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In this work the author gives a simple interpretation of the findings and ideas of Jung and his pupils, the so-called Zurich School of Analytical Psychology, regarding “primitive” man and the common stuff of human nature. The introduction is written by Bronislaw Malinowski, who points out that the structure of human civilizations'must remain an incomplete study until the relations of culture to physical environment and to human biological equipment have been determined.
The two essential hypotheses in the book are (1) the existence and activity of a racial unconscious as the fundamental basis of cultural phenomena, and (2) the overwhelming importance of a gregarious instinct in the development of society. Malinowski's viewpoint is opposed to both of these hypotheses, but he considers them as important questions to be solved by the combined efforts of psychology and anthropology. There is a foreword by Jung emphasizing the importance of the rôle of analytic psychology in solving the various problems in primitive psychology and the necessity for utilizing the assistance of mythology, folklore, history, and comparative religion to this end.
The “collective unconscious” is defined as consisting of all habits of our human and prehuman ancestors which have persisted so long as to mould the configuration of the psyche; therefore, the manner in which the collective unconscious manifests itself is of importance as an indicator of what to study in the primitive mind. It is emphasized that directed thinking (as Jung understands it) is a very recent development, of about six lives long (300 years); it being fortunate for the human race that it did not exist in primitive times, since it would have had an exterminating effect. Primitive man had to act more instinctively, as in those times the rational weighing of chances, hesitations, postponed decisions, etc., the results of directed thinking, would have led to destruction of society and of the individual.
Through the various chapt