1st Edition
Psychological and Philosophical Studies of Jung’s Teleology The Future-Orientation of Mind
This important new volume addresses an underappreciated dimension of Jung’s work, his concept of the teleology, or “future-orientation”, of psychic reality.
The work, authored by an international group of Jungian scholars, expands upon the socio-cultural, psychological, therapeutic, and philosophical import of this key pillar of the Jungian oeuvre, offering a compelling alternative to current, culturally dominant ideas about how change occurs. The book addresses varied aspects of his teleological thought generally, and its application to the psychotherapeutic endeavor specifically, engaging Freudian, neo-Freudian, and related theoretical orientations in an informed dialogue about the critical issue of the emergent unfolding of subjectivity in treatment.
This is an illuminating read for those interested in the study of Jungian theory, psychoanalysis, social psychology, religion, transpersonal psychology, indigenous wisdom traditions, and philosophical metapsychology.
Introduction: Jung’s Teleology: its Historical Origins and Place in his Theory
Garth Amundson
1. Coming into Being: Telos in Jung and Bion
Mark Winborn
2. On Truth, Reasonable Certainty, and God: Conviction as Revelatory Process in Peirce and Jung
Garth Amundson
3. Jung’s Call to Eros: a Personal Journey
Tosia Zraikat
4. The Ravenous Hydra and the Great Tree of Peace: The Teleology of Indigenous and European Civilizations
Shane Eynon
5. Archetype of the Machine
Jody Echegaray
6. The Dance of Limit and Possibility
Giorgio Tricarico
Biography
Garth Amundson is a clinical psychologist in practice in Chicago, Illinois, USA. His past publications include a study of the application of Jungian theory to adolescent psychotic states and the concordance of dimensions of American philosophical pragmatism with Jung’s ideas. This is his first edited volume.
'In his assessment of Freud’s analysis of psychotic delusion, C. G. Jung famously asked, “What is the goal that the patient tried to reach through the creation of his system?” This teleological orientation was a defining characteristic of Jung’s thinking about the dynamics of the psyche, but it has rarely drawn the attention of the larger psychotherapeutic community. Garth Amundson and the writers assembled in this volume have done much to correct this oversight. In so doing, they have added new insights into Jung’s work more generally, incorporating material from contemporary philosophical, cultural, and psychoanalytic sources that enlarge our understanding of how the future orientation of the mind can contribute to our understanding of the depths of the psyche. The book is a pleasure to read and will be an important resource for clinicians as well as those interested in the further development of analytical psychology and psychoanalysis.'
George B. Hogenson, Ph.D., Senior Training Analyst, Chicago Society of Jungian Analysts
