Jung and his teachings on the subconscious

Abstract

Although it is possible to see similarities between the psychoanalytic theory of Swiss psychologist Carl Gustav Jung and Freud's theory of psychoanalysis, psychoanalytic theory differs from Freud's theory in terms of explaining the subconscious.

It is known that Jung was a student of Freud in the early years of his studies and that they worked closely together for a while. Their disagreements and parting of ways were about the subconscious. Jung wrote about this in "The Psychology of the Subconscious" (Jung, 2001) and opposed Freud's pansexuality.

Contrary to Freud's pansexual position, Jung argued that the subconscious had a greater content than "repressed sexual and aggressive tendencies". Jung stated that in addition to eros, there was divinity and a common aspect of all people in the subconscious, and he called this "creative life energy".

Jung, who did not accept that the subconscious was specific to the person, put forward an idea about the collective subconscious that existed deeper in the structure of the personality. Jung showed that the collective unconscious is the most powerful and effective psychic system and that in pathological cases it includes the ego and the personal unconscious. Jung believed that the collective unconscious was composed of archetypes, which are primitive mental images. An archetype is a universal form of thought that has an important emotional element. Archetypes are innate ideas and impressions. The self archetype is more important in Jung's theory. This archetype unites the elements in its environment and forms the essence of the personality. When the soul is fully integrated, the person feels unity, wholeness and harmony. According to Jung, the self is the main purpose of human life. The purpose of this article is to examine K. G. Jung's views on the subconscious and the most important of the archetypes he brought to science, the self archetype (self – Eng.), and to show its place and role in mental development.