Character and the Unconscious 



International Library of Psychology 
Philosophy and Scientific Method 

GENERAL EDITOR : C. K. OGDEN, M.A. 

(Magdalene College, Cambridge) 

VOLUMES ALREADY ARRANGED 

PHILOSOPHICAL STUDIES . . . . by G. E. MOORE, Litt.D. 
THE MISUSE OF MIND by KARIN STEPHEN 

Prefatory Note by Henri Bergson 

CONFLICT AND DREAM . . . . by W. H. R. RIVERS, F.R.S. 
PSYCHOLOGY AND POLITICS . . . by W. H. R. RIVERS, F.R.S. 
PSYCHOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY . . by W. H. R. RIVERS, F.R.S. 
THE ANALYSIS OF MATTER . . by BERTRAND RUSSELL, F.R.S. 
TRACTATUS LOGICO-PHILOSOPHICUS . . . by L. WITTGENSTEIN 

Introduction by Bertrand Russell 

MATHEMATICS FOR PHILOSOPHERS . . by G. H. HARDY, F.R.S. 
PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES . . . . by C. G, JUNG, M.D., LL.D. 
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MYTHS . . by G. ELLIOT SMITH, F.R.S. 
THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE UNCONSCIOUS by E. VON HARTMANN 
Introduction by Professor G. Elliot Smith 

INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY by ALFRED ADLER 

SCIENTIFIC METHOD by A. D. RITCHIE 

SCIENTIFIC THOUGHT by C. D. BROAD, Litt.D. 

THE MEANING OF MEANING . . by C. K. OGDEN and I. A. RICHARDS 
THE THEORY OF MEDICAL DIAGNOSIS 

by F. G. CROOKSHANK, M.D., F.R.C.P. 

THE ELEMENTS OF PSYCHOTHERAPY by WILLIAM BROWN, M.D., D.Sc. 
THE MEASUREMENT OF EMOTION . . by W. WHATELY SMITH 

Introduction by William Brown 

EMOTION AND INSANITY by S. THALBITZER 

Introduction by Professor H. H off ding 

THE LAWS OF FEELING by F. PAULHAN 

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSIC by EDWARD J. DENT 

COLOUR-HARMONY by JAMES WOOD 

THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHINESE THOUGHT by LIANG CHE-CHIAO 

THE HISTORY OF MATERIALISM by F. A. LANGE 

THE PRIMITIVE MIND by P. RADIN, Ph.D, 

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLES 

by B. MALINOWSKI, Ph.D., D.Sc. 
THE STATISTICAL METHOD IN ECONOMICS AND POLITICS 

by P. SARGANT FLORENCE 

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF REASONING . . by EUGENIC RlGNANO 
THE PRINCIPLES OF CRITICISM . t , . . by I. A, RICHARDS 
THE PHILOSOPHY OF ' AS IF ! . . . . by H. VAIHINGER 



Character and the 
Unconscious 

A Critical Exposition of the Psychology 
of Freud and of Jung 



By 
J. H. van der HOOP 



Authorized Translation by 
ELIZABETH TREVELYAN 



LONDON 

KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER & CO., LTD. 

NEW YORK: HARCOURT, BRACE & COMPANY, INC. 

1923 



PRINTED IV GREAT BRITAIN BY 
THE EDINBURGH PRESS, 9 AND II YOUNG STREET, EDINBURGH 



PREFACE 

THIS book is intended to be a critical survey of the 
psychology of Freud and Jung. Although many intro- 
ductions to this subject have already been published in 
English, little attention has so far been paid to the 
causes of divergence in the theories of these scientists, 
who originally were in complete agreement with each 
other. This question should be of interest to all who 
are not content merely to condemn and ignore the point 
of view which they do not approve of. I believe that 
only a thorough understanding of this problem will 
enable us to realise the significance of the new psycho- 
logy, which cannot grow into a harmonious system 
of scientific theory unless psychologists will take the 
trouble to investigate the origin of existing differences 
of opinion. 

I have tried to avoid a detailed description both of 
psycho-analytical technique, and of the origins of various 
neuroses. Those subjects seem to me too difficult and 
complicated, and hardly ripe enough for this kind of 
general treatment. It i important to realise that 
psycho-analysis is a most subtle and difficult method, 
which leads to very complicated psycho-pathological 
theories ; otherwise we might be tempted to form 
premature and one-sided judgments, and there would 
be a danger that practitioners and others might attempt 
to treat patients without sufficient scientific training, 
and so might bring psycho-analysis into discredit. 

