List of Articles & Reviews by Jack Falt
Book Review by Jack Falt
Just at a time when the world was looking at conquering outer space, Stein sees Jung as a pioneer exploring inner space. From an early age Jung was very aware of his inner states and he spent his life willing to explore these inner states. He studied all he could and thought that Freud might have the answers he was seeking; but as much as it was a tremendous wrench for him, he endured the loss of Freud’s friendship and patronage to follow his own path.
This book presents Jung’s findings as he presented them in his published writings. But Stein tries to explain the concepts in simpler terms. Stein also has the benefit of hindsight and is able to see the overall pattern of what Jung was writing about. One of Jung’s life’s tasks was trying to understand the soul. Jung was the son of a protestant minister and also had several uncles who were also ministers. Religion was a real element in his life that he sought to understand. He was an explorer and a mapmaker. Like all mapmakers, Jung worked with the instruments and evidence available to him in his time. His medical and psychiatric training was the beginning, but his own experiences and those of his patients furthered his work. Jung never asked his patients to go where he was unwilling to go himself.
Stein explains what Jung meant by such terms as ego, complexes, psychic energy, instincts, archetypes, collective unconscious, persona, shadow, anima, animus, Self, and synchronicity. For example, Jung saw that the development of the ego was from what Jung called “collisions.” Everyone is subject to the sufferings of life and these in turn create how we perceive ourselves. For some, particularly children, these collisions are catastrophic and can cause severe damage to the psyche. While this trauma can be so serious as to overwhelm the child, it is also important that the child not be so protected that the ego does not have a chance to develop.
Psychological Types was only one book written by Jung, and after it was written, he was not all that concerned about pursuing the concepts. He was much more interested in archetypes and complexes. This book does not even mention Katherine Briggs or Isabel Myers and the MBTI® instruement, or even the mental functions. However, I feel that it is important for practitioners of Jung/Myers theory to have at least a basic understanding of Jung and the origins of his work. I feel this book is one that is understandable to the layperson and is a good place to start. Other books to read to get started on Jung are Jung for Beginners (Maggie Hyde & Michael McGuinness, Icon books Ltd., 1992), and another Jung for Beginners Jon Platania, Writers and Readers Publishing, Inc., 1997). There are several biographies of Jung that are also quite interesting to read as well. (See my website under bibliography/topics - Jung for other books.)
I felt this book was worthwhile and quite readable, but not one that you will likely devour in one sitting.