Modern Man In Search of a Soul

A very insightful and meaningful book, 11 intriguing essays in 244 pages. Jung is a deeper thinker, and I think not reductive like Freud and Adler tended to be. He makes no claim to dogmatism or absolutes. Jung really hits on the psyche and transcends the borders of rational intelligence into areas of the unconscious expressions in symbolism and images. I am going to argue against another reviewer here that gave this book 4 stars as being outdated. When I look at the present collective societal structure and current cultural pattern apart from the minority of advanced individuals, I can see the postmodern man has regressed far from the modern man of the 1930's in search of a soul. Of course there as been advances individually, but on a collective level; fundamentalism, religious literalism, nationalism, patriotism and one-sided thinking This has grown in major proportions as opposed to the other way around and it is far more serious than most even realize and patterns after historical events of very similiar nature. The first essay on dream-analysis hits on the idea that dreams are very hard to interpret and suggests that understanding the circumstances and conditions of the conscious life is significant in relation to the dreams of the unconscious life. On the problems of psychotherapy, Jung relates four stages of analytical psychology, the confessional, explanation, education and transformation "The great decisions of human life have as a rule far more to do with the instincts and other mysterious unconscious factors than with conscious will and well-meaning reasonableness. The shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no recipe for living that suits all cases. Each of us carries his own life-form - an indeterminable form which cannot be superseded by any other." p. 61 The essay on the personality types is short, non-exhaustive and briefly relates Jung's ideas of the introvert, the extrovert and the 4 basic types consisting of those persons who are thinkers, feelers, sensory and intuitive. In his essay on the stages of life, Jung ventures beyond childhood into early adulthood and the expansion of the self into sexual desires and masculine and feminine traits and how after somewhere in the 40's there begins a contraction of the self where men may acquire more feminine traits and women more masculine. In the second half of life less is needed to educate his conscious will but more aim towards the inner being, until old age where one leaves the rational self and retreats into the psyche as children yet in a different sense. Jung acknowledges the validity of Freud and Adler and their valuable contributions, yet Jung sees Freud's sexual reduction to all neurosis as limiting, as well as Adler's will to power over inferiority as the sole cause. Both views have proven themselves as valid in many cases, yet Jung finds there is far much more levels in what he calls "value intensities," which underlie many complexes. Jung also bri

_Modern Man in Search of a Soul_ is the first book you should read by Jung. That is not to say that it is particularly easy; it is by no means a watered-down layman's version of Jung. This is Jung at full intensity. It is an ideal introduction simply because it deals with his more accessable concepts, such as the actual practice of psychotherapy, the doctor-patient relationship, the types of things a doctor should say to his patients, ect. It also deals with broader sociological issues and does not get bogged down with esoteric concepts such as alchemy and ancient mythology. Overall, I would say this is a perfectly crafted philosophical/psychological work. It is potent, miserly, well-written, well-translated, and never gets bogged down with unreadable, esoteric sections. It is not as far-reaching and revolutionary as some of Jung's works, but it is a magnificent work of art pared down to the absolute essentials. Overall it is one of the top five books ever written, by any author, from any genre or time period. Also, as a side note, I would recomend _Psychotherapy East and West_ by the American author Alan Watts as a companion piece to Jung's _Modern Man in Search of a Soul_.

This book is page after page of intelligent insight into the psyche of man. He oscillates back an forth between practical understanding of self and others, and therapy scenarios between doctor and patient. This book exemplifies the kind of thought that will elevate and evolve the common man beyond what we are and have been. He illuminates the logical next steps forward in personal evolution by sharing what amounts to his intimate knowledge of the human condition. Jung gives credit to his audience in that he trusts us to follow his thought with understanding and one feels growing responsiblity with every newly illuminated concept. Please enjoy this book. Let this man's work reach you.

I have always been deeply suspicious of the field of psychology. While I may not go so far as Richard Feynman did when he referred to them as the "modern day counterparts to witchdoctors," the discipline does make me rather nervous (if pushed to extremes).That said, I have always respected Jung as an intellectually honest scientist. I may not agree with all his views, but I appreciate that fact that he is not the usual run-of-the-mill sterotyping pigeon-holer (as most psychologists are). His concept of the collective unconscious (whether it is correct or not) is rather fascinating. I do believe there is something to it, as these common archetypal images incessantly end up in our dreams and mythologies. It is not by chance that Joseph Campbell was so influenced by Jung's ideas as to incorporate many of them into his exegesis of mythology.The present book is my all-time favorite book that is written in the psychology field. The book covers a diverse set of topics which Jung engages with his remarkable acumen. Some of the issues raised are the problems with psychotherapy, the contrasts between his views and those of Freud's (which led to their falling out), psychology and literature, and the spiritual problems of modern man.One of the most interesting chapters of the book is entitled "Archaic Man." Jung details the psyche of tribes in such places as sub-Saharan Africa and New Guinea. Many of these cultures live the same way today that their ancestors lived thousands of years ago. Their psychological state, like their way of life, has been frozen in time. In essence, they are much the same as primitive man; the same as our own forefathers. Jung dicusses how they tend to explain everything via supernatural happenings. Much of the "reasoning" is anti-logic and extremely ad-hoc. However, Jung points out how such a dangerous and volatile envioronment as the jungle may coerce most anyone into thinking in ways which we "civilized" people would interpret as superstitous.One of the underlying themes of the book is how we as a human race have become overly-logical today. It may be that primitive tribes may have something to teach us, after all. Somehow, we have descended into apathy after existing for thousands of years as a race that explained everything via the supernatural. This book is a wonderful dissection of the post-modern current state. It is highly recommend for any modern man in search of a soul.