Jung and Kierkegaard by Amy Cook

Author:Amy Cook
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis (CAM)
Published: 2017-07-30T00:00:00+00:00

And both Kierkegaard and Jung would certainly concur in the assertion that pure contemplation, without active engagement, results in the disunity between knowledge and activity. The solely contemplative existence can only, according to Jung’s interpretation of authenticity, give rise to a one-sided personality. Similarly, this fundamental lack of correspondence between one’s inwardness and one’s actions fails to meet Kierkegaard’s understanding of truth. Goethe’s fear of a false inner tranquility, to my mind at least, finds resonance in the booming and ever so lucrative self-help culture with its mantra of accept your self. This kind of blind self-acceptance gives a dangerous autonomy to the self, and so there is a propensity towards saying the self one is, is fine and complete as it is – regardless of one’s actions that may be to the contrary. This is a self-knowledge without the criterion of judgement. Kierkegaard and Jung are able to relieve such fears for at the core of their understanding of authenticity is the very basic truth that what one does either contributes or detracts from the fulfillment of one’s self. Ultimately, the choices we make and our approach to life is what matters.

The importance of the process of decision making and responsibility cannot be over-estimated in Kierkegaard’s thought. The very creation of the various pseudonyms and the subsequent presentation of various viewpoints force the reader to choose among them. Essential to understanding Kierkegaard is to understand that the key to avoiding the barren quality of his contemporary Christian’s spiritual life is to never succumb to passivity. Kierkegaardian ideas of shouldering one’s responsibility and engaging in the decision-making process are similarly abundant in Jung. A quarter of a century ago Shelburne (1983) remarked that the ideas of Jung are seldom mentioned in conjunction with existentialism, and it is unfortunate that such a statement is as true today as it was then. It is remarkable that Jung, who had absolutely nothing positive to say about existentialist thinkers, should share such a significant existential perspective. His Red Book seems to my mind to have a very existentialist feel to it; for instance his insistence that the individual should not follow a personal or spiritual model but rather assume personal responsibility for his own life is a notable theme of the work, best summed up in his own words: ‘If you live according to an example, you thus live the life of that example, but who should live your own life if not yourself? So live yourselves’ (2009). The following quote aimed at existentialist thinkers is so reminiscent of Kierkegaard’s fantasied strip searching of Hegel, the removal of the ‘clothes and disguises’ of his language to the ends of letting his life speak for itself: ‘this credulity and entrapment in words is becoming more and more striking nowadays. Proof of this is the rise of such comical philosophy as existentialism, which labors to help being become being through the magical power of the word’ (1951–1961). This is not just a general lampooning of professors

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