This book is the result of nine years' intensive study 
of the practice and theory of psycho-analysis. It was 
written before the publication of Jung's Psychological 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

Types, after which I revised and added to the fifth 
chapter, which treats of the psychological types, 
Thus the book everywhere represents my own views, 
though I need hardly say how much they owe to both 
Freud and Jung. 

The reader will perceive that I have represented 
psychology as a science that is still in a state of growth. 
New experiences are continually accumulating, and 
giving rise to new and divergent generalisations. Those 
who have no opportunity of judging from their own 
experience may easily be confused by this mass of 
facts and opinions, and will find it very difficult to 
obtain a clear survey of the whole. Notwithstanding 
these difficulties, I think that a somewhat general 
account may be of great use, because the subject- 
matter of this new psychology has aroused such 
universal interest, and is so closely connected with 
many contemporary problems. Our time is full of 
external and internal strife. In the social world we 
are faced by many intricate problems, whose solution 
requires a profound understanding of the human mind. 
But in our own lives too, we all of us meet with dilemmas 
and uncertainties which should make us eagerly welcome 
a science which may throw light on the hidden depths 
of the soul. I hope that this book may help to convince 
the reader that the new psychology will in time fulfil 
many of our expectations. 

Next to Mrs R. C. Trevelyan, I wish to express my 
thanks to Mr R. C. Trevelyan for his revision of the 
translation, to Miss Constance E. Long, M.D., and to 
Miss Sybil I. Welsh, M.D., for their criticism of the 
fifth chapter. 

J. H. van der HOOP. 



VI 



CONTENTS 

PAGES 

PREFACE .... v 

CHAPTER I. THE ORIGINS OF PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 1-30 

Natural science and psychology The study of 
hysteria Charcot Hypnotism and hysteria 
The nature of suggestion Janet's investiga- 
tions Breuer's experiences The effect of re- 
pression Resistance The influence of past 
experiences Significance of childhood A new 
basis of psychology Sex and hysteria The 
hysterical type Causes of hysteria Method 
of treatment Conditions for treatment 
Conclusion 

CHAPTER II. THE UNCONSCIOUS IN THE NORMAL 

MIND .... 31-59 

Expression in the normal mind Slight dis- 
turbances Slips of the tongue and of the pen 
Slight mistakes Analysis of dreams Desires 
Unpleasant dreams The censor Signifi- 
cance of dreams The latent and manifest 
content Dream-symbolism The use of re- 
pression Over-repression The importance of 
sex Sex and emotions Ego-ideals Difficult 
temperaments Psycho - analysis and self - 
knowledge 

CHAPTER III. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE 

EMOTIONS . . . 60-95 

Importance of earliest childhood Infancy 
Digestive disturbances and cleanliness Bed- 
wetting- Desire for movement Bodily gratifi- 
cationThe ego and the outside world 
CEdipus - complex Conflicting emotions 
Brothers and sisters Problem of the stork 
Emotional harmony The child's relation to 
the family Influence of early experience 
Death of a near relation Illness General 
account of the first period Arrest and regres- 
sion Latent period- Puberty Emancipation 
from the parents-*Homosexuality Education 
and development of emotions 

vii 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

PAGES 

CHAPTER IV. THE ANALYTIC AND THE SYN- 
THETIC POINTS OF VIEW . 96-131 

Criticism of psycho-analysis The pathological 
standpoint Sublimation Freud and evolu- 
tion Science and the creative principle 
Psychological growth The analytic and the 
synthetic methods The dreams of Rosegger 
Interpretation of dreams The two aspects 
of symbolism Constructive interpretation 
Two methods of dream-interpretation Arbi- 
trary interpretation and suggestion 

CHAPTER V. PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES . . 132-198 

Ideals in education Individual needs in edu- 
cation Synthetic psychology Development 
of individuality Introvert and extravert 
adaptation The four primary functions 
Relation between the functions Rational and 
irrational functions Sensation Intuition 
Feeling Thinking Leading and compensating 
functions The extravert feeling type The 
introvert feeling type The extravert thinking 
type The introvert thinking type The extra- 
vert intuitive type The introvert intuitive 
type The extravert sensation type The in- 
trovert sensation type Importance of Jung's 
classification Contrasts between types 
Attraction between types 

CHAPTER VI. THE RELATION BETWEEN THE CON- 
SCIOUS AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 199-218 

The unconscious as a hypothesis Nature of 
the unconscious according to Freud and Jung 
Dangers of psycho-analysis Synthetic and 
analytic treatment Psychic Development 
The Ego Relative importance of the con- 
scious and the unconscious Changes in the 
Self Re-birth Psychology and Religion 
Natural Development Arrested Development 
The future of psychology 

