Changes

In Civilization and Its Discontents (1930) Freud was inclined to identify the mystical experience as merely one more self-deception to which humans, in their desperation and naïveté, fall prey. There Freud wrote of a friend who was opposed to his idea that religion is a crutch allowing psychologically weak people, enfeebled because of their ignorance of scientific truths, to project a father figure in the form of God onto the universe. The solace provided by this wishful thinking assuages their fears in the face of a terrifying and unintelligible world. Freud considered himself a scientist first, and therefore declared himself to one correspondent as "a God-forsaken incredulous Jew." But other interpreters, such as David Bakan (1991), have analyzed Freud's theories in light of an unconscious legacy from the Jewish mystical tradition.

In Civilization and Its Discontents (1930) Freud was inclined to identify the mystical experience as merely one more self-deception to which humans, in their desperation and naïveté, fall prey. There Freud wrote of a friend who was opposed to his idea that religion is a crutch allowing psychologically weak people, enfeebled because of their ignorance of scientific truths, to project a father figure in the form of God onto the universe. The solace provided by this wishful thinking assuages their fears in the face of a terrifying and unintelligible world. Freud considered himself a scientist first, and therefore declared himself to one correspondent as "a God-forsaken incredulous Jew." But other interpreters, such as David Bakan (1991), have analyzed Freud's theories in light of an unconscious legacy from the Jewish mystical tradition.

===C. G. JUNG===

===C. G. Jung===

As a younger colleague of Freud from 1906 to 1912, a close correspondent with Freud, and at one point heir apparent to the psychoanalytic throne, Jung (1875–1961) can be considered the twentieth-century exponent of the symbolic hypothesis. He took the method of symbolism much further than Freud, but epistemologically he is more accurately placed within the context of the late-nineteenth-century psychologies of transcendence. This places him more centrally within the psychologies of James, Flournoy, and Myers than as a mere acolyte of Freud. Jung's entire psychology is a commentary on different states of consciousness. He spoke about a dialogue between consciousness and the unconscious, individuation, wholeness, and the development of the "self" rather than the "ego" as the mature center of personality. In "The Spiritual Problem of Modern Man," chapter ten of Modern Man in Search of a Soul (1933), he described the modern person as the rare, exceptional human being who, completely conscious and having fully integrated the solutions of the past and faced the problems of the future, is free to break with all constraints and live wholly in the present.

As a younger colleague of Freud from 1906 to 1912, a close correspondent with Freud, and at one point heir apparent to the psychoanalytic throne, Jung (1875–1961) can be considered the twentieth-century exponent of the symbolic hypothesis. He took the method of symbolism much further than Freud, but epistemologically he is more accurately placed within the context of the late-nineteenth-century psychologies of transcendence. This places him more centrally within the psychologies of James, Flournoy, and Myers than as a mere acolyte of Freud. Jung's entire psychology is a commentary on different states of consciousness. He spoke about a dialogue between consciousness and the unconscious, individuation, wholeness, and the development of the "self" rather than the "ego" as the mature center of personality. In "The Spiritual Problem of Modern Man," chapter ten of Modern Man in Search of a Soul (1933), he described the modern person as the rare, exceptional human being who, completely conscious and having fully integrated the solutions of the past and faced the problems of the future, is free to break with all constraints and live wholly in the present.

The collective unconscious helped Jung account for the plethora of parapsychological phenomena—such as psychokinesis, clairvoyance, and synchronicity—that captivated him. If a person's psychic life is somehow linked to that of all humanity, then reports of apparently inexplicable events such as extrasensory perception are not quite so unintelligible.

The collective unconscious helped Jung account for the plethora of parapsychological phenomena—such as psychokinesis, clairvoyance, and synchronicity—that captivated him. If a person's psychic life is somehow linked to that of all humanity, then reports of apparently inexplicable events such as extrasensory perception are not quite so unintelligible.

==Existential Humanistic & Transpersonal Psychologies==

==Existential Humanistic & Transpersonal Psychologies==

In the 1960s, transpersonal psychology emerged from its existential-humanistic and phenomenological roots as a movement devoted in part to the study of meditation and alternative states of consciousness. Though by no means representative of the mainstream of psychological research in the West, transpersonal psychologists are intrigued by the possibility that human beings possess transcendent powers of consciousness. Some speculate about the brain's untapped potential and hold a view of the universe as continuous with oneself, being both conscious and purposive. They are convinced that one can be motivated by broader and less-selfish impulses than physiological needs and egoistic emotions. For these psychologists, the most important motivations spring from a selflessness that revolves around the pondering of ultimate questions—questions about the meaning, purpose, and value of human life. Often influenced by the influx of Eastern psychologies and philosophies into the West, transpersonal psychology seeks to reverse what it considers the disproportionate attention given to psychological afflictions at the expense of great potentialities as human beings. This movement may be understood as an attempt to reconnect the science of psychology with the perennial metaphysical teachings of the spiritual traditions.

In the 1960s, transpersonal psychology emerged from its existential-humanistic and phenomenological roots as a movement devoted in part to the study of meditation and alternative states of consciousness. Though by no means representative of the mainstream of psychological research in the West, transpersonal psychologists are intrigued by the possibility that human beings possess transcendent powers of consciousness. Some speculate about the brain's untapped potential and hold a view of the universe as continuous with oneself, being both conscious and purposive. They are convinced that one can be motivated by broader and less-selfish impulses than physiological needs and egoistic emotions. For these psychologists, the most important motivations spring from a selflessness that revolves around the pondering of ultimate questions—questions about the meaning, purpose, and value of human life. Often influenced by the influx of Eastern psychologies and philosophies into the West, transpersonal psychology seeks to reverse what it considers the disproportionate attention given to psychological afflictions at the expense of great potentialities as human beings. This movement may be understood as an attempt to reconnect the science of psychology with the perennial metaphysical teachings of the spiritual traditions.