I recently came across several ideas from Naomi L. Quenk's "Beside Ourselves: Our Hidden Personality in Everyday Life" which I feel pertain to, and provide insight on a lot of the material we discuss in class. Quenk's book is an interpretation and application of the work of Carl G. Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist who studied under Freud.
Excerpt from Chapter 1: Jungian Psychology and Hidden Personality: The Principle of Compensation
"Psychological opposites are essential for the whole of Jung's personality theory, just as they are for his type theory. This opposition provides a way for our psyches to correct one-sidedness. Jung called the mechanism for correcting one-sidedness compensation."
Excerpt from Appendix B: Selected Quotations From Jung on His Typology: Differentiation of Functions
"So long as a function is still fused with one or more of the other functions--thinking with feeling, feeling with sensation, etc--that it is unable to operate on its own, it is...not differentiated, not separated from the whole as a special part and existing by itself. Undifferentiated thinking is incapable of thinking apart from other functions; it is continually mixed up with sensations and fantasies... To the extent that a function is largely or wholly unconscious, it is also undifferentiated; it is not only fused together in its parts but also merged with the functions... Without differentiation direction is impossible, since the direction of a function towards a goal depends on the elimination of anything irrelevant. Fusion with the irrelevant precludes direction; only a differentiated function is capable of being directed."
These quotes create solid iteration of how I interpreted the post-accident affects of Phineas Gage and Elliot from "Descartes Error" in their abilities to perform certain functions. I remember in particular Elliot's inability to effectively sort papers etc. I feel that this quote is a good depiction of the failure of these processes: "Without differentiation direction is impossible, since the direction of a function towards a goal depends on the elimination of anything irrelevant." I find the idea of various personality characteristics struggling to work harmoniously very interesting. Jung proposes that if one characteristic becomes dominant (as often happens as Jung believes we are born with a predisposition to certain characteristic) opposite functions will suffer. He also claims that the dominant characteristic can develop into a "one-sided" form which becomes problematic for outward and inward representation and interpretation of one's dominant personality characteristics. I propose that this is somewhat explanatory of the patients described in "Descartes Error." If these patients functions (specifically emotion) became differentiated, whether it be because they were removed entirely or if they were merely separated from other functions (evidence from "Descartes Error" points to the former), the problems Jung describes as "one-sided" development would provide insight into their inability to perform certain tasks and manage certain aspects of their lives. By this logic, Elliot is unable to effectively sort a stack of papers because the unconscious function of his emotions no longer give his actions direction.
I also find it interesting that Aristotle explains emotions by forming pairs of opposites, and Jung explains the development, explanations of, and restructuring of personality in pairs of opposites as well. The pairing of Jung's explanation of personality with Aristotle's explanation of emotion is a very interesting one. Aristotle does not discuss the balancing act that occurs as a natural human process as described by Jung, but I do feel Jung's work can provide insight into the rhetorical application of Aristotle's appeal to emotion. Jung addresses the notion of projection, simply put the tendency to observe our own insecurities in other people. This can be a manifestation of characteristics we like, yet lack in our own demeanor, or dislike, yet have tendencies to have ourselves. Jung's work adds to the understanding of how emotions and personalities functions within the human psyche. I recommend researching this stuff on your own, as it is very interesting and provides a lot of insight into the material we cover in class!
Good job bringing Jung into the discussion. I was really nerdy in high school and read a lot of Jung (don't ask me how I possibly got into Jung). Jung, although often discredited or ignored today in academia, was actually an interesting theorist. Maybe he's ignored because he endorsed the Nazi party in the early 30s...?
ReplyDeleteI had considered doing my final project on Jungian archetypes and the transmission of affect. Archetypes tend to give people anxiety, especially the Shadow or the Persona archetypes. I've often wondered why. These are archetypes that reflect falsity, or sometimes entities that we fear. For instance, paranormal studies often cite a black "shadow figure" that haunts particular individuals. Perhaps this is a person's anxiety and fear "shadowing" them; these are affects that the person must face in order to understand Self, to become an autonomous individual. Or, less abstrusely, we might have anxiety toward particular individuals because they reflect the Shadow archetype in the individual. I don't really know; I'm just speculating. I've always found Jung to be really interesting and important to understanding human relationships. I got excited to see Jung in your blog post.