Wednesday, August 21, 2019
Jungian archetypes in todayââ¬â¢s global society Essay Example for Free
Jungian archetypes in todayââ¬â¢s global society Essay This essay presents Jungian ââ¬Å"archetypesâ⬠derived from the theoretical formulations of Carl Gustav Jung aimed at understanding their impacts in todayââ¬â¢s global society. This essay also presents a list of individuals noted for their contributions for changing the image of the world totally different from those of the Medieval Periodââ¬â¢s and from these thoughts one can imagine the prospects of the future. This essay concludes with the citation of some present-day personalities, technologies, and significant events as objects of Jungââ¬â¢s archetypes. Jungââ¬â¢s theory of personality has tremendous influence on sociologyââ¬âââ¬Å"the science of society, social institutions, and social relationships [or] specifically the systematic study of the development, structure, interaction, and collective behavior of organized groups of human beingsâ⬠(Merriam-Webster 2004). In order to appreciate the impact of the personality theory of Jung in sociological settings, it is necessary to mention key components of the theoretical constructs foremost of which is the ââ¬Å"collective unconsciousâ⬠ââ¬âin which Jungian archetypes reside. The ââ¬Å"Egoâ⬠is the ââ¬Å"conscious mindâ⬠ââ¬âit is the seat of ââ¬Å"perceptions, memories, thoughts, and feelings â⬠¦ from the viewpoint of an individual person it is regarded as the center of consciousness,â⬠write Hall Lindsey (118). The ââ¬Å"Personal Unconsciousâ⬠is the ââ¬Å"region adjoining the ego â⬠¦ consists of experiences that were once conscious but which have been repressed, suppressed, forgotten, or ignoredâ⬠(118). Under the ââ¬Å"Personal Unconsciousâ⬠are various ââ¬Å"complexesâ⬠ââ¬âthe organized group or constellation of feelings, thoughts, perceptions, and memories; that have mental life of their own and have the capacity to seize the personality and to utilize for its end, like ââ¬Å"Napoleonââ¬â¢s lust for powerâ⬠(118). The ââ¬Å"Collective Unconsciousâ⬠ââ¬âconsidered as the ââ¬Å"storehouse of latent memory traces inherited from oneââ¬â¢s ancestral past, a past that includes not only the racial history of humans as a separate species but their prehuman or animal ancestry as well â⬠¦ [It is] the psychic residue of human evolutionary development, a residue that accumulates as a consequence of repeated experiences over many generations. â⬠If we humans today are afraid, for example, of the dark or of snakes, it is because our primitive parents ââ¬Å"encountered many dangers in the dark and were victims of poisonous snakes,â⬠write Hall and Lindzey (118). And ââ¬Å"what a person learns is substantially influenced by the collective unconscious that exercises a guiding or selective influence over the behavior of the person from the very beginning of life. â⬠Furthermore, the ââ¬Å"two unconscious regions of the mind, the personal and the collective, can be of immense service to humans â⬠¦ the unconscious holds possibilities which are locked away from the conscious mind, for it has its disposal all subliminal contents, all those things which have been forgotten or overlooked, as well as the wisdom and experience of uncounted centuries, which are laid down in its archetypal organsâ⬠(119-120). The ââ¬Å"structural components of the collective unconscious are called by various names: archetypes â⬠¦ primordial images â⬠¦ mythological images, and behavior patternsâ⬠quotes Hall and Lindzey of Jung (1943). ââ¬Å"An archetype is a universal thought (idea) form that contains a large element of emotionâ⬠(Hall and Lindzey 120). An example is the ââ¬Å"mother archetypeâ⬠ââ¬âan image or a perception of an individual recognized by an infant irregardless of race anywhere in the world. How can this happen? ââ¬Å"It is a permanent deposit in the mind of an experience that has been constantly repeated for many generations. â⬠(Hall and Lindzey 121). Another example is an image of the ââ¬Å"sunâ⬠which has been seen by all inhabitants of the world (except the blinds) rose in the east and set on the west horizonsââ¬âso that ââ¬Å"certain concepts and images of a supreme deity are off-shoots of the sun archetypeâ⬠(121). ââ¬Å"In a similar manner, humans have been exposed through their existence to innumerable instances of great natural forcesââ¬âearthquakes, waterfalls, floods, hurricanes, lightning, forest fires â⬠¦ Out of these experiences there has developed an archetype of energyâ⬠(121). On the other hand, two or more archetypes sometimes fuse together so that one