History of Modern Psychology: Lectures Delivered at ETH Zürich, Volume 1, 1933-1934

253 Pages·2018·4.587 MB·English

by  C.G. Jung, Ernst Falzeder, Ulrich Hoerni, Mark Kyburz, John Peck

History of
Modern Psychology
A list of Jung’s works appears at the back of the volume.
History of
Modern Psychology
Lectures Delivered at ETH Zurich
Volume 1, 1933–1934
C. G. JUNG
EDITED BY ERNST FALZEDER
Foreword by Ulrich Hoerni
Translated by Mark Kyburz, John Peck, and Ernst Falzeder
Published with the support of the Philemon Foundation
This book is part of the Philemon Series of the Philemon Foundation
Princeton University Press
Princeton and Oxford
Copyright © 2019 by Princeton University Press
Published by Princeton University Press
41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540
6 Oxford Street, Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1TR
press.princeton.edu
All figures are reproduced by permission of either the Jung estate
or the Philemon Foundation.”
All Rights Reserved
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018954402
ISBN: 978-0-691-18169-1
British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available
Editorial: Fred Appel and Thalia Leaf
Production Editorial: Karen Carter
Jacket Design: Kathleen Lynch / Black Kat Design
Jacket Credit: Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, “Am 7 (26),” 1926.
Production: Erin Suydam
Publicity: Tayler Lord
Copyeditor: Jay Boggis
This book has been composed in Sabon LT Std
Printed on acid-free paper. ∞
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contents
Foreword vii
Ulrich Hoerni
General Introduction xix
Ernst Falzeder, Martin Liebscher, and Sonu Shamdasani
Editorial Guidelines xxix
Introduction to Volume 1 xxxiii
Ernst Falzeder
Acknowledgments li
Abbreviations liii
chronology lv
THE LECTURES ON MODERN PSYCHOLOGY
Lecture 1 1
Lecture 2 11
Lecture 3 19
Lecture 4 28
Lecture 5 39
Lecture 6 46
Lecture 7 53
Lecture 8 62
Lecture 9 71
Lecture 10 85
vi ∙ contents
Lecture 11 91
Lecture 12 99
Lecture 13 106
Lecture 14 115
Lecture 15 124
Lecture 16 132
Bibliography 141
Index 155
Foreword: c. G. Jung’s Activities at ETH Zurich
ULRICH HOERNI
Translated by Heather Mccartney
General Overview
In May 1933 C. G. Jung applied to the Swiss education board to be
accepted as a lecturer in the field of modern psychology at the Swiss
Federal Institute of Technology (Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule;
henceforth: ETH).1 Jung wrote that he wanted to resume his public
lecturing, and would like to lecture on modern psychology, and was
applying to ETH, as the topic could not be confined to the medical fac-
ulty. He requested ETH to recognize his status, gained at the Univer-
sity of Zurich in 1904, as a university lecturer (Privatdocent). Endorsed
by evidently favorable references from ETH Professors Fritz Medicus
( philosophy and pedagogy), and Eugen Böhler (economics) on 24 June
1933 the education board resolved to “grant Dr. Jung permission to pub-
licize and hold lectures in psychology in the capacity of private lecturer
in the general department for elective subjects at the ETH” and to award
him a l icense to teach for eight semesters.2 On 20 October 1933, Jung
started his teaching activities, which continued until summer 1941. In
1935, he was awarded the title of “titulary” professor (Titularprofessor)
by the Swiss government (the Federal Council).3 He lectured for a total of
thirteen semesters (he was on sabbatical for a further three).4 During this
1 Letter from Jung to Prof. Dr. Arthur Rohn, President of the Swiss Education Board,
dated 2 May 1933 (Jung family archive). Prof. Dr. H. K. Fierz prompted Jung’s application.
(Personal communication from Prof. Dr. C. A. Meier, 10 February 1994). Jung and Fierz
had traveled together to the Middle East in March 1933.
2 Minutes of the Swiss Education Board Meeting of 24 June 1933 (Jung family archive)
and letter to Jung from the Swiss Education Board, dated 24 June 1933 (ETH Archive).
For Jung’s correspondence with Böhler, see c.G. Jung und Eugen Böhler: eine Begegnung
in Briefen, with an introduction by Gerhard Wehr, Zurich, Hochschulverlag an der ETH,
1996.
3 Letter from Swiss Education Board to Jung, dated 26 January 1935.
4 ETH Course Prospectus (ETH archive).
viii ∙ foreword
period, he introduced the totality of his theories, hypotheses, and meth-
ods to his audience; in fact, he presented his life’s work as it then stood,
something that cannot be found anywhere else in his writings. Alongside
the lectures for a larger audience, from spring 1935 Jung also gave reg-
ular seminars for a small circle of participants. Unlike a part of the ETH
Seminars,5 the lectures have not as yet been published. This omission has
now been rectified with this new publication.
The ETH Context
ETH6 Zurich is a foundation of the Swiss Confederation.7 Since the
late Middle Ages, Switzerland had been a loose federation of small sov-
ereign states without any superordinate state institutions (i.e., having
