On Jung's Theory of Ethics

In this paper I will examine some elements of Jung's theory of ethics.

Before I start, I find it important to note that my outlook is grounded not in psychology, but in philosophy. I do not have any personal experience of the therapeutic work and practice that gives its special colouring to an analyst's interpretation and understanding of Jung's theories. As the French philosopher Paul Ricoeur said, when he was working on Freud's writings, I claim neither the expertise of the analyst nor the experience of the analysand, but rather the competence of a philosopher who examines a world view presented in texts, in order to understand it, and to evaluate it. My approach is, in this sense, theoretical; it is not clinically orientated.

Although Jung has received recognition as an important and original thinker of the twentieth century, most philosophers refused, until recently, to give him any consideration. He was promptly written off as an eclectic, a mystic, as a lunatic who wasted his time writing books about such strange and unimportant things as alchemy, astrology, parapsychology, and flying saucers. Obviously, on the face of it, not someone to take very seriously. However, in the last ten or fifteen years, this attitude has changed somewhat. If twentieth-century philosophers have devoted most of their attention, in psychology, to Freud, some are starting to realize the usefulness of examining Jung's ideas from a philosophical perspective. In this paper, I will look at Jung's theory of ethics, in order to gain a better understanding of what light his psychology can shed on this dimension of human life.

My paper is divided into four sections of unequal length. I will begin with a few remarks on the importance of ethics in Jung's writings and in analytical psychology. The second part of my presentation will examine the importance of subjectivism in Jung's ethics. I will then look at his distinction between morality and ethics. Then, in order better to understand his insis