BIBLIOGRAPHY . 219 

INDEX ...... 221 



Vlll 



Character and the Unconscious 

CHAPTER I 

THE ORIGINS OF PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 

ANY enquiry into the origin of psycho-analytical 
research inevitably leads us into the region of medical 
science, and more especially to the consideration of that 
peculiar disease, hysteria. The new_ psychological 
outlook did not arise from thaj^ psychology which has 
been evolved, and is still being developed, by philo- 
sophers and academic psychologists ; it has been the 
necessary outcome of daily medical practice. We will 
begin by considering the attitude of the doctor towards 
his patient, when he desires to determine the nature 
and causes of a disease. He will carefully examine 
all the physical symptoms, and note the presence of 
any peculiar phenomena from which he may infer 
that a particular organ is ailing. It may happen that 
these phenomena cannot be ascribed to any physical 
cause, that they originate in a hidden distress, in over- 
strain or inner conflict. In the old days when no 
proper line of demarcation was drawn between the 
two sets of causes, disease of any sort was attributed 
to mysterious forces, such as the hand of God, the 
workings of the devil and of evil spirits, or the malign 
influence of one individual upon another. There has 
been a gradual improvement since then ; but even 
to-day the origin and tfte cure of disease are imputed 

i A 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

to hidden causes by the superstitious. Consider- 
able progress was effected in medical science by the 
development of the natural sciences, and many fan- 
tastic theories were uprooted by more methodical and 
acute observation. The patient's physical condition 
was examined with ever increasing care ; the nature 
of the disease was circumscribed within better defined 
limits, and the causes of many ailments became better 
known. But this advance in knowledge was restricted 
almost entirely to the physical world. The state of 
the patient's mind was overlooked, as it was thought 
impossible to apply here the same accurate methods 
of observation and experiment. To a great extent 
this is still the case, and many well known scientists do 
not believe in the possibility of dealing with psychology 
in a really scientific manner. Although the symptoms 
and the course of mental diseases have been patiently 
and carefully described, reviewed and classified, in 
practice these labours have not yielded anything like 
the harvest which mankind has garnered from the 
natural sciences. So far, we have scarcely advanced 
beyond the stage of superficial generalisation. Now, 
however, owing to our growing interest in the work- 
ings of the mind, new paths are being discovered 
which will lead to increasingly practical results. 

There was something accidental in the origins of 
psychological research. During the latter half of the 
previous century, Charcot, then professor in Paris, 
achieved world-wide fame by his penetrating investiga- 
tions into all manner of nerve troubles. He was able 
to point out that the cause of many cases of paralysis, 
of physical disturbance of the senses and of the muscles, 
was to be looked for in certain diseases of the brain 

2 



THE ORIGINS OF PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 

and the spine. A slight inflammation or tumour 
somewhere in this delicate nerve tissue was some- 
times found to be the explanation of all sorts of com- 
plicated symptoms. After much further enquiry into 
the nature of nervous diseases, Charcot dedicated 
himself to the study of hysterical phenomena. At 
that time the greatest confusion reigned on the subject. 
Most students preferred not to deal with it at all, and 
hysterical patients were often looked upon as frauds 
and impostors. Charcot however was compelled to 
be interested in symptoms which often closely resembled 
those of his nerve patients, and he was thus led to 
differentiate between the various symptoms, and to 
circumscribe them within their own limits. This was 
no easy matter ; for he found not only that hysteria 
was liable to bring about every conceivable physical 
and mental disturbance, but also that its symptoms 
were often characterised by considerable variability. 
They would suddenly be called to life by events of 
many kinds, particularly of an emotional character, 
only to disappear with equal rapidity after a certain 
time. The symptoms of hysteria are manifold, and a 
few instances must suffice. They may be of a mild 
nature, such as headache, fatigue, lack of appetite, 
and spleen ; or they may take a more serious turn and 
appear as grave physical disturbances, such as acute 
pain, complete or partial paralysis, persistent coughing 
fits and hiccoughs, blindness, deafness, dumbness and 
grave nerve attacks. The mental disturbances are 
primarily of an emotional character. The emotions 
are violent and impulsive, irrational and very variable. 
They may lead to a state of deranged excitability, and 
reach such a pitch that the patient appears to be 

