Jung and Kierkegaard: Researching a Kindred Spirit in the Shadows

Jung and Kierkegaard identifies authenticity, suffering and self-deception as the three key themes that connect the work of Carl Jung and Søren Kierkegaard. There is, in the thinking of these pioneering psychologists of the human condition, a fundamental belief in the healing potential of a religious outlook. This engaging and erudite text explores the significance of the similarities of thinking between Kierkegaard and Jung, bridging the gap between the former's particular brand of existential Christian psychology and the latter's own unique philosophy.

Given the similarity of their work and experiences that were common to both of their personal biographies, particularly the relationship that each had with his father, one might expect Jung to have found in Kierkegaard a kindred spirit. Yet this was not the case, and Jung viewed Kierkegaard with great scorn. That there exists such a strong comparison and extensive overlap in the life and thought of these towering figures of psychology and philosophy leads us to question why it is that Jung so strongly rejected Kierkegaard. Such hostility is particularly fascinating given the striking similarity that Jung's own analytical psychology bears to the Christian psychology upheld by Kierkegaard.

Cook's thought-provoking book fills a very real gap in Jungian scholarship and is the first attempt to undertake a direct comparison between Jung and Kierkegaard's models of development. It is therefore essential reading for academics and postgraduate students with an interest in Jungian and Kierkegaard scholarship, as well as psychology, philosophy and religion more generally.

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Jung and Kierkegaard: Researching a Kindred Spirit in the Shadows

Jung and Kierkegaard identifies authenticity, suffering and self-deception as the three key themes that connect the work of Carl Jung and Søren Kierkegaard. There is, in the thinking of these pioneering psychologists of the human condition, a fundamental belief in the healing potential of a religious outlook. This engaging and erudite text explores the significance of the similarities of thinking between Kierkegaard and Jung, bridging the gap between the former's particular brand of existential Christian psychology and the latter's own unique philosophy.

Given the similarity of their work and experiences that were common to both of their personal biographies, particularly the relationship that each had with his father, one might expect Jung to have found in Kierkegaard a kindred spirit. Yet this was not the case, and Jung viewed Kierkegaard with great scorn. That there exists such a strong comparison and extensive overlap in the life and thought of these towering figures of psychology and philosophy leads us to question why it is that Jung so strongly rejected Kierkegaard. Such hostility is particularly fascinating given the striking similarity that Jung's own analytical psychology bears to the Christian psychology upheld by Kierkegaard.

Cook's thought-provoking book fills a very real gap in Jungian scholarship and is the first attempt to undertake a direct comparison between Jung and Kierkegaard's models of development. It is therefore essential reading for academics and postgraduate students with an interest in Jungian and Kierkegaard scholarship, as well as psychology, philosophy and religion more generally.

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Jung and Kierkegaard: Researching a Kindred Spirit in the Shadows

Jung and Kierkegaard: Researching a Kindred Spirit in the Shadows

by Amy Cook
Jung and Kierkegaard: Researching a Kindred Spirit in the Shadows

Jung and Kierkegaard: Researching a Kindred Spirit in the Shadows

by Amy Cook

Hardcover

$180.00 
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Overview

Jung and Kierkegaard identifies authenticity, suffering and self-deception as the three key themes that connect the work of Carl Jung and Søren Kierkegaard. There is, in the thinking of these pioneering psychologists of the human condition, a fundamental belief in the healing potential of a religious outlook. This engaging and erudite text explores the significance of the similarities of thinking between Kierkegaard and Jung, bridging the gap between the former's particular brand of existential Christian psychology and the latter's own unique philosophy.

Given the similarity of their work and experiences that were common to both of their personal biographies, particularly the relationship that each had with his father, one might expect Jung to have found in Kierkegaard a kindred spirit. Yet this was not the case, and Jung viewed Kierkegaard with great scorn. That there exists such a strong comparison and extensive overlap in the life and thought of these towering figures of psychology and philosophy leads us to question why it is that Jung so strongly rejected Kierkegaard. Such hostility is particularly fascinating given the striking similarity that Jung's own analytical psychology bears to the Christian psychology upheld by Kierkegaard.

Cook's thought-provoking book fills a very real gap in Jungian scholarship and is the first attempt to undertake a direct comparison between Jung and Kierkegaard's models of development. It is therefore essential reading for academics and postgraduate students with an interest in Jungian and Kierkegaard scholarship, as well as psychology, philosophy and religion more generally.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781138680272
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Publication date: 08/17/2017
Series: Research in Analytical Psychology and Jungian Studies
Pages: 258
Product dimensions: 6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Amy Cook graduated from Aberdeen university in 2005 with a degree in history. She then went on to study a Master's degree in Philosophy and Psychoanalysis at Essex University, before studying another Master's in Jungian and post-Jungian studies. After a brief spell teaching overseas, Amy returned to the UK and began a PhD at Bangor University. She currently works as a researcher in the field of social sciences in North wales.

Table of Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Part One

1. Introduction

2. A Holy Kind of Healing

3. Some Striking Similarities: Personal and Philosophical

4. Introducing Kierkegaard

5. Presenting Jung

6. The Wounds of the Father: A Shared Inheritance

Part Two

7. An Unconventional Christianity

8. Jung and Religion

9. The Therapeutic Value of Faith

10. Grounding Ethics in Spirit: The Medium of our Self-Realization

11. Suffering and the Pain of Personal Growth: Perrissem, Nisi Perissem

12. Authenticity: The Creation of One’s Genuine Self

Part Three

13. "That Religious Neurotic": Kierkegaard on the Couch

14. Keeping Mum: A Powerful Silence

15. Søren’s Spiritual Castration: A Father’s Influence

16. To Marry or to Martyr

17. The Final Years of Søren Kierkegaard: A Story of Archetypal Compensation

Part Four

18. The Nature of a Kierkegaardian Neurosis: Jung’s Reception of Kierkegaard

19. Kierkegaard and Nietzsche: Polar Opposites in the Mind of Jung

20. Summary of Discussion

21. Conclusion

22. Epilogue: Jung and Kierkegaard: A Legacy Considered

Bibliography

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