Comparison of Freud Sigmund and Curl Jung (Essay Sample)

Compare and contrast Sigmund Feud and Carl Jung
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Compare and contrast Sigmund Feud and Carl Jung
Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung are both psychologists who came up with theories that are the backbone of the present day human psychology. They have created various means to cope with a wide variety of neuroses. Their theories may vary largely; however, there are several similarities to the methods they advocated for treating psychological disorders (Hugh, 2006). Both of them did research that has shed light on the conception of the human mind. Sigmund and Jung started as friends, but their friendship did truly die the test of time. Their relationship started in 1906 when Jung sent Freud copies of his published works. Jung did not know that Freud had bought some of Jung’s publications (Carter, 2011). Six months after this incident, Freud sent Jung copies of his published essays on psychology. They first gathered in 1909 when Jung visited Freud to inquire about his opinion on parapsychology and precognition. This first meeting paved way to a life of numerous meetings between them on consultation and they joined forces on different projects (Carter, 2011). Freud took the International Psychoanalytic Association in 1910. He was president and later. Jung replaced Freud as President of the institution. Carl Jung published a theory on symbols of transformation that were so full of primordial symbols of occultism. In 1910, Freud, published the sexual theory which is a code of belief that is against Occultism (Carter, 2011). Freud dismissed the works of Carl Jung as “unscientific”.
Freud was all just an Austrian neurologist born on May 6, 1856 in Czech Republic. In his early life, he just wanted to study law but opted instead for medicine. He spent most of his time as a doctor at the psychiatry clinic in Vienna General Hospital. In the psychiatry department of the hospital, there was no interest in psychology with regard to mental health. Mental health was studies in with regard to the brain’s anatomical structure (Hugh, 2011). While continuing his practice in France, he developed an interest in hypnosis and upon his return to Vienna, he set up a private practice he named “nervous and brain disorders” alongside Joseph Breuer. In the process, he began analyzing his own dreams hence the inspiration behind his major work in “the interpretation of dreams” which he published in 1901 (Hugh, 2006). His interest in the unconscious mind grew and he started studying the effects of unconscious thoughts on human behavior. In 1923 he published the “The Ego and the id”. He advocated this as the structure of the human Mind. With the arrival of the Nazis in Austria, he left for London alongside his wife and Chiron. Some of the theories he proposed including, the seduction theory, the unconscious, the theory of psychosexual development, the id, ego and super-ego theory, the life and death drives, female sexuality, religion and the theory of dreams (Carter, 2011).
Carl Jung was a psychiatrist from Switzerland. He is the founder of analytical psychology. He had an interest in Freud’s works and embarked on a journey to find in 1909 in Vienna. However, after several meetings, he disagreed with the fundamentals in Freud’s theories. He particularly disagreed with Freud’s conception of the unconscious mind and that the primal instinct for sex was the basis for all human behavior (Carter, 2011). His first publication was the “psychology of the unconscious mind” which was the basis of his analytical psychology.
Carl Jung was concerned with the metaphysical aspects of reality, particularly the Eastern wisdom, and the occult knowledge. He classified the human psyche into three, that is, the ego, which he says, is the conscious mind, the personal unconscious and the collective unconscious (Carter, 2011). The collective conscious, according to his theory, is a vast storehouse of all experiences with saved impressions such as thoughts, emotions, dreams, and knowledge of the entire race. This is a distinct dissimilarity between his work and the previous work of Sigmund Freud. Jung had heavy affiliations with Hinduism, Kabala, Alchemy, and Buddhism (Carter, 2011). This was the outcome of his interest in diverse religions. Carl Jung thought that every human being experienced the unconscious. Arts, religion, and dreams disguise the unconscious. Symbols and disguise make up the reflex (Carter, 2011). Some of the theories of Carl Jung include the conception of introversion and extroversion, the concept of the complex, concept of the collective unconscious, and the concept of synchronicity.
