Short Introduction to Carl Jung.

You cannot talk about modern philosophy and psychology without including Carl Jung.

For he is among the few influential figures in these fields to this day. Jung dedicated his life to helping people understand and examine their mental lives in order to live a rich and full life just like the way he lived out his own life.

He had a difficult teenage and often found himself on the wrong side with his father. I am going in memory here now and I remember Jung being forced to pursue a career which his parents wanted and yet he never wanted to do that himself.

He ended up studying psychology and painted that world with much of his original ideas. For example, the ideas of introvert and extrovert are originally by Carl Jung. In general, his ideas are remembered today even despite being overshadowed by his mate by the name Sigmund Freud.

By the way, I remember in my university psychology class, there was little mention of Jung. In fact, many university students know of Sigmund as the father of modern psychology. But Jung had a different view of things about the way of human consciousness and freedom. That is why in this email, we are going to see three of his main philosophies of life from a psychological perspective.

The goal of this introduction is to make you have an understanding of what we will be talking about in future emails in regard to the influence brought to the world by Carl Jung..

We begin!

The idea of the unconscious.

In this big idea, Jung taught that there is a large part of our mind that we don't know. This means that we normally get thoughts which we cannot tell their origin. It it is not just thoughts but also feelings. While we are unaware of the origins of these thoughts and feelings, we often act out on them which in turn affects the quality of life we get here. So in short, the way that I see it is that much of our lives are unknown to us and can only be known with careful examination.  

The idea of archetypes.

This is the idea that we as humans have commonalities in our minds in many other people around the world. Our feelings and thoughts, even if the origins are unknown, are not unique to us. We have people out there who feel and think and act the same way like we do. That makes our lives similar to the population.

The idea of Individuation.

While we have common ways of feeling and thinking and acting which as we have seen by now are normally unknown, we are still unique human beings with the potential of a unique way of living and seeing the world. According to Jung, individuation is a process of personal development which involves separating ourselves from the masses and choosing our unique life path for optimum happiness and success.

He is worthy of study!

Carl Jung is the person to study if you want the classic ideas in psychology.

While we have other great psychologists like Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung had a different approach to psychology. His ideas are quite underrated and not taught much in public universities. And what we have just talked about are some of his main ideas among many ideas which we may not have talked about. But those three are helpful and will be explored much deeper in future emails

Keep an eye on future emails and if you have any insights, do not hesitate to write back to me. I understand that writing is difficult so if you are just enjoying reading, no need to write back.

THE END

In your inbox soon,

Nick

P.S

I’ve added something new for those who enjoy Nick’s Letters.

They’re called Support Cards. Nick's letter support cards are small, one-time ways to show love for the work I share here.

Each card represents a contribution to this writing journey, and to the ideas I try to explore: self-employment, freedom, craft, clarity... and all the rough roads in between.

There are three support cards. A black one, a silver one and a gold one.

The black support card is low tier and you can buy it at only KES157.

The silver support card is mid tier and you can buy it for only KES387.

The gold support card is premium tier and you can buy it at only KES1061.

Are you going to walk with me? Payment is via mpesa or card.

Buy by clicking on the individual links below.

The black support card.

The silver support card.

The gold support card.