> [!info] Reading notes — [[Collected Works of C. G. Jung, Volume 10]] (*Civilization in Transition*). Numbers in brackets are Jung's paragraph (¶) references. [490] Reason is only applicable when the emotional climate is under keeps within a certain threshold. Once the air surrounding a topic becomes too emotional, reason finds no where to stand. What replaces it are “slogans and chimerical wish-fantasies.” [497] Judge a man vs understand a man. When judging man (scientifically), man is seen as a statistical average in disregard of all irregularities. Individual man is nothing more than a number. But to understand a man, individual man is an irregularity that does not fully subject himself to scientific theories. Self-knowledge is precisely the knowledge of the self — an individual thus irregular phenomenon to which scientific presuppositions do not justice in explaining. [498] Science as the antithesis to humanities. [499] The State as the epitome of political reality, where individual responsibility is replaced by state policies. What is reality? Science forgets that concrete man in his individuality instead of the abstract man, which is the object of inquiry of science, is the carrier of reality, without which no reality could be observed at all. [509] The difference between adhering a religion vs adhering a creed in contemporary terms is similar to being a Christian vs being a cultural Christian like Dawkins. I’m not too sure whether Dawkins would even agree to Christianity by creed, but I would say he would be more open to that compared to being religious. Creed provides no foundation for a person, because we don’t consciously choose what we believe in. We are in a relationship with that which acts as authority over us. [512] Purpose of religion is to maintain psychic balance [514] Religion can appear in different forms, but never truly disappears [540] Man’s natural state is on of conflict. By virtue of man being microcosmic, man’s instincts attach him to his environment. However, he is also being pulled away constantly as his desires are attracted to many different things. Thus, the conflict of attention found within oneself is in the very nature of man, and the battle for order and synthesis in order to come to an undivided goal is a fight everybody must take. [547] Instincts are definite images. Their forms are age old thus archetypal. [548] “Human knowledge consists essentially in the constant adaptation of the primordial patterns of ideas that were given us a priori” Jung’s position on the relationship between a priori knowledge and acquired knowledge. [549] “Marxist education… seeks, like God himself, to remake man, but in the image of the State.” [554] It is the Christian emphasis on the supremacy of the Word that led to the worship of literal words today. Words take on a life of their own, severing themselves from the Person. Words themselves are personified. [555] “the twin moral concepts of Saint Augustine: concupiscentia (lust) and superbia (pride)” Jung take these two concepts to correspond to his idea of two clashing fundamental instincts — preservation of species and preservation of self, which in turn corresponds to the pleasure principle and the power (self-assertion) principle. [556] “instinct has two main aspects: on the one hand, that of dynamism and compulsion, and on the other, specific meaning and intention.” [557] There is an inherent conflict between learning (acquisition of knowledge and concepts) and instincts [565] God and the unconscious is not the same, but the unconscious is from where religious experience flows. The unconscious is where we attribute our source of possibility of knowledge of God, but not the particular contents regarding what that knowledge is. Jung says that is a transcendental problem — one that lies beyond the scope of human knowledge. Thus, what can be inferred here is that Jung treats everything he is proposing here as human knowledge. [566] Numinosity that produces absolute certainty is itself proof of religious experience. “Absolute certainty brings its own evidence and has no need of anthropomorphic proofs.” [570] Jung’s proposed solution to the dire world situation of losing touch of the psychological and succumbing to the illusion of a truth-seeking intellect which can only be a lie is to speak the truth as many times as necessary — the truth being psychological factors play a significant role in the constitution of the human person. [572] Ignorance of evil makes one an instrument for evil. The fear of evil and categorizing of evil as something “other” also puts power in the hands of the enemy. Instead of turning our eyes away from evil, we should have some imagination for it. [573] Christians posit a metaphysical schism of good and evil — God and the devil. Generally people admit of such schism on the level of behavior — good and bad behavior or perhaps even the level of character — good and bad people. On a more fundamental level, it actually exists on the psychological level — good and evil exists in each individual. Interestingly, the evil in oneself is prone to lying about its own non-existence. [577] What we don’t need is “moral complacency” and “lack of responsibility” and what we do need is “withdrawal of projections” from all parties [583] It is futile to think of changing all of humanity for psychic change of that scale would take hundreds of years, thus the job of the psychologists is towards individuals. Jung builds on what he takes to be an obvious fact that certain people exert influence over unconscious of others, and they are those who have insight into their own actions and access to their unconscious.