3 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

insane. He may act as in a dream, and afterwards lose 
all recollection of his actions. All these symptoms 
were closely examined by Charcot and his pupils, 
but it was not found possible to localise the disturb- 
ances in any definite part of the spine or the brain. 
The cause of the disease was therefore to be looked 
for elsewhere, and Charcot assumed that in such 
cases there was_a deterioration of the whole nervous 
system, brought about by hereditary degeneration. 
Another important discovery made by Charcot with 
regard to hysterical symptoms was destined to form 
the basis of later investigations. In cases of hysterical 
paralysis, he observed that he could arbitrarily bring 
about paralysis when the patient was in a hypnotic 
condition. At that time hypnosis was not a scientifi- 
cally established fact, and such practices were despised 
as being primarily the methods of spiritualists and 
quacks. Charcot attempted to throw clearer light on 
the matter, although in the main he did not go much 
beyond describing numerous peculiarities of hypnosis 
and of the method by which it was induced ; and he 
only made use of hypnosis for purposes of experiment, 
being unaware of its utility in treatment. A big step 
forward was made later on by Liebault and Bernheiin, 
who employed hypnosis to influence the symptoms of 
hysteria. They considered that since it was possible 
to bring about these symptoms during hypnotic sleep, 
it ought to be equally possible to remove them in that 
condition. Their hypothesis was verified. When hyp- 
notised patients were spoken to in the proper manner, 
it was found that their symptoms could be influenced 
to a considerable degree. This discovery led to the 
further theory that, if any idea was impressed upon the 

J ' ^ -..I -X, ^^.^^JL^....^... 

4 



THE ORIGINS OF PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 

mind of^a_hypngtised . Ratjent, it^ wouldLbsu ja.ccep.ted 



called suggestion j and the mind of a hysterical patient 
was held to be more open to suggestion than that of a 
normal person. It further appeared that such sug- 
gestions were not only accepted, but that they exer- 
cised considerable influence on the entire physical and 
mental condition of the patient. To suggest that an 
arm was paralysed was enough to make it completely 
immovable ; the suggestion of wine induced in the 
hypnotised person a condition apparently identical 
with drunkenness. It was inferred that both the 
symptoms of hysteria, and the paralysed or drunken 
condition were brought about in the self-same manner ; 
the only difference being that, in the case of the disease, 
there was no hypnotist to induce the suggestion. It 
was therefore assumed that a similar suggestion could 
arise in the patient himself, caused either by a very 
powerful impression or by a deeply-stirring event. 
This was called auto-suggestion, and the^ 
condition of the mind of such patients was . 
as ' increased suggestibility '. It should be noted that 
this conception involves the curious implication that 
these suggestions are present in the patient's mind 
without his being aware of them in any way. 

In France these questions were further examined 
very thoroughly and scientifically by Janet, one of 
Charcot's pupils. Various experiments, which led 
to "a better insight into the psychology of hysteria, 
were made by him upon a number of patients, and it 
was found possible to establish beyond a doubt the 
existence of these unconscious processes of auto- 
suggestion. It was discovered that patients in deep 

5 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

hypnotic sleep were able to reply to questions, and so 
throw light on events in their earlier life, which were 
an important cause of their morbid symptoms. Thus 
unaccountable fits of dread occurring in a hysterical 
patient whenever she saw fire, were caused by a terri- 
fying incident during a conflagration of which she 
had no conscious remembrance. Under hypnosis, 
she was able to relate the event with a wealth of detail. 
Another means of enquiring into the contents of the 
unconscious mind was afforded by automatic writing, 
When hysterical patients were given paper and pencil 
and their attention was distracted by random talk, 
the hand would often start writing and communicating 
facts that had no connection whatever with the subject 
of the conversation. If anyone approached the patient 
unnoticed from behind and whispered a question into 
his ear, it was not unusual for the patient to continue 
talking quite naturally, while his hand would write 
the reply. Thus even while the patient was not in 
a hypnotic trance, information could be elicited from 
him concerning details bearing upon his symptoms ; 
and the fact was again clearly established that the 
unconscious retained these details, which were entirely 
inaccessible to the conscious memory. At times it 
was as if, behind the diseased personality of the patient, 
there was another being, much more fully cognisant 
of previous experiences. As a matter of fact, there 
have been well-known cases where a second personality 
has arisen into consciousness, such as that of the 
patient who had lost all recollection of a certain portion 
of her life, and whose symptoms obstructed several 
of her mental and physical faculties. By means of 
hypnosis another personality was evoked which could 

6 



THE ORIGINS OF PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 

remember the forgotten period, and also possessed 
those faculties, but was unable to recollect anything 
else. It was even possible at times to conjure up 
another more complete personality, uniting in one 
whole the experiences and faculties of the two others. 
But such cases of double personality are very rare, and 
of little importance for our purpose, except in so far as 
they show that hysterical symptoms are caused by 
unconscious processes which have a more or less inde- 
pendent existence. They may best be compared with 
the so-called post-hypnotic suggestions, which are made 
to a hypnotised patient to be acted upon during waking 
hours. When such a suggestion is carried out at a 
given moment, the patient is at a loss to understand 
how he came to act in so strange a fashion. 