The key differences between Carl Jung and Freud Sigmund
Their conception of the unconscious mind
Conceptions of Carl’s theory and Freud’s theory with regard to the unconscious mind varied in fundamental principles. Freud’s theory purported that the unconscious mind is the storehouse of reserved thoughts, traumatic experiences, and the primal instincts for sexual drive and aggression. Freud perceived the unconscious as a storehouse for secret desires. Therefore, these secret desires were the basis for neurosis or psychological disorders (Rotella, 2004). According to Freud, the id, the ego and the super-ego divides the mind into three regions. The id is the storehouse for sexual instinct. Morality does not bind the id and therefore. It can impose its powers over human reason.
The id only seeks pleasure. The ego is the conscious perception of the surroundings, mind, memories, and thoughts (Rotella, 2004). The super-ego mediates between the id and the ego to cause socially acceptable behavior. These three levels of mind, he says, vary in the degree of development in all humans, hence, the occurrence of various mental phenomena of neurosis (Carter, 2011). Freud’s problem may have resulted from his childhood because he developed an attachment to his mother in his childhood. He therefore viewed sex to be the source of all emotional problems (Rotella, 2004). Sigmund believed that the prodding of the id to seek pleasure. Jung believes that sexuality is a part of personality. He never had sex longings.
Jung on the other hand, divided the human psyche into three, which are, the ego, the personal unconscious and the collective unconscious. The ego corresponds with the conscious mind that is aware of the surroundings, and thoughts. The personal unconscious makes up of repressed and recalled memories (Carter, 2011). In addition, the collective unconscious is a storehouse with all the saved impressions, knowledge, emotions, perceptions, emotions, and thoughts of the race (Rotella, 2004). The occult knowledge and the Eastern Philosophy inspire his conception of the division of minds. Jung believed that feud’s theory was negative as it was strictly based on sex, whereas, Freud termed the theory of Jung as unscientific.
The conception of dreams
Freud’s theory states the interpretation of dreams offers so much information about an individual. In a dream state, human mind acts on unrepressed emotions and desire. However, this does not take place during the wake state because; the ego has to consider reality in the wake state and due to the moral reasons for the super ego (Carter, 2011). During the sleep state, the human mind experiences these repressed primal desires. Therefore, the human mind is given access to repressed thoughts and desires during dreams. On the contrary, the human mind cannot ordinarily access these repressed thoughts and memories due to embarrassment and unease (Rotella, 2004). The defense mechanism of the human mind allows these repressed memories to slip into dreams in a concealed or symbolic manner. Therefore, dreams are made of symbols and disguised material.
Jung, on the other hand, agrees that the interpretation of dreams reveals a lot about an individual. He opposes Freud’s theory of dreams by stating that not all dreams are sexual in nature and that most dreams have disguised meanings. The interpretation of these dreams relied on the figurative meanings built on the life of the individual who experienced the dream (Hugh, 2006). Therefore, dreams have very various meanings that are not quite sensual in nature. He rejected the dictionary of dreams stating that dreams could not have fixed meanings given that the meanings vary depending on each individual. Dreams therefore have concealed language with symbols, images, and metaphors that give information on the internal and external worlds of the dreamer. The internal world refers to the feelings, thoughts and emotions of the dreamer whereas, the external world refers to the places and people of the dreamer have interacted (Rotella, 2004).
Jung elaborates that dreams can be a representation of events that took place in one’s childhood. Dreams are sources of creativity and they can predict future events.
Jung disapproved of Freud for looking at the objective aspects of dreams and human behavior rather than arising out of the perspective that there are subjective and objective aspects to human behavior and dreams. Carl Jung said that dreams could convey personal and universal contents. These contents he called the archetypes. Being a function of him, archetypes are inclinations inherited from our past that cause people to act or perceive things in a certain way. Therefore, our conception of water, earth, and God has not changed a bit from the perception our ancestors had the same? Therefore, the contents of perception of the collective unconscious are identical for all individuals within a given culture. Dreams, religion, fantasies, and hallucinations articulate these archetypes in symbols.
Sex and sexuality
Freud’s theory on sex and sexuality postulates that sex is the biggest driving force f...