William James and C.G. Jung

*FINALIST IN THE AUTHORED BOOK CATEGORY OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR JUNGIAN STUDIES BOOK AWARDS FOR 2020*WILLIAM JAMES and C.G. JUNG is an important contribution to the history of psychology in America and the influence of William James on C.G. Jung, as well as a fascinating exploration of what it means to be fully human. Steven Herrmann offers each reader an intriguing journey through the open and curious exploration of human nature by two of the most influential psychologists of the modern era: the philosopher William James, Harvard Professor and founder of American Psychology, and C.G. Jung, who expanded our view of psyche and the nature of the unconscious. Based on historical research and a nuanced reading of their works, Steven Herrmann elucidates their reflections on the streams of consciousness, psychophysics, pragmatism, pluralism, yoga, spiritual democracy, vocational dreams, synchronicity, transmarginal fields, and the Self. "Doorways to the Self" is not a mere metaphor but an invitation to recognize the living spiritual reality that exists in every person. 

The influence of American psychology on the development of C. G. Jung's concept of the Self is an area of inquiry that has not been given much attention by scholars, historians, or clinicians. Jung was highly influenced by Jamesian pragmatism, based on radical empiricism and scientific objectivity. Like James, Jung considered himself to be an empirical scientist. The connection between James and C.G. Jung needs to be better understood in order to see some of the precursors that broaden our understanding of the field of analytical psychology. This includes topics such as the infinite extent of the human psyche, a psychology of consciousness, notions of spiritual democracy, pluralism, religious experience, and a psychology of action. James paved the way towards an entirely new psychological relativity towards spiritual experience that profoundly affected Jung’s Self-concept. He brought a detached and accepting attitude to all forms of psychological experience that inspired Jung during the middle to later years of his life. “Doorways to the Self” is not a mere metaphor but an invitation to recognize the living spiritual reality that exists in every person. 

· Readers will expand their understanding of how William James’s philosophy and psychology most deeply influenced the development of Jung’s analytical psychology and will be able to apply this knowledge to themselves or their work with patients in depth psychotherapy or analysis.

· Readers will learn about topics such as the psychology of consciousness, notions of spiritual democracy, pluralism, religious experience, and a psychology of action for purposes of personal, cultural, and collective change.

In what follows, I will synthesize some points from William James's book Radical Empiricism for readers of post-modern psychology.

Hypothesis #1: Individuations, James asserts, are constantly occurring in the Streams of our Consciousness, flowing freely in the mother-sea of the subconscious mind. Higher mental states need to be accessed through free will and interest to make our ideas count or have cash-value in reality. 

James viewed radical empiricism to be more important than his pragmatist theory of truth. His views in Radical Empiricism are in accord with his original 1890 vision that included four levels of the Self, beginning with a Body Self at the center of human existence. In brief, his theory of the Self in 1890 consisted of:

Hypothesis #2: 1) A Material Self, 2) Social Self, 3) Spiritual Self, and 4) Transcendental Self. All four levels of the Self are integrated in the Body Self, which is the vehicle for their empirical realization. 

The doctrine of radical empiricism emerged in 1898. This was a significant year in James’s life when he lectured at UC Berkeley on the West Coast of California. Radical empiricism is a synthetic theory that unites the four Selves at an exalted level of sensing, feeling, intuiting, and thinking. These four functions of consciousness are active in the trans-marginal Self-field, which is the ground of the Knower, the only experiencer psychology can Know. What is the experiential ground of the Knower? According to James’s empirical model: it is your Body Self, which the source of all Self-knowledge. The four Selves become fully spiritualized through the practice of good habits. There are infinite possibilities of being or nonbeing in the universe of thought. The choice as to who we will become is freely ours. Freedom is given to us through our habits, interests, and actions. What vocations we actualize in our lifetimes through the agent of our free will is made possible by the Self in each moment. The instant field of knowing can only be known in a Body Self that is aware of the streams of our breathing: “I am as confident as I am of anything that, in myself, the stream of thinking (which I recognize emphatically as a phenomenon) is only a careless name for what, when scrutinized, reveals itself to consist chiefly of the stream of my breathing.”[iv] I will stop here for a moment to reflect on how radical this realization was for modern psychology. It turned the Kantian philosophical world-view completely on its head. For if the function of our knowing and pure experience in the instant field is our breath, then everything begins and ends with our breath and not thinking, but breathing becomes the vehicle for a transformed or spiritualized Body Self that is the essential carrier of human consciousness. Said James: “The ‘I think’ which Kant said must be able to accompany all my objects, is the ‘I breathe,’ which actually does accompany them.” More: breath“ is the essence out of which philosophers have constructed the entity known to them as consciousness.”[v] Thus, this leads us to my next postulate:

Hypothesis #3: Breathing is the source of all consciousness. The streams of our breathing are the basis for our very existence. I breathe, therefore I am. I am what I am because of my breath.

This is a fact that is empirically verifiable. It can be tested to prove its empirical validity and replicability, as all practitioners of Yoga, or other forms of meditation, East or West, will attest. 

The verity of Hypothesis #3 is at the foundation of all theology, all philosophy, all science, all psychology. Out of our Breathing Self the four functions of consciousness arise into a superconscious form of Knowing that subsumes the lower three Selves in a Self-field that is Transcendental in spirit and nature, with no distinction. Nature and spirit in James’s doctrine are non-dual. You are fully embodied and spiritualized in your Breathing Self, when you are in your right rhythms of respiration and inspiration, you are capable of your best work. 

To see if you can prove James’s hypothesis as either true or false, try this simple experiment for yourself: First, get comfortable in a chair or couch, or lie down with your back on the floor; Second, close your eyes for a few moments and relax. Third, fill up your lungs and hold your inspiration for four seconds, or whatever feels comfortable. Fourth, let out your respiration, following the flow slowly and repeat this process up to four or five times or more, to your liking. Now, open your eyes. Do you agree with James that your breath is the source of your existence? If you disagree, what do you think is more primal than your breath?   

Essays in Radical Empiricism.

[iv]ERE, 36, 37.

[v]ERE, 37.

My book may be ordered at Amazon Books: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1736194593