Carl Jung Research Paper

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Carl Jung was a well-known and influential psychologist of the 20th century. He founded many psychological ideas such as extroverted and introverted personalities, archetypes, and the collective unconscious. Jung’s main focus, within his studies, was psychology but he also incorporated other subjects such as religion, mythology, and alchemy. He developed a rapid interest in alchemy late in life, after having a vivid dream about a library of archaic books. He eventually came to have a library like this as his own. After intensive research, Carl Jung adapted the notion that alchemy was a metaphor for the psychological processes rather than being an actual alchemical experiment. Some of his developed ideas included the thought that the contents of the alchemists’ psyche became unconsciously projected on the materials. Jung was able to align alchemical symbols with his theories in psychology, creating further and in depth ideas. He also believed that the alchemical language, which was used during experiments or later to describe them, was an expression of the psychological processes. Formulating his own perspective on the ideas of alchemy was the turning point in Carl Jung’s career, leading to a substantial change in his approach to psychology in that he was able to match alchemical symbols with his theory of individuation.
Carl Jung was born in 1875 in the country of Switzerland and later passed in 1961. He was a very influential psychologist who founded the habits of analytic psychology in response to Freud’s psychoanalytic theory. He had many findings and research that still affect psychology today. As a child, Jung spent most of his time alone and, thus, had a rather disappointing childhood. He felt happiest wh...

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...er one of Carl Jung’s ideas about alchemy that relates to psychology is the belief that, during experiments, the alchemists’ psyche became unconsciously projected onto the materials and outcome of the experiment. He says that alchemists’ would unconsciously put their own thoughts and psyche into their experiments causing them to think they are doing experiments chemically, but their own unconscious is seen instead. The real nature of the matter was truly unknown to the alchemists, in Jung’s mind; they only knew hints about what could happen. They seek to explore it and supposedly put their unconscious into the darkness to further illuminate the alchemical experience. In reality, their own psychic background is projected and that is what is explained in the encounters. Overall, Carl Jung’s exploration of alchemy only made his theories stronger and more successful.

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