Sigmund Vs. Jung

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Fundamental Ideas

Jung combined an endless curiosity about the depths of the human psyche with a diverse, eclectic set of interests ranging from both Eastern and Western religions and philosophy to mysticism, mythology and anthropology. He sought an integration of psychology with spiritual experience as he investigated the nature of the human condition from our very beginnings to the modern age, and pondered our likely future.

Contributions to the field of psychology

Jung taught, these archetypes then “actualize,” as particular individual experiences organize

themselves around the various “pegs” provided by the archetypes, determining the specific

qualities that any given person associates with that particular archetypal concept. He believed that certain archetypes took center stage in his model of the psyche; the shadow, the anima/animus and self.

Relevance of their theory

Jung’s theory divides the psyche into three parts. The ego is the conscious mind. It includes anything that is not presently conscious, but can be. The collective unconscious he calls the “psychic inheritance”. This would be a kind of knowledge that we are all born with, but are never conscious of. It influences all our behaviors and experiences. In between the Ego and the external world, serving as a filter for what comes in, as well as a means of controlling what we show to others, is the Persona.

Chapter 3 – Discussion

Both Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung defined the world of psychology! At one time they were actually friends and worked together, so close that Freud was once like a father figure to Jung, but split ways years down the road. Although they both had a passion to further the study of the unconscious psyche, they had 5 main disagreement areas. The first was their conception of the conscious. Freud believed that the unconscious mind was based on trauma, repressed thoughts, sexual drives and aggression and that it is not bound by morality. It only wants to satisfy pleasure. Jung believed that are unconscious was both recalled and repressed and that we are born with a specific knowledge from our ancestors. Another disagreement the two had was about dreams. Freud believed that the core of our dreams had to do with sexually repressed desires that could not be acted out while conscious because of fear of embarrassment, forcing those feelings to be acted out in dreams. Jung believed that dreams had many different meanings. His theory was that dreams portray both the conscious and the unconscious: thoughts, feelings, emotions, people and places from one’s day. Freud and Jung’s biggest disagreement their view of human motivation. Freud thought that sex and sexuality were everything, whereas, Jung believed that one is motivated by psyche energy. For example, Freud had a strange belief that the daughter of a family resented the mother and wanted her father’s penis. Everything was sexual to him. Jung believed that the relationship between mother and child was based on the love and protection she had for the child. Another disagreement of theirs was their belief in the paranormal. Freud had little time for such ideas and was a complete sceptic on the idea, while Jung had many paranormal experiences and believed in telepathy and synchronicity. The final thing they did not agree on was religion. Freud had a Jewish background, while Jung explored Eastern philosophers and religions. Although the few had quite a few similarities, like the importance of dreams and the unconscious mind, they had different theories and beliefs on many different things.

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References

Freud and Bonaparte, 2009 (p. 238-239)

Mcleod, S.A. (2013) www.simplypsychology.org/sigmund-freud.html

Theory of Personality “Boundless Psychology”, 17 August, 2016

Boeree C. George (1997, 2006) http://www.ship.edu/%7Ecgboeree/perscontents.html

Myers, Alfred M.A., 12 November, 2008, www.soultherapynow.com/articles/carl-jung.html

Plotnik, R., Kouyoumdijan, H., (2014) Introduction to Psychology Tenth Edition