Critical Response

Jung's body of work has provoked more intense controversy than that of most psychologists, partly because of his historic break with Freud, partly because of his unwise professional involvements in the 1930s, and partly because of his ideas themselves.

The 'unscientific' nature of Jung's psychology

One of the earliest criticisms of Jung's work is that it is anti-scientific in its intentions as well as its content. This accusation surfaced as early as Jung's break with Freud in 1913. Jung's view of the functions of symbolism in dreams led to his isolation from the mainstream psychiatric community. As he put it, ". . . all my friends and acquaintances dropped away. My book was declared to be rubbish; I was a mystic, and that settled the matter." The insecure position of the social sciences in the academic...