Jung on Myth

Robert A. Segal*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

Abstract

This chapter begins by distinguishing nineteenth-century approaches to myth from twentieth-century ones. Freud and Jung are far more akin than distinct. They share the twentieth-century view that myth is other than the primitive counterpart to modern science. But going beyond fellow twentieth-century theorists, they reject both the nineteenth-century subject matter and the nineteenth-century function of myth. Not only is myth not about the physical world, but it is not an explanation of anything. Jung’s theory turns out to be pitted at least as much against nineteenth-century theorists like Tylor and, especially, Frazer as against Freud. The chapter takes Jung’s interpretation of the myth of the puer archetype, and in turn of Adonis as a case of a puer personality, to exemplify his distinctive approach to myth.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationJung and Philosophy
EditorsJon Mills
Place of PublicationLondon
PublisherRoutledge
Chapter9
Pages204-219
Number of pages16
ISBN (Electronic)9780429261763
ISBN (Print)9780367204846 , 9780367204839
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 7 May 2019

Publication series

NamePhilosophy and Psychoanalysis
PublisherRoutledge

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