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Dr Mattoon, a Jungian analyst and academic psychologist, has undertaken a Herculean task in her careful and methodical summation of Jung's extensive writings. This tour de force of a book is geared to a wide audience. Its origins are in her extensive experience in lecturing to psychology students in universities.
In attempting to combine a Jungian theoretical approach with the empirical approach of academic psychology, it covers a great deal of important ground. It provides a good introduction for those unfamiliar with the theory and language of analytical psychology. For the most part it is clear, crisp and literate in style. It is not just a primer outlining Jung's basic notions, but attempts to be a comprehensive assessment of the current relevance and impact of Jung's work on the contemporary scene.
Jung is acknowledged as one of the foremost psychological thinkers of the twentieth century. His influence outside the fields of psychiatry and psychology is considerable, yet within these fields, his contributions have either been ignored, or acknowledged through the back door. Few academic psychologists have shown interest in the main body of Jungian theory and practice.
Mattoon reminds us that Jung was a scientist and empiricist. In his theories he set forth data gleaned from his comparative study of myths, fairy tales, anthropology, alchemy, religion, dreams, and his own clinical and experimental research. Although he repeatedly insisted that he was more interested in discovering facts than in formulating theories, Jung has been accused of abandoning the more traditional scientific approach which he used in his studies of word association, dementia praecox and psychological types. Mattoon points out the general confusion between empirical material and the findings of experimental research, and points to other acceptable methods of collecting data.
Jungian theory, like its Freudian counterpart, grew from a tradition of clinical observation that began with Charcot and