can see the person of a ââ¬Å"Hitlerâ⬠as a form of fused archetypes of ââ¬Å"demon and hero â⬠¦ so that one gets a satanic leader. â⬠Furthermore, ââ¬Å"[m]yths, dreams, visions, rituals, neurotic and psychotic symptoms, and works of art contain a great deal of archetypal material, and constitute the best source of knowledge regarding archetypes,â⬠write Hall and Lindzey (122-123). Jung identified four key archetypes in his personality theoryââ¬âthey are briefly described here, namely: The ââ¬Å"Personaâ⬠ââ¬âis a ââ¬Å"mask adopted by the person in response to the demands of social convention and tradition and to his or her own inner archetypal needs,â⬠quote Hall and Lindzey of Jung (1945). This persona is the ââ¬Å"role assigned to one by society, the part that society expects one to play in life. The purpose of the mask is to make a definite impression upon others and it often â⬠¦ conceals the real nature of the person. The persona is the public personality â⬠¦ contrasted with private personality that exists behind the social facadeâ⬠(Hall and Lindzey 122). The person archetype ââ¬Å"originates out of the experiences of the race; in this case, the experiences consist of social interactions in which the assumption of a social role has served a useful purpose to humans throughout their history as social animalsâ⬠(122). The ââ¬Å"Anima and the Animusâ⬠ââ¬âit is ââ¬Å"fairly well recognized and accepted that a human is a bisexual animal. On a physiological level, the male secretes both male and female sex hormones, as does the female. On the psychological level, masculine and feminine characteristics are found in both sexesâ⬠¦. The feminine archetype in man is called the anima, the masculine archetype in woman is called the animus,â⬠quote Hall and Lindzey of Jung (1945, 1954b). These archetypes are the ââ¬Å"products of the racial experiences of man with woman and woman with man â⬠¦ by living with woman throughout the ages man has become feminized; by living with man woman has become masculinizedâ⬠(122-123). The ââ¬Å"Shadowâ⬠archetype consists of the animal instincts that humans inherited in their evolution from lower forms of life, cites Hall and Lindzey of Jung (1948a). Consequently, the shadow â⬠¦ typifies the animal side of human nature. As an archetype, ââ¬Å"the shadow is responsible for our conception of original sin; when it is projected outward it becomes the devil and an enemyâ⬠¦. [It is] responsible for the appearance in consciousness and behavior of unpleasant and socially reprehensible thoughts, feelings and actions. These then may either be hidden from public view by the persona or repressed into the personal unconsciousâ⬠(Hall and Lindzey 123). The ââ¬Å"Selfâ⬠archetype ââ¬Å"expresses itself in various symbols, the chief one being the mandala or magic circle,â⬠writes Jung (1955a). The self according to Jung is the total unity of all the systems that make up the personality. The self ââ¬Å"holds these systems together and provides the personality with unity, equilibrium, and stability. â⬠The self is ââ¬Å"lifeââ¬â¢s goal, a goal that people constantly strive for but rarely reach â⬠¦ it motivates human behavior and causes one to search for wholeness especially through the avenues provided by religion,â⬠and it is here where the ââ¬Å"figures of Christ and Buddha are as highly differentiated expressions of the self archetype as one will find in the modern world,â⬠write Hall Lindzey (124). The foregoing presented an overview of the key Jungian archetypes. Hall and Lindzey write that the ââ¬Å"most salient feature of Jungââ¬â¢s theory of personality â⬠¦ is the emphasis that he places upon the forward-going character of personality development â⬠¦ [that] humans are constantly progressing or attempting to progress from a less complete stage of development to a more complete one â⬠¦ [and] that mankind as a species is constantly evolving more differentiated forms of existenceâ⬠(134). Table 1 shows the Table of Contents of a special edition of the Readerââ¬â¢s Digest magazine capturing the significant contributions of popular and important persons the world has ever produced so far. Each one of the persons mentioned walked in the alleys of human endeavors leaving a legacy that benefited many generations to come after theirs including todayââ¬â¢s generation. Table 1. Table of Contents of a Pocket Book on ââ¬Å"popular and important subjects. â⬠Adapt from Readerââ¬â¢s Digest (n. d. ) I. Giants of the World of Scienceââ¬âCopernicus: The man who moved the World (pp. 3-8); Galileoââ¬âBold Discoverer (pp.9-14); Sir Isaac Newton, Explorer