Emile Durkheim and C. G. Jung: Structuring a Transpersonal Sociology of Religion

Abstract

Religion is a prevalent theme in the works of both Emile Durkheim and C. G. Jung, who participated in a common intellectual milieu. A comparison of Durkheim's collective consciousness and Jung's collective unconscious reveals strikingly similar concepts. The components of these structures, collective representations and archetypes, illustrate interdependent sociological and psychological processes in the theorized creation of religious phenomena. An analysis of the constitutive elements in these processes offers a basis for structuring a transpersonal sociology of religion.

Depth Psychology and Symbolic Anthropology: Toward a Depth Sociology of Psychocultural Interaction

“…Durkheim and Jung both wrote that the most important psychic phenomena were partially autonomous and had the ability to impress upon consciousness a variety of affects (Greenwood, 1990, p. 490). Greenwood (1990) made a call for a "transpersonal" sociology of religion, noting the numerous similarities in Durkheim's and Jung's formulation: Downloaded by [University of North Texas] at 08:35 21 November 2014 GOODWYN I conclude that Durkheim and Jung are indeed describing the same process, and that through acknowledgement of the similarity, we can complete yet another step in analyzing religion from a transpersonal perspective : : : [where] "transpersonal" suggests a methodology by which unconscious factors may be studied simultaneously as psychological and social facts. (pp.…”

“…These are but two examples among many. Geertz (1973) noted the various shortcomings of Freud's interpretations of culture, and Jung in general has been overlooked by anthropologists for some time (Greenwood, 1990). Not only have the psychoanalysts made overly simplifying assumptions about cultures, anthropologists, too, have often made simplifying assumptions about human mental activity or would benefit from the insight of depth psychology.…”

Hidden Dragons: The Revitalizing of Vancouver’s Chinatown From Humanistic Perspectives

“…Notwithstanding these concerns, there are researchers who conclude that Jung is sociologically intelligible (e.g., Greenwood, 1990; Main, 2006; Newcombe, 1993; Richards, 2008; Walker, 2012) and that his strengths in this area tend to lie more in his investigation of the collective unconscious rather than explaining collective consciousness . Jung was clearly influenced by his philosophical peers Bastian, Carus, Durkheim, and Lévy-Bruhl (Richards, 2008), who are founding fathers in the fields of sociology and social anthropology, but he also held his ground: The doctor in me refuses point blank to consider the life of a people as something that does not conform to psychological law.…”

“Transpersonal Pakistan”

“…First, there is the "activist approach." Transpersonal activists "know" that there is "something greater than the reality of the everyday world," something which "transcends social experience to include a spiritual dimension" (Greenwood, 1990;Cohn & Markides, 1998; reprinted in this issue). People who "think that the visible world is all that exists" are "mistaken."…”