Psychological Types (The Collected Works of C. G. Jung, Vol. 6) (Bollingen Series XX)

after much jung's books reading, i am very pleased with the quality of this edition.Furthermore the table of contents is nothing but very appealing being filled with knowledge taken from different fields of study such as history, philosophy, theology, and of course psychology. I would advise this book to any reader curious or eager to improve his knowledge of the human mind and the history of consciousness.

I have always been drawn to the works of Cark Jung, something about his theories really struck accord with me. Through my life I have always wondered about what personality is and how it is formed and how people become what they become. Since I am naturally an introvert, I found this book highly informative and shed light on my particular temperament. Although this is not a guide book on how one should live in light of their personality types, it does give a good background on the various types. Not the easiest read, but worth taking a look. Doron Alon Author of "The Bible and the Law of Attraction" ISBN-10: 1435723368 ISBN-13: 978-1435723368

This is the forerunner of many contemporary works on psychological types. The mother-daughter team of Briggs & Myers devised the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) on it--devising the 4th (Judgmental-Perceptive) scale based on preferences (i.e. superior function vs. secondary function) between the iNtuitive-Sensate scale & the Thinker-Feeler scale. Jung does not address the J-P scale (it didn't exist yet). The book is written in Jung's usual rambling, erudite style with his usual quantity of incredible interspersed observations & conclusions. Some modern works are far easier to read, but many (e.g. Keirsey's "Please Understand Me") leave much out. Indeed, his assessment tool is quicker but less accurate IMHO (I used to score MBTI results for a professor doing research on MBTI's in other countries). I also took a couple of short courses (paid for by the U.S. Navy) related to the MBTI-- & lots of management courses which referred to it or utilized it. It is extremely useful in improving interpersonal communications & understanding amongst co-workers, supervisors, etc. I used it with my own subordinates & found it quite valuable--people shared their results readily. Of course, there's a bit of confusion between Extrovert & Introvert--surface/laymen views can be misleading. The key is where one gets/loses one's psychic energy. Introverts get it from being alone & tend to lose it in groups; Extroverts, vice versa. But, this has nothing to do with whether one enjoys people, books, parties, etc. So, to understand the types, one must read the book. As Jung states, p. 526 "The psyche is the very thing we know least about, although it seems to be what we know best of all, & furthermore that everyone else probably understands it better than we do ourselves." Further, self-knowledge is a continuing challenge because p. 52: "The psyche creates reality every day." Also, psychological type relates not only to self, but also to society: p. 448: "Only a society that can preserve its internal cohesion and collective values, while at the same time granting the individual the greatest possible freedom, has any prospect of enduring vitality" & p. 449: "The more a man's life is shaped by the collective norm, the greater is his individual immorality." However, it is important to understand that Jung is NOT saying people ARE this type or that (implying the types are real) but that the types are a useful model for understanding human differences-- p. 493 "Reality neither consists of theories nor follows them." The sixteen types are a reasonable model for differences in accordance with Jung's scientific approach. As he states here & elsewhere--on p. 41 & on p. 494ff: "The scientific axiom known as Occam's Razor--`explanatory principles should not be multiplied beyond the necessary.'" Necessary & sufficient are required. This work is at least as relevant today as when it was written.

If you're familiar with the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and want to know more about it then _Psychological Types_ is one title you'd certainly want to read. It is the definitive work on which the MBTI is based. In this volume Jung explains in detail what the nature of the two attitudes--introversion and extraversion--really are, as well as that of the four functions--intuition, sensation, thinking, and feeling. He also discusses various combinations of these attitudes and functions, such as Introverted-Thinking, Introverted-Feeling, Extraverted-Sensation, etc. It is Jung who gave us the terms introversion and extraversion. But our colloquial understanding of these terms are not exactly what Jung had in mind. For instance introversion he says means "an inward-turning of libido [psychic energy]." Moreover, the introverted person is one who orients himself predominantly by subjective views in contrast to the extraverted who orients himself by objective (external) conditions. Therefore, extraversion and introversion have to do with which realm--outer or inner--the person is drawn to and invests his energies in. So much for our simplistic notions of what these now household words mean!Personally, I have not read the first half of the book. When I got my copy I went straight to Chapter 10 "General Description of the Types" since that's where the meat of Jungian typology can be found. And let's not forget the four essays in the appendix. They too offer additional insights into typology. As a bonus there is an entire chapter (some 80 pages) entitled "Definitions" which is actually an in-depth glossary of some of the more important terms and ideas that Jung uses throughout the Collected Works.If you'd like to learn about (Jungian) personality typology then I suggest you get this relatively inexpensive paperback edition. I've read many works on Jungian typology but nothing beats getting it straight from the horse's mouth.

A deep look at the mechanisms of the "psychic functions". Surely instructive for layman with its analysis of human behaviour in everyday life. This work best explores the Jung's concept of the unconscious and proves that his concept is far from being a mystical one as some critics wrote. It also gives a historical perspective of the thoughts of some great thinkers (Schiller, William James and some others )on the problem of psychological types.