Carl Jung and the Evolutionary Sciences: A New Vision for Analytical Psychology

This book revaluates Carl Jung’s ideas in the context of contemporary research in the evolutionary sciences.

Recent work in developmental biology, as well as experimental and psychedelic neuroscience, have provided empirical evidence that supports some of Jung’s central claims about the nature and evolution of consciousness. Beginning with a historical contextualisation of the genesis of Jung’s evolutionary thought and its roots in the work of the 19th century Naturphilosophen, the book then outlines a model of analytical psychology grounded in modern theories of brain development and life history theory. The book also explores research on evolved sex based differences and their relevance to Jung’s concept of the anima and animus.

Seeking to build bridges between analytical psychology and contemporary evolutionary studies and associated fields, this book will appeal to scholars of analytical and depth psychology, as well as researchers in the evolutionary and brain sciences.

Gary Clark is currently a Visiting Research Fellow in the School of Medical Sciences at the University of Adelaide in Australia. Since 2012, he has been a member of School’s Biological Anthropology and Comparative Anatomy Unit. His research focus includes the evolution of music, palaeoanthropology and evolutionary approaches to analytical psychology.