The Undiscovered Self/Symbols and the Interpretation of Dreams

Description

These two essays, written late in Jung's life, reflect his responses to the shattering experience of WWII & the dawn of mass society. Among his most influential works, "The Undiscovered Self" is a plea for his generation--& those to come--to continue the individual work of self-discovery & not abandon needed psychological reflection for the easy ephemera of mass culture. Only individual awareness of both the conscious & unconscious aspects of the human psyche will allow the great work of human culture to thrive. Jung's reflections on self-knowledge & the exploration of the unconscious carry over into the 2nd essay, "Symbols & the Interpretation of Dreams," completed shortly before his death in 1961. Describing dreams as communications from the unconscious, Jung explains how the symbols that occur in dreams compensate for repressed emotions & intuitions. This essay brings together Jung's fully evolved thoughts on the analysis of dreams & the healing of the rift between consciousness & the unconscious, ideas that are central to his system of psychology. This edition of Jung's classic work includes a new foreword by Sonu Shamdasani, Philemon Professor of Jung History at University College London.