Carl Jung

Profession: Psychiatrist

Nationality:

Biography: Carl Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who frequently interacted with Sigmund Freud, with Freud seeing in him an heir until their views later diverged.

Jung was dissatisfied with the sexual reductivism that characterised Freud and sought to broaden the unconscious to equally include cultural and ancestral aspects.

He also took a wider view of the contents of the unconscious, which Freud saw as mainly comprised of repressed desires; whereas Jung thought this was unnecessarily negative and static, where it ought to be multidimensional and dynamic.

Jung is perhaps primarily known for his concept of the collective unconscious. Archetypes are an important aspect of this, whereby ancestral narratives are given personified forms in characters such as Hercules and other such mythological heroes.

These ideas have been developed by Joseph Campbell, especially in his 'The Hero with a Thousand Faces'—which traces this character's journey across cultures and between various mythological renderings; and more recently, have been a major influence in the work of Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson.

Born: July 26, 1875
Birthplace: Kesswil, Thurgau, Switzerland
Star Sign: Leo

Died: June 6, 1961 (aged 85)