In this novel re-examination of the archetype construct, philosopher Jon
Mills and psychiatrist Erik Goodwyn engage in spirited dialogue on the
origins, nature, and scope of what archetypes actually constitute, their
relation to the greater questions of psyche and worldhood, and their
relevance for Jungian studies and analytical psychology today.
Arguably the most definitive feature of Jung's metapsychology is his
theory of archetypes. It is the fulcrum on which his analytical depth
psychology rests. With recent trends in post-Jungian and neo-Jungian
perspectives that have embraced developmental, relational, social
justice, and postmodern paradigms, classical archetype theory has
largely become a drowning genre. Despite the archetypal school of James
Hillman and his contemporaries, and the archetype debates that captured
our attention over two decades ago, contemporary Jungians are
preoccupied with the lived reality of the existential subject and the
personal unconscious over the collective transpersonal forces derived
from archaic ontology.
Archetypal Ontology will be of interest to psychoanalysts, philosophers,
transpersonal psychologists, cultural theorists, anthropologists,
religious scholars, and scholars in many disciplines in the arts and
humanities, analytical psychology, and post-Jungian studies.