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Books > Social sciences > Psychology > States of consciousness
Essays which state the fundamentals of Jung's psychological
system: "On the Psychology of the Unconscious" and "The Relations
Between the Ego and the Unconscious," with their original versions
in an appendix.
Three particular themes are basic to this study. First, that the
human race and its environment are involved in a slowly progressive
process of revelation and understanding of its inherent features.
And that we are all participating in this ongoing evolutionary
cycle. Second, and closely related to the first tenet, man is not
separable from his environment. We all share in this cyclic
development. Third, that our egoic structures, with the data and
experiences they involve, can play a key role in our personal
understanding of this ongoing developmental process. The role of
the ego is paradoxical. It can be a relatively stable reference
used to enhance personal insight concerning its own dynamic
structure and similar aspects of its environment. Or it can be
maintained with a rigidity that hinders progressive learning. That
is, the ego unit has the dual possibilities of affording a focus
aiding progressive insight, or becoming a barrier that temporarily
diminishes it. The aim of this study is therefore to reduce
possible restrictive rigidity as we investigate the role of the
egoic unit in seeking greater understanding of its own dynamic
structures and their similarly dynamic environment. To pursue this
aim we refer to insights from medical practice, philosophy and
science. The underlying awareness of an evolving consciousness
means that the insights and ideas presented are shared in the
expectation that they too will be modified in due course. But if
they help provoke interest and insight concerning the paradoxical
nature o f our personal processes, they will have served their
purpose.
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