Wht Jung Really Said

Edward Armstrong Bennet was a friend and contemporary of Jung's, and his book What Jung Really Said is a lucidly-written overview of Jung's psychology and its development. This is a slim volume, and Bennet does not venture into any of the controversial depths of Jung's thought; however, it is a concise introduction to the subject, for beginners. There are some interesting gems of information, including the fact that Jung studied both Chinese and European alchemy. Also that Jung had dinner with HG Wells, who then wrote a story based around Jung's idea of the collective unconscious; I hadn't known that!

Re-reading this book, after a 10-year study of Jungian Psychology, made it clear to me that C.G. Jung is a Philosopher's Philosopher. At the back of this book is Jung's public view of GOD and Religion, and he informs us of the psychic error and impertinence of making a "Hypostasis" (as in Plato's 'Ideal'), and he defers to the sacredness of the "Individual Psyche" versus the "Collective Psyche". Jung is clearly "Aristotlean" here. This is opposite many peoples' conception/use of Jung (e.g., my edition of Random House Encyclopedia discounted Jung's ideas as examples of "Idealist" Philosophy with Archetypes, et al)! Jung believed there is genuine value and meaning in neuroses and even madness; but, now, the credibility of all Philosphers must now be viewed in terms of their respective healthy or unhealthy Psyches! Most importantly, many Western Philosophers [mostly since Descartes] show a severe mind-body thinking-feeling split; and, this is different in Eastern Philosophy and Western Religions. Jung's words have great significance for Eastern and Western Philosopy and World Religions in the coming Millennium! Bennet's contribution serves to protect us from distortions of Jung so commonly found in name-dropping derivative works.