But the problem of how such unconscious pro- 
cesses arise, is not yet solved. Is there something 
exceptional in the suggestion itself which compels it to 
remain unconscious, or does it depend entirely on the 
peculiar state of mind of the hysterical patient ? And 
if so, what are the characteristics of this state ? We 
may observe that normal people also are more or less 
susceptible to suggestions, but they are far from ac- 
cepting all ideas as suggestions. In some psychological 
conditions, suggestibility can be greatly increased by 
more or less eliminating criticism in the patient. The 
personality of the suggestor is an important factor, 
and if recognised as an authority, he will have much 
more chance of enforcing his ideas without question. 
When the individual forms part of a crowd, he will 
also be more inclined to accept something on authority. 
Usually however in the minds of normal individuals 
different ideas are at vjprk at the same time, checking 

7 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

and correcting each other. But suggestions made 
during hypnosis appear to develop quite independently 
in the mind ; they evolve and operate untrammelled 
by other ideas, and this occurs to a much greater 
extent with hysterical patients than with normal 
individuals. Hence Janet's characterisation of the 
hysterical state of mind as one in which ideas tend 
to subsist in watertight compartments. In his view, 
as in Charcot's, this is due to the general condition 
of the nervous system, which is the outcome of heredi- 
tary degeneration. In such cases it is much more 
difficult for one idea to affect another, because the 
mind of the degenerate has difficulty in retaining 
different ideas at the same time. Memory, according to 
Janet, arises from one idea evoking another, and if this 
connecting faculty is lacking, it is impossible for one 
idea to summon another into the conscious mind, and 
the apparent loss of memory of a particular event is 
thereby explained. Only under hypnosis can these 
dead memories be brought back to life by the hypnotist. 
Now an unconscious idea is just as well capable of 
influencing the body as conscious ideas do. Indeed an 
unconscious idea is even more operative, because it is 
not tempered by the workings of other ideas. Thus 
the unconscious recollection of a terrible conflagration 
may strike terror in the mind of the patient when he 
sees a tiny flame. Let us take as another example 
(XXI, p. 248) * the curious case of a patient who 
would sit down to table with a normal appetite, only 
to find that her hunger disappeared after the first 
mouthful, and was immediately followed by repug- 

* The Roman characters refer to the bibliography at the end of 
the book. * 

8 



THE ORIGINS OF PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 

nance. She could give no reason for this, and only 
hypnosis revealed the still living recollection of a 
scene with her mother, who during a quarrel had 
upbraided her with not being worth the food she 
consumed, and said that she deserved to starve. 
This isolated unconscious idea rose up whenever she 
was about to eat, and affected her physical condition 
so violently as to dispel all appetite. By acting upon 
the unconscious idea during hypnosis, Janet succeeded 
in eliminating the symptom. 

Janet's theory, no doubt, explains various char- 
acteristics of hysteria, but it leaves a number of ques- 
tions unanswered. His patients were for the most part 
quite uneducated and mentally deficient women, so it 
was natural for him to attribute their psychological 
peculiarities to inferiority and degeneration. But 
hysterical symptoms very often occur in people who 
could certainly not be described as inferior, and do not 
make the impression of being able to retain only one 
idea at the same time. Janet also fails to make it 
clear why some ideas more than others tend to remain 
unconscious. It is true that he points to the influence 
exercised by strong emotions ; but we shall see that 
all strong emotions are not to the same degree the 
cause of unconscious processes. One might also 
criticise Janet's association theory, according to which 
these processes consist of ideas which call each other 
forth because they are connected by association. 

