Jung and the Question of Science by Raya A. Jones

Author:Raya A. Jones
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9781317932673
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Published: 2013-12-16T16:00:00+00:00

Kinds of inference

To apply a theory of myth is to apply a generalization about myth. There are three main questions about myth: what is the origin, what is the function, and what is the subject matter? Not all theories, to be sure, claim to answer all three questions. Some answer only one question or only two questions. But both Frazer’s and Jung’s theories answer all three questions.

A theory gives a generalized answer to whichever question it considers. It purports to answer the question not merely for any one myth or a group of myths but for all myths. The answer given is the same for every myth. Theories do not deny the differences among myths but instead seek the similarities. They claim not that all myths are identical but that all myths are similar enough to have the same origin, function, or subject matter.

There are three kinds of scientific generalizations: deductive, inductive, and abductive. To take just the Jungian application: all three generalizations would attribute the life of Adonis to his being a puer personality, just as for Frazer all three generalizations would attribute the life of Adonis to his symbolizing the course of vegetation.

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