no common government, capital city, currency, official language etc.).
Following the Reformation, religious differences began to cripple har-
monious coexistence. After a political crisis in 1847,8 forces prevailed
that sought to transform this state of affairs through the creation of
a modern federal state. The constitution of 1848 contained a clause
stating that the federal state was authorized to establish a national uni-
versity, including a polytechnic. The development of technology (the
railroad, industrialization, etc.) had created the need for such an insti-
tution, models of which already existed in France in Paris (since 1794)
and in Germany in Karlsruhe (since 1826). In 1851, the Swiss parlia-
ment began drafting a bill to this end. However, conflicting internal
5 c. G. Jung, Seminare: Kinderträume. Ed. Lorenz Jung and Maria Meyer-Grass (Olten:
Walter, 1987). English edition: children’s Dreams: Notes from the Seminar Given in 1936–
1940. Ed. Maria Meyer-Grass and Lorenz Jung. Trans. Ernst Falzeder with the collabora-
tion of Tony Woolfson. Philemon Series (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2010);
and Dream Interpretation: Ancient and Modern: Notes from the Seminar Given in 1936–
1940. Ed. John Peck, Maria Meyer-Grass, and Lorenz Jung. Trans. Ernst Falzeder with the
collaboration of Tony Woolfson. Philemon Series (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press,
2014). Further seminars on association experiments from the same period have not as yet
been published due to insufficient documentation.
6 Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich / École polytechnique fédérale de Zu-
rich / Politecnico federale di Zurigo / Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich.
7 The following sections on the history of the ETH are based mainly on two publica-
tions by the ETH: a) Various authors, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule 1855–1955
(Zurich: Neue Zürcher Zeitung Press, 1955); b) Jean-François Bergier and Hans Werner
Tobler (eds.), Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule 1955–1980, Festschrift zum 125-jäh-
rigen Bestehen (Zurich: Neue Zürcher Zeitung Press, 1980). The developments of the ETH
after Jung’s retirement in 1941 and of the ETH Lausanne in 1969 are not covered in this
synopsis.
8 The “Sonderbund” war. The Sonderbund was a separate league of cantons within the
Swiss Federation.
foreword ∙ ix
political interests posed difficulties. There was concern that the canton
in which this institution would be built would possess too much power
in the state. It was argued that the national university should therefore
not be located in the town that would later be designated as the capital
city.9 It was also deemed important to consider the different constitu-
encies in the country, so it was contended that the university should be
built in the German- speaking area of the country, while the polytech-
nic should be situated where French was spoken. Francophone cantons
cautioned against the negative cultural influences of an institution with
a Swiss-German character (against “G ermanification”), while Catholic
cantons feared the negative consequences of an institute in a Protes-
tant area. Further, there were fi nancial considerations: the new state
had as yet scarcely any i ncome at its disposal. The cantons in question
would be obliged to provide buildings for the respective institutions.
There were already several universities in the country (in Basle, Zurich,
Bern, Lausanne, and Geneva). The National Council (great chamber)
finally approved the joint project in 1854. The council of states (small
chamber) failed to ratify the university proposal, authorizing only a
polytechnic. It apparently did not c onsider such an institution to be
significant. The canton of Zurich expressed an interest in adopting
the project; soon a federal polytechnic was finally created in the city
of Zurich.
Courses at ETH
Courses began as early as the autumn of 1855. There were six d epartments:
I. architecture; II. engineering; III. mechanical engineering; IV. chem-
ical engineering; V. forestry; VI. department of philosophy and public
economics (= elective subjects), including a) sciences; b) mathematics;
c)  literature and public economics; d) the arts. The curriculum was to be
delivered in one of the national languages: German, French, or Italian.
Even today at ETH, key subjects are taught in two or three of the national
languages. Departments I–V offered solid courses leading to diplomas in
technical disciplines. Admission to courses required a specific high-school
qualification or an entrance examination. Department VI was to foster a
grounding in general cultural values, without a specific final qualification.
The subdepartments c) and d) were also open to members of the public
wishing to attend single lectures, with no special entrance requirements.
9 Bern was designated as the capital city.