These objections were further elaborated by Breugr 
and Freijd. (VI), who at about the same time were 
pursuing the study of hysteria in Vienna. Breuer was a 
medical practitioner, who in the course of his practice 
met with a curious experience. He was treating a 

9 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

hysterical girl who had nursed her father through a 
serious illness, during which she developed ever in- 
creasing symptoms of mental disease, until in the end, 
after her father's death, she became almost constantly 
afflicted with a strange disorder. Her right arm was 
rigid and insensitive, and although she could still quite 
well understand German, her mother tongue, she was 
only able to speak English. Breuer observed acci- 
dentally that her condition improved for several hours 
when, in her dream-like state, she related her harassing 
ideas and illusions ; so by way of treatment he made 
her talk for some time every evening, while she was in 
this state. The illusions which obsessed her were 
mostly connected with her father's illness, and memories 
of that period came back to her with photographic 
distinctness, accompanied by the distress which they 
had aroused. He now made the quite unexpected 
discovery that a hysterical symptom would disappear 
as soon as she had recalled and described, in her som- 
nambulistic condition, the first occasion when the 
symptom occurred. This was always accompanied 
by violent expressions of emotion ; and she usually 
had first to relate a series of incidents during which 
the symptoms had appeared, before she was able to 
tell of the event which had originally provoked it, 
which was as follows. One evening she was anxiously 
watching over her invalid father, while expecting the 
arrival of a consulting surgeon. She was sitting by 
the bed, her right arm over the back of her chair. 
She began to imagine things very vividly, as she 
was wont to, and saw a black snake that was crawling 
down the wall towards her father, as if with the inten- 
tion of biting him. She wanted to ward off the animal, 

10 



THE ORIGINS OF PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 

but her right arm which hung over the back of the 
chair was numb, insensitive and rigid, and when she 
looked at her fingers they changed into small snakes 
with death's-heads. Then the serpent hallucination 
left her, and in her terror she attempted to pray, 
but found no words, except an English nursery rhyme, 
and could only think and pray in English. After this 
incident these reactions of stiffness in the arm and 
speaking in English recurred whenever she was seized 
with fear, and finally they became permanent. As 
soon as the patient became conscious of what gave rise 
to them, the symptoms disappeared for good. Breuer 
found that this method succeeded in the case of her 
other morbid symptoms too. He communicated these 
facts to Freud, who made similar experiments on 
various patients. He found that the most varied 
forms^ of hysteria could be _made_tp disappear by 
inducing_thg_patient to relate the ^j3s^clncal_ moment 
which had given rise to^ thern^ J?joyided that the emo- 
tions associated with these memories., were. alsa~ade- 
quately expressed. It thus became apparent that 
patients in their normal consciousness knew nothing 
of these past events, that these recollections only 
emerged under hypnosis, and then very vividly. 
Breuer and Freud inferred that the psychic content 
can be at the same time both unconscious and opera 
tive, and they agreed with Janet in regarding the 
splitting up or dissociation of the mind as a markec 
characteristic of hysteria. 

So far the investigations of both schools had attained 
the same results. But while Janet strove to alleviate 
hysterical symptoms by altering or eliminating under 
hypnosis the unconscious ideas which were at the basis 

ii 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

of them, Breuer and Freud aimed at bringing out and 
expressing the emotional incidents which had caused 

* *-* "- * * < ..***'9'*<*''*WW**"*>* 

these unconscious ideas, in order to render their action 
inoperative. They were thus led to examine closely 
the circumstances attending the origin of these uncon- 
scious morbid ideas. Their attention was soon directed 
towards a new phenomenon, which had already ap- 
peared in the Breuer case, and became increasingly 
noticeable during Freud's subsequent investigations : 
the repression at the critical moment of the powerful 
emotion which was always connected with^TKese 
morbid Jdeas. Breuer's patient had not been able to 
express her concern and anxiety in the presence of 
her sick father, and so was compelled to conceal her 
real feelings. In another case, that of an employee, 
hysteria arose after he had been abused and struck in 
the street by his employer, a painful situation during 
which he had had to repress his feelings. Most of the 
examples given by Freud in his first work are too 
complicated to be quoted here. Very often morbid 
symptoms are not caused by one particular event, 
but by the repeated repression of the same emotion. 
Such repression indicates that in these cases there is 
a conflict between different emotions. 

This theory of repression was confirmed by another 
experiment. In milder cases of hysteria, Freud found 
himself unable to hypnotise his patients for the purpose 
of discovering unconscious ideas. He then remem- 
bered that there was another method of penetrating 
to the unconscious memory. He had witnessed Bern- 
heim's success in making a patient remember what 
had happened to her under hypnosis, although she 
had previously forgotten everything about it, simply by 

