Swiss pspchoanalyst; founder of the school of analytic pspchology.
Swiss psychologist born in Kesswil, the son of a pastor of the Swiss Reform Church. Jung studied at both the universities of Basel and Zurich, receiving his degree in 1902, and had a background in biology, zoology, paleontology, and archaeology. He eventually formulated a psychological system based on broad realms of study and partly on the occult beliefs of his day. Two of his basic doctrines that of the archetypes and that of Synchronicity have been shown to be without the clinical basis that Jung claimed for them.
In 1907 Jung met Sigmund Freud and there began a close association, with at first Jung defending Freudian theories. But in 1912, with the publication of Jung’s Psychology of the Unconscious, Jung split with Freud over his very different concept of libido; Jung views this as total psychic energy, disagreeing with Freud that libido is restricted to sexuality. Biographers of both Jung and Freud say that the relationship was doomed from the start because both men were prone to dogmatic assertions. Neither were strictly scientifically orientated; each started from different preconceptions and their similarly stubborn characters drove them further and further apart. To explain neuroses, Freud tried to establish causal links going back to childhood that implied a somewhat mechanistic view of human nature. Jung’s notion of analytical psychology instead placed humans into an historical context, which he said gave their lives meaning and dignity. This view, diametrically opposed to Freud’s, implied a place in a purposeful universe, and so was metaphysical. While Freudian analysis dominated the academic world, Jung was adopted as a GURU by the new age movement.