About the Book
This book of expert essays explores the concept of the whole as it operates within the psychology of Jung, the philosophy of Deleuze, and selected areas of wider twentieth-century Western culture, which provided the context within which these two seminal thinkers worked.
Addressing this topic from a variety of perspectives and disciplines and with an eye to contemporary social, political, and environmental crises, the contributors aim to clarify some of the epistemological and ethical issues surrounding attempts, such as those of Jung and Deleuze, to think in terms of the whole, whether the whole in question is a particular bounded system (such as an organism, person, society, or ecosystem) or, most broadly, reality as a whole.
Jung, Deleuze, and the Problematic Whole will contribute to enhancing critical self-reflection among the many contemporary theorists and practitioners in whose work thinking in terms of the whole plays a significant role.
Table of Contents:
List of Figures. Acknowledgements. Notes on contributors. Introduction. 1. The ethical ambivalence of holism: An exploration through the thought of Carl Jung and Gilles Deleuze. 2. The ‘image of thought’ and the State-form in Jung’s ‘The undiscovered self’ and Deleuze and Guattari’s ‘Treatise on nomadology’ 3. Jung as symptomatologist. 4. One, two, three … one: The edusemiotic self. 5. The geometry of wholeness. 6. The status of exceptional experiences in the Pauli-Jung conjecture. 7. Holistic enchantment and eternal recurrence: Anaxagoras, Nietzsche, Deleuze, Klages, and Jung on the beauty of it all. 8. Holism and chance: Markets and meaning under neoliberalism. Index.
About the Author :
Roderick Main, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies and Director of the Centre for Myth Studies at the University of Essex, UK.
Christian McMillan, PhD, is Lecturer at West Suffolk College, University of Suffolk, and was formerly Senior Research Officer in the Department for Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies, University of Essex, UK.
David Henderson, PhD, is Lecturer in Jungian Studies in the Department for Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies, University of Essex, UK. He is a member of the British Jungian Analytic Association (BJAA) and the International Association for Analytical Psychology (IAAP).
Review :
'This extraordinary, edited volume is based on key papers from the first conference of its kind exploring the problematic arising from the writings of C. G. Jung, and Giles Deleuze on holism. The wealth of expertise offered here provides a much-needed in-depth exploration of rhizomatic holism found in Jung and Deleuze, but is also further expanded to assist readers in realizing the tremendous implications for 21st-century psychology and philosophy. The editors are to be celebrated for crafting this remarkable collection; it will not disappoint!’
Joseph Cambray, PhD, President/CEO, Pacifica Graduate Institute
‘The configuration of systems and the relationships of interconnecting parts to a whole is a fascinating conceptual puzzle, and one vital to our understanding of the functioning of society and our relationship with ourselves, others, and the world at large. Jung, Deleuze, and the Problematic Whole asks important epistemological and ethical questions of wholeness through the lens of heavyweight thinkers, Gilles Deleuze and C. G. Jung. Written by experts in continental philosophy and Jungian studies, this book is insightful in its scrutiny of a variety of interrelated issues, including reductionism, totalitarianism, privilege and exclusion, identity, creativity, and personal and social transformation. A wholly compelling book.’
Lucy Huskinson, Professor of Philosophy, Bangor University, UK; author of Architecture and the Mimetic Self (Routledge, 2018)
‘Jung, Deleuze, and the Problematic Whole is essential reading for those interested in the flourishing area of Jung/Deleuze studies. From a Jungian perspective, Deleuze’s ideas allow an interpretation of Jung’s writing on the unus mundus that both critiques and revitalizes his work. For those who study Deleuze, this is added evidence of the potential for a psychology consonant with the ideas of schizoanalysis. Overall, this book marks an important contribution to the ongoing exploration of Jung’s influence on the philosopher of the rhizome.’
Barbara Jenkins, Professor, Department of Communication Studies, Wilfred Laurier University; author of Eros and Economy: Jung, Deleuze, Sexual Difference (Routledge, 2016)
'This extraordinary, edited volume is based on key papers from the first conference of its kind exploring the problematic arising from the writings of C. G. Jung, and Gilles Deleuze on holism. The wealth of expertise offered here provides a much-needed in-depth exploration of rhizomatic holism found in Jung and Deleuze, but is also further expanded to assist readers in realizing the tremendous implications for 21st-century psychology and philosophy. The editors are to be celebrated for crafting this remarkable collection; it will not disappoint!’
Joseph Cambray, PhD, President/CEO, Pacifica Graduate Institute
‘The configuration of systems and the relationships of interconnecting parts to a whole is a fascinating conceptual puzzle, and one vital to our understanding of the functioning of society and our relationship with ourselves, others, and the world at large. Jung, Deleuze, and the Problematic Whole asks important epistemological and ethical questions of wholeness through the lens of heavyweight thinkers, Gilles Deleuze and C. G. Jung. Written by experts in continental philosophy and Jungian studies, this book is insightful in its scrutiny of a variety of interrelated issues, including reductionism, totalitarianism, privilege and exclusion, identity, creativity, and personal and social transformation. A wholly compelling book.’
Lucy Huskinson, Professor of Philosophy, Bangor University, UK; author of Architecture and the Mimetic Self (Routledge, 2018)
‘Jung, Deleuze, and the Problematic Whole is essential reading for those interested in the flourishing area of Jung/Deleuze studies. From a Jungian perspective, Deleuze’s ideas allow an interpretation of Jung’s writing on the unus mundus that both critiques and revitalizes his work. For those who study Deleuze, this is added evidence of the potential for a psychology consonant with the ideas of schizoanalysis. Overall, this book marks an important contribution to the ongoing exploration of Jung’s influence on the philosopher of the rhizome.’
Barbara Jenkins, Professor, Department of Communication Studies, Wilfred Laurier University; author of Eros and Economy: Jung, Deleuze, Sexual Difference (Routledge, 2016)