12 



THE ORIGINS OF PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 

impressing upon her that it would come back to her 
when he put his hand upon her forehead. Freud's 
first experiment was to make the same gesture of the 
hand while he told his patient that he would remember 
something connected with the first appearance of his 
symptoms. When this had been repeated several 
times, memories were actually evoked, which gradually 
came nearer to the event which Freud was looking for. 
But at the same time, it became clear, not only to 
Freud but to the patient, that something was resisting 
this attempt to draw the recollection into the con- 
scious mind, and that it was only by an effort that he 
could bring himself to speak of things which awakened 
unpleasant feelings. Assistance had ^ to be^avercome. 
This resistance also expressed a conflict of emotions. 
Freud concluded that the resistance which he had 
met with during treatment must have been the original 
cause for the disappearance of the past event from 
consciousness. Not only the condition of the patient, 
but also the reason for the repression, became more 
easy to understand. What had characteristically 
happened to this hysterical patient, was that a 
morbid symptom had taken the place of the emotional 
recollection which had been thrust back. Breuer f 
and Freud explained this by saying that in place of one 
physical expression of emotion, another physical 
expression had arisen, a process which they called 
the conversion of an emotion into a morbid symptom. 
Such conversion of an unexpressed emotion could be 
terminated by bringing about its normal expression, 
or in technical language, by " allowing the affect to be 
worked off." 

The following example will make the matter clearer. 

13 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

I was treating a seventeen year old girl, who was 
suffering from a hiccough which had been tormenting 
her continuously for several weeks. She was quite at a 
loss to explain how it began, and no physical cause of 
the disturbance could be discovered. When I urged 
her to confide to me what was occupying her thoughts, 
she began describing her home conditions. After her 
father's death her mother had opened a boarding- 
house, which she was helping to run, and they had so 
far succeeded in keeping the household together for her 
brothers. When I continued to urge her, she related 
the small troubles of her life in the boarding-house and 
other matters concerning her brothers, and memories 
came back of an earlier time when her father was alive. 
After a few days, pauses began to occur in her story ; 
she would refuse to go on, and became out of humour 
without being able to explain why. In proportion as 
it grew more difficult for her to express her thoughts, 
she became more restless and depressed, and would 
sometimes break out into fits of crying. She began to 
resist my questioning, and after a time the resistance 
became very marked. She told me with great diffi- 
culty about various disagreements with her mother, 
and thought she could remember that something of 
that kind had preceded the first fit of hiccoughs. 
Then at last, after further serious difficulties and more 
crying, the conscious recollection arose of the scene 
that had taken place just before she became afflicted 
with hiccoughs. Her mother had told her that the 
boarding-house was becoming too much for her : she 
proposed to give it up and to go and live with some 
relations. Her daughter was to look out for a situa- 
tion. This was a heavy blow tothe girl, who was very 

14 



THE ORIGINS OF PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 

much attached to the family circle ; and that evening 
after hearing of the plan, she gave way to bitter crying, 
and her sobs were so violent that they broke out con- 
vulsively like hiccoughs. At last she fell asleep. 
When she awoke the next morning, she had lost all 
recollection of the conversation, and, instead, was 
suffering from a continuous hiccough, which was so 
loud as to be very troublesome both to herself and to 
her family. Thus she had succeeded in thrusting away 
a painful memory ; but although it had become uncon- 
scious, it now found indirect expression, as a kind of 
symbol for the hidden unhappiness. The treatment 
consisted in overcoming the resistance ; and as soon 
as that was effected, the hiccough disappeared once 
and for all, and the girl's unhappiness expressed itself 
more normally in bitter tears. I should add for the 
sake of completeness, that in this case there was no 
reason for assuming the existence of any kind of 
hereditary degeneration. The patient was an intelli- 
gent, sensible girl, who had previously shown no 
symptoms of nervous disease ; so that we may assume 
that in this case the troubles were serious enough to 
bring about the morbid symptoms. 

After his first investigations with Breuer, Freud pur- 
sued his enquiries alone, and soon realised* that his 
theoretic conceptions needed amplification. If hysteri- 
cal symptoms usually occur whenever there has been 
repression, one would surely expect them to occur more 
frequently. Does not civilisation compel us every day 
to repress our emotions, and are they not frequently 
of a violent character ? This, then, is not enough to 
explain how hysterical symptoms arise. Freud dis- 
covered that it was not, always the repression of strong 

15 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

emotions that was the cause of morbid symptoms. 
Sometimes they would appear with relatively small 
occasion. But in such cases he found that there 
were always a great many previous experiences of 
the same nature, which together constituted a conflict 
in the patient's emotional life. For instance, (VI) he 
found that mild hysterical symptoms occurred in a 
governess in consequence of a scolding from the master 
of the house. Further investigation revealed a few 
other small matters, which all touched the patient on 
one sensitive spot, where her feelings were in conflict. 
She had been entrusted with the care of some children, 
whose mother was dead ; and certain expressions of 
the father had given her the idea that she might some 
day become his second wife. But she repressed these 
thoughts, and found support for this repression in 
some of the father's less friendly utterances. This 
is a case where a lingering and chronic conflict 
may be considered the cause of mild morbid 
symptoms. 

