medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Richard Landes <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> i like jung a lot, but you should know that he behaved very badly when the
nazis came to power, and that his theory of archetypes (as well as its
occultist origins) was part of what allowed him to be seduced by the power of
national socialism (itself drawing heavily on the german brand of theosophy,
ariosophy). apologists have tried to make little of it, and it's not as bad
as say heidigger.
i'm at something of a loss to see how Jung's relationship to the nazis --or
even, in and of itself, the supposed "origins" of his archetypical theory in
"occultist" [meaning what, eggsactly, alchemy?] predecessors-- has much at all
to do with either the validity or the utility of his ideas.
surely they must stand or fall on their own legs, just as Heidigger's
phenomenology --or Spengler's "Morphology of Cultures" idea-- does/do/did.
lots of otherwise seemingly sane folks were "seduced by the power of national
socialism", especially in the beginning, and, while this may say something
about their naiveté --or even their morality-- it does not *necessarily* tell
us much about the value or validity of their theories, especially in fields
other than politics, as far as i can see.
>but generally, western positivists feel uncomfortable when people start
talking about the contents of the psyche as objectively real.
is it necessary to treat "the contents of the psyche" in the same way as a
middlevil Realist treated Universals? (i assume that we may say that they
thought that U.s were "objectively real".)
i'm not up on my Jung in any detail at all, but does *he* speak of "the
contents of the psyche as objectively real"?
>and it's one area that post-modernists have not chosen to tread (maybe,
ironically, too grounded?).
well, some might say that the "post-modernists" deserve to be given the same
"F-word" treatment as my illustrious Vice Prezziedint used on the floor of the
Senate of the United States of America last week.
>See Richard Noll, The Aryan Christ: The Secret Life of Carl Jung.
The Aryan Christ : the secret life of Carl Jung / Richard Noll.
Edition: 1st ed.
Published: New York : Random House, c1997.
Description: xvi, 334 p., [16] p. of plates
Random House is certainly a good ole publisher.
maybe that's why the Indiana University Library doesn't have a copy of this
particular work.
does Noll suggest that Jung's ideas about archetypes are invalidated by his
"seduction by the power of national socialism" ?
best from here, and waiting to hear,
christopher
"What about the older ones [Indians] ?"
"Well, we can't seem to cure them of the idea that our Everyday Life is only
an Illusion, behind which is the Reality of Dreams"
--Werner Herzog's "Fitzcarraldo"
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0083946
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