Abstract

Despite a resurgence of popular interest in the psychology, of Carl Gustav Jung, his work is seldom taken seriously within academic institutions. I analyze and evaluate the structural model of the collective unconscious underlying Jungian psychological practice and conclude that serious revisions should and can be made. I reconceptualize the theory of the archetypes so as to make it compatible with our scientific worldview. I then argue that the practice which relies upon that model is best construed as a philosophical and normative one aimed at the discovery of self-understanding.