of the Universe (pp. 15-20); The Evolution of Charles Darwin (pp. 21-28); Albert Einstein, the man, and the Theory (pp. 29-33). II. They Opened Our Mindsââ¬âSocrates: A One-Man Turning Point in History (pp. 37-42); What Plato Says to Us (pp. 43-48); Aristotle: Master Mind of 300 B. C. (pp. 49-52); Listen to Wisdom of Confucius (pp. 53-56); William James and the Adventure of Being Human (pp. 57-66); Emersonââ¬â¢s vital Message for Today (pp. 67-74). III. They Sought the True Wayââ¬âThe Man Called Jesus (pp. 77-82); Saint Paul ââ¬â Apostle to All Men (pp. 83-88); Islam: the Misunderstood Religion (pp.89-98); Buddha, ââ¬Å"The Enlightened Oneâ⬠(pp. 99-104). IV. They Fought for Democracyââ¬âThomas Jefferson, Architect of Democracy (pp. 107-112); The Prodigious Gifts of Benjamin Franklin (pp. 113-118); Woodrow Wilsonââ¬â¢s fight for Peace (pp. 119-124); ââ¬Å"We Must Never Deny Our Gratitudeâ⬠: A Portrait of Winston Churchill (pp. 125-130). V. They Opened the Doorââ¬âColumbus: He Knew the World Was Round (pp. 133-140); Westward ââ¬â With Lewis and Clark (pp. 141-148); And Then Came Ford (pp. 149-158); Alexander Graham Bell: The Man Who Tied the World Together (pp. 159-164). VI. Apostle of Human Rightsââ¬âAbraham Lincolnââ¬â¢s Hardest Decision (pp.167-172); Mr. Thoreau of Walden Pond (pp. 173-180); Gandhi: Apostle of Non-Violence (pp. 181-188). VII. Giants of the Artsââ¬âLeonardo da Vinci: The Firs Modern (pp. 191-198); Delacroix: He Opened the Door to Modern Art (pp. 199-202); Pablo Picasso, Artist of the Century (pp. 203-208); Beethoven the Incredible (pp. 209-214); Frederic Chopin: Poet of the Piano (pp. 215-218); Mozart, Musicââ¬â¢s Wonder Child (pp. 219-224). VIII. They Took Us Into the Futureââ¬âThe Day the Atomic Age Was Born (pp. 227-232); We Tamed Penicillin (pp. 233-238); With Ranger VII-To the Moon (pp. 239-245). What is the goal of human development? Toward what end are humans and mankind striving? Hall and Lindzeyââ¬â¢s answer to these questions is this: the ââ¬Å"ultimate goal is summed up by the term self-realization. Self-realization means the fullest, most complete differentiation and harmonious blending of all aspects of a humanââ¬â¢s total personality. â⬠To this end, there is one significant thing that appears to be consistent in all human historyââ¬âthis is what Hall and Lindzey write as ââ¬Å"progressâ⬠which ââ¬Å"did not stop with the creation of humans; just as humans represent an advancement over all other species of animals, so does civilized man represent an improvement over primitive manâ⬠(134). Meanwhile, Koontz, Oââ¬â¢Donnell, and Heinz Weihrich, write ââ¬Å"Every group of people that performs near its total capability has some person as its head who is skilled in the art of leadership [with] â⬠¦ at least three major ingredientsââ¬âthe ability to comprehend that human beings have differing motivating forces at varying times and in different situations, the ability to inspire, and the ability to act in a way that will develop a climate for responding to an arousing motivationsâ⬠(663). Who are the prime persons and entities in the 1990ââ¬â¢s and in the current decade that could have influenced the direction of the world affairs in todayââ¬â¢s ââ¬Å"global societyâ⬠? I have a few names to mention before ending this essay: the introduction of the ââ¬Å"internetâ⬠in the early 1990ââ¬â¢s that almost shattered the communication barriers overnight with Bill Gatesââ¬â¢s Microsoft Internet Explorer; George W. Bush, Sr. and the first Gulf War in the Middle East that reinforced the resentment of the Muslim world against Christendom and in particular the United States; Osama Bin Landen and the 9/11 terrorism; George W. Bush, Jr. and Weapons of Mass Destruction with Iraq War; astronomy and the Hubble Space Telescope that captured close-up photos of far-flung universes never before seen (Voit); and the twin rovers that traversed the Martian face with Intelââ¬â¢s microprocessors as enablers of nanotechnology. These never-ceasing human endeavors reflect Jungââ¬â¢s archetypal descriptions present in all human undertakings in any given society around the world. References Hall, Calvin S. , and Gardner Lindzey. Theories of Personality. 3rd Ed.. New York, NY: Wiley, 1978. Koontz, Harold, Cyril Oââ¬â¢Donnell, and Heinz Weihrich. Management. 7th ed. Tokyo, Japan: McGraw, 1980. They Changed Our World. Editors of Readerââ¬â¢s Digest. USA: Berkely, (n. d. ). Voit, Mark. Hubble space telescope: new views of the universe. Ed. Himmel, Eric. New York, NY: Abrams.
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