Letter from C. G. Jung to Sigmund Freud, June 8, 1912

1003 Seestrasse, Küsnach-Zürich,

8 June 1912

Dear Professor Freud,

Many thanks for kindly sending me your offprint, “Recommendations,”1 so excellent in content and worthy of emulation!

On the question of incest, I am grieved to see what powerful affects you have mobilized for your counter-offensive against my suggestions. Since I think I have objective reasons on my side, I am forced to stand by my interpretation of the incest concept, and see no way out of the dilemma. It is not for frivolous reasons or from regressive prejudices that I have been led to this formulation, as will, I hope, become clear to you when you read my painstaking and intricate examination of the whole problem in my second part. The parallel with Adler is a bitter pill; I swallow it without a murmur. Evidently this is my fate. There is nothing to be done about it, for my reasons are overwhelming. I set out with the idea of corroborating the old view of incest, but was obliged to see that things are different from what I expected.

Dr. van Renterghem of Amsterdam is with me for instruction in analysis. He is 67 years old, a psychologically compensated regicide. This is what drives him to Canossa2 in his old age.

I am hard at work on my American lectures. They are about the theory of ΨA (sexual theory, libido theory, etc.).

Until a few days ago I was away in the mountains for another military exercise—all rather hectic. Some of my mail got lost, so I hope you didn't write to me just then. The last thing I had from you was a postcard.3

The fact that you felt no need to see me during your visit to Kreuzlingen must, I suppose, be attributed to your displeasure at my development of the libido theory. I hope we shall be able to come to an understanding on controversial points later on. It seems I shall have to go my own way for some time to come. But you know how obstinate we Swiss are.

With kind regards,