could be a guide to psychological understanding, that there are absolutely unassimilable images, the emphasis is always on making the necessary distinctions and thereby training the mind in truly psychological thinking.

This book will be of great interest to the Jungian community, psychotherapists and psychoanalysts training in Jungian theory and practice, and those interested in psychological, theological, and philosophical issues.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Sources and abbreviations
• Preface
• 1 “Geist”, or: What gives Jungian psychology its absolute uniqueness and is the source of its true life
• 2 James Hillman: An assessment
• 3 The “black sun” seen through: Marlan’s proton pseudos
• 4 The psychologist as repentance preacher and revivalist: Robert Romanyshyn on the melting of the polar ice
• 5 A serious misunderstanding: Synchronicity and the generation of meaning
• 6 Saban’s alternative: An alternative?
• 7 Two Jungs: Apropos a paper by Mark Saban
• 8 “Katako” and the Japanese psyche: Reflections after reading an article by Megumi Yama
• Appendix: Just for the record: Observations about “Eranos”. In response to Christa Robinson’s paper in Spring, vol. 86
• Index