Papers by George Hogenson
ABSTRACT The invitation to contribute an essay for this book stimulated George Hogenson to reflec... more ABSTRACT The invitation to contribute an essay for this book stimulated George Hogenson to reflect upon how he originally began his reading of Jung and how his reading has developed since the early 1970s. While preparing to write a doctoral dissertation, Hogenson drew on Jung's late work on syn-chronicity to better understand Leibnitz's interest in alchemy. He discovered , however, that Jung's work must be regarded as a coherent whole. Consequently, he returned to Jung's early work and wrote his dissertation on Jung's struggle with Freud. Currently, he sees Jung as an ongoing intellectual challenge and provocation. Jung does not propose a complete and finished theory of the psyche, but rather presents observations and hypotheses that ask later thinkers to take his theoretical constructs – such as archetypes, synchronicity, and the psychoid unconscious – as points of departure for further investigation. Hogenson urges us to bring Jung into a dialogue with both the history of science and ongoing scientific research. Sustained engagement with a single figure or text, particularly if it extends over the better part of a person's life, raises questions about the person's deepest intellectual commitments and passions. Early in my own work on Jung, my friend and teacher George Schrader may have come as close as anyone as to why I was embarking on what has been my life project ever since. George was, at the time, one of the leading Kant scholars in the world, and I had spent a great deal of time with him working on Kant's Critique of Pure Reason,
The San Francisco Jung Institute Library Journal, Dec 20, 2013
... Linda Ellis (Linda Ellis. The Cucuteni-Tripolye Culture: A Study in Technology and the Origin... more ... Linda Ellis (Linda Ellis. The Cucuteni-Tripolye Culture: A Study in Technology and the Origins ofComplex Society. Oxford, BAR Inter-national Series 217, 1984), herself a sUldent of Gimbutas's, has shown that the settlelnents ...
The San Francisco Jung Institute Library Journal, 1991
Journal of Analytical Psychology, Nov 1, 2003
Journal for The Theory of Social Behaviour, Sep 1, 1987
This paper outlines an ethological theory of discourse and behavior that is usually ignored, or a... more This paper outlines an ethological theory of discourse and behavior that is usually ignored, or at best misconstrued, in discussions of the political significance of myth and ritual.' The theory holds that myth and ritual are constitutive elements of political reality, and that attempts to understand political myth and ritual must recognize this constitutive role. My argument is that while there are circumstances under which myths and rituals can be politically dysfunctional or perverse, even pathological, myth and ritual are not intrinsically deficient modes of discourse and action. Rather, myth and ritual should be recognized as important adaptive mechanisms for both the individual and the group. This adaptive function is fulfilled by myth and ritual because at their most elementary level they provide a form of homeostatic regulation of critical aspects of individual and group interaction with the environment. An important aspect of this regulatory process is, in turn, maintainance of both discursive and behavioral definitions of the status of the individual and the condition of the group. Ethological and evolutionary theories have been part of discussions of myth since the early years of this century when they became a point of dispute between Sigmund Freud and C. G. Jung. As we have gained greater
The San Francisco Jung Institute Library Journal, Dec 18, 2013
AbsractGeorge B. Hogenson, “Distinguishing the Forest from the Trees,” The San Fran-cisco Jung In... more AbsractGeorge B. Hogenson, “Distinguishing the Forest from the Trees,” The San Fran-cisco Jung Institute Library Journal, 2005, 24:1, 29-41. Review of Deirdre Bair, Jung: A Biography, Boston, Little Brown, 2003. Deirdre Bair has written an exceptionally detailed life of Jung. In that degree, it will likely be the standard reference for the foreseeable future, regardless of the quibbles that may be addressed to it. Nevertheless, the author's attention to detail in this biography, valuable though it is, is judged to miss the mark in terms of capturing the depths of the subject-C. G. Jung-or the motivations for his life and work. The project as a whole is considered in the context of the role of biography in the establishment of a science, with some reference to other works on the life of Jung.
Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, 1981
The paper develops an understanding of empathy by considering the role of time in distinct empath... more The paper develops an understanding of empathy by considering the role of time in distinct empathic situations. Beginning with a brief review of the history of the concept of empathy the argument proceeds to the notion that empathy entails the universalization of an individual's experience. This results in the domination of the experience of the other by appeal to what is termed the "always." Depth psychology, especially in Jungian form, shows us that empathy can in fact take this highly negative form by way of projection. The association of empathy and projection brings us to the question of how one confronts the death of the other in an empathic manner. Here the problem of one's individual temporality becomes crucial. In order to retain the unique and the personal experience of one's own death as a prospect in the future it is necessary to overcome any empathic relationship to the person who has died. This necessity gives rise to a hermeneutic of empathy which seeks to overcome the experience of the "always."
Psychoanalytic Social Work, Jul 27, 2000
ABSTRACT The work of C. G. Jung has been largely neglected in recent discussions of time-limited ... more ABSTRACT The work of C. G. Jung has been largely neglected in recent discussions of time-limited psychotherapy. Notwithstanding this state of affairs, this paper argues that much is to be gained from familiarity with Jung's view on treatment. A brief overview of Jung's general system of psychology is presented, and contrasts are drawn to the work of Freud. Several distinctive characteristics of Jung's view of the clinical process are then identified, and a discussion of the course of treatment is provided with a brief reference to a case of Jung's and to the author's experience working with gay men.
Journal of Analytical Psychology, Sep 1, 2022
Journal of Analytical Psychology, Sep 1, 2010
Goodwyn's paper is written to support Jung's view that archetypes are innate organizing... more Goodwyn's paper is written to support Jung's view that archetypes are innate organizing structures in the collective human psyche, based on an implicit assumption that there is a ground plan or blueprint of the human psyche inherited in our genes and that this blueprint contains the ...
Journal of Analytical Psychology, Jun 1, 2009
The discovery of mirror neurons by researchers at the University of Parma promises to radically a... more The discovery of mirror neurons by researchers at the University of Parma promises to radically alter our understanding of fundamental cognitive and affective states. This paper explores the relationship of mirror neurons to Jung's theory of archetypes and proposes that archetypes may be viewed as elementary action patterns. The paper begins with a review of a proposed interpretation of the fainting spells of S. Freud in his relationship with Jung as an example of an action pattern that also defines an archetypal image. The challenge that mirror neurons present to traditional views in analytical psychology and psychoanalysis, however, is that they operate without recourse to a cognitive processing element. This is a position that is gaining increasing acceptance in other fields as well. The paper therefore reviews the most recent claims made by the Boston Process of Change Study Group as well as conclusions drawn from dynamic systems views of development and theoretical robotics to underline the conclusion that unconscious agency is not a requirement for coherent action. It concludes with the suggestion that this entire body of research may lead to the conclusion that the dynamic unconscious is an unnecessary hypothesis in psychoanalysis and analytical psychology.
Journal of Analytical Psychology, Mar 30, 2009
The paper considers the role of synchronicity in the establishment of meaning in analysis, and li... more The paper considers the role of synchronicity in the establishment of meaning in analysis, and links it to the notion of moments of meeting proposed by the Boston Process of Change Study Group. In so doing, the paper proposed to view synchronicity as an element in developmental processes, wherein attributions of meaningfulness are made in relation to patterns of action that do not have intrinsic meaning, but which have evolved in an environment of meaning, thereby bootstrapping the infant into the world of meaning. Jung's paradigmatic example of synchronicity--the scarab beetle event--is examined in this context and the argument is made that the event was primarily meaningful for Jung and carried with it important countertransference implications that Jung did not consider. The paper concludes with some suggestions for further investigation into the relationship between synchronicity and clinical practice.
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Papers by George Hogenson