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Principle of organization: a dynamic‐systems view of the archetype‐as‐such
Author(s) -
McDowell Maxson J.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
journal of analytical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.285
H-Index - 23
eISSN - 1468-5922
pISSN - 0021-8774
DOI - 10.1111/1465-5922.00271
Subject(s) - archetype , mythology , consciousness , epistemology , personality , interpretation (philosophy) , psychology , intuition , perspective (graphical) , cognitive science , hero , computer science , philosophy , psychoanalysis , artificial intelligence , programming language , theology
The personality is a dynamic system. Like all other dynamic systems, it must be self‐organized. In this paper I focus upon the archetype‐as‐such, that is, upon the essential core around which both an archetypal image and a complex are organized. I argue that an archetype‐as‐such is a pre‐existing principle of organization. Within the personality that principle manifests itself as a psychological vortex (a complex) into which we are drawn. The vortex is impersonal. We mediate it through myths and rituals or through consciousness. In this paper I show that Jung's intuition about the archetype‐as‐such is supported by recent science. I evaluate other concepts of the archetype. My concept is different from that proposed recently by Saunders and Skar. My concept allows each archetype‐as‐such to be defined precisely in mathematical terms. It suggests a new interpretation of mythology. It also addresses our spiritual experience of an archetype. Because the archetypes‐as‐such are fundamental to the personality, the better we understand them the better we understand our patients. The paper is grounded with clinical examples.