Man and His Symbols (English, Paperback, Jung Carl G.)

Man and His Symbols is one of Carl Gustav Jung’s most widely read works. It talks about the influence of symbolism on man. This edition contains an introduction written by Jung, and is profusely illustrated to explain the complex concepts better.

Summary of the Book

Man and His Symbols was Carl Jung’s last work. It was perhaps the only book he edited for lay readers with no background of psychology. The book is divided into five parts, of which four are penned by his associates - Aniela Jaffe, Joseph L. Henderson, Jolande Jacobi and Marie-Louise von Franz. Man and His Symbols is an introduction to Jung’s theories, predominantly his well-known theory on man and his relation to his collective unconscious. Jung strongly believed that the unconscious mind communicated with the conscious self, mainly through symbols that man saw in his dreams. This process, he explains, eventually tries to direct the conscious self towards a more gratifying and complete life. In the book, he traces the effect of symbols from all over the world throughout history, along with thought-provoking illustrations. The importance of dreams, the significance of symbols, Jung's theory of archetypes and the course of individuation, form the crux of this book. Jung also studies the dreams of some of his own patients and discusses them as examples to emphasize his theories.

About Carl Gustav Jung

One of the world’s most important psychologists, Carl Jung was the founder of analytical psychology. He was born in Switzerland in the year 1875. He studied medicine at the University of Basel and worked as an army doctor during the First World War. His friendship and association with Sigmund Freud prominently influenced his early works and his learning of psychoanalysis. He has made enormous contributions to the development of psychiatry, by creating some extensively used psychological concepts like ‘introvert’ and ‘extrovert’ personalities, synchronicity, the collective unconscious, the archetype (called the Jungian Archetypes), and the complex. Carl was a prolific writer. Man and His Symbols has been lauded for the simple and forthright language used by Jung to explain his complex theories to the general public. However, over the years, his study and works of mythology, different religions and spirituality were critically received, and Jung was even accused of being a Nazi supporter. He was married to Emma Rauschenbach and had five children. He died in 1961, following a brief illness.