While investigating the problem why such conflicts 
should have such unusually far-reaching effects, 
Freud was led to penetrate more and more into the 
life history of his patients. It appeared that no 
single event that had at some time or other called 
forth a hysterical symptom, was sufficient in itself to 
explain this result. In his patients' antecedents there 
were always to be found various occurrences, which had 
provoked an inner conflict, and created the sensibly e 
spot where the later event was to strike home. Thus, 
in the hiccough case referred to above, the painful 
problem had already arisen earlier in the young girl's 
life. Ever since the death of hpr father, she must have 

16 



THE ORIGINS OF PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 

been always more or less conscious of the threatened 
break-up of the family household. 

The antecedents of his patients became an increas- 
ingly important and fruitful field for Freud's investiga- 
tions. But he found that at a certain moment in the 
treatment of a patient, his recollections would cease, 
and that then he had already reached back to the events 
of early childhood. Even at this early stage of emo- 
tional life, he would at times find peculiarities which 
had developed later on into conflicts of emotion. 
It seemed as though certain future characteristics 
could be ascribed entirely to some earlier experience 
which had powerfully impressed itself upon the mind. 
It sometimes also appeared that a conflict of emotions 
had existed very early in life, and had led to conceal- 
ment and repression. At first Freud considered these 
events of early childhood, which had led to conflict and 
repression, to be actually the predisposing causes 
of mental disease, especially of hysteria. But he 
soon abandoned this view, when further investigation 
showed that many normal people had had similar 
conflicts in early youth, which yet had not resulted in 
morbid conditions in later life. Furthermore he 
discovered that in a few cases the deeply stirring 
event in childhood had not in fact taken place at all, 
but only existed in the child's vivid imagination. 
The main cause of a morbid disposition should not be 
exclusively sought for in the event which had acted as 
an outer stimulus to certain emotions in the child. 
We must suppose either that there was something 
peculiar in the child which made it more susceptible 
to the unfavourable influence of certain events, or that 
the child had experience^ a conflict of emotions solely 

17 B 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

through its imagination. These deviations, which lead 
to hysterical symptoms, are not therefore provoked by 
circumstance alone, but also by disposition. The 
value of Freud's enquiry was certainly not impaired 
by this revised conception, for he was able to show how 
disposition is developed and influenced by all manner 
of circumstances, and how morbid symptoms receive 
their specific form and content through the interaction 
of disposition and outward events. 

Meanwhile Freud was drifting further and further 
away from his earlier adherence to association-psy- 
chology. We have seen how near he originally was to 
Janet, who considered that certain unconscious images 
were the active forces which caused such morbid 
symptoms. According to this psychological theory, 
ideas constitute the essential part of the mind. They 
attract and repel each other like atoms in the physical 
world, and our judgments and convictions are the 
outcome of their interactions. Breuer and Freud 
saw at once that these active forces of the mind lay 
not so much in the ideas, as in the emotions that were 
connected with them and gave them their importance. 
If we follow Freud's method and look back into the 
past history of a human being, we become more and 
more aware that life is flowing on continuously like a 
stream, in which the emotions seem to be always 
changing, though in essence they remain the same, 
however much they may clothe themselves in new 
ideas. By thus viewing a man's life as a whole, we can 
penetrate deeper and deeper into regions that lie 
behind ideas. The emotions give clear evidence of 
this deeper background, for they reveal definite currents 
which, however mingled andtshifting, are yet an indica- 

18 



THE ORIGINS OF PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 

tion of certain fixed desires. We jnust finally regard 
these underlying desires, which express themselves 
in emotions and thoughts, as the ultimate basis of 
our mental life. In youth, these impulses express 
themselves more simply and vaguely, but later on in a 
more involved fashion. They then split up, or unite 
together, and tend to become more differentiated, and 
at the same time more complicated and more pro- 
nounced. But however far back into our lives we 
project our memory, we never find any singleness of 
aim in our desires. Already in our earliest years we 
discover conflicts of emotion, expressing forces which 
clash with one another. These conflicts become con- 
scious as emotional reactions of many different kinds. 
While investigating cases of mental disturbances, 
Freud observed the curious fact that the ideas and 
emotions which were repressed in hysterical cases, all 
belonged to the same extensive category, that of sex. 
In the expression of sexual emotions, there was always 
some disturbance to be noted. Hysterical symptoms 
had taken the place of the normal forms of expression. 
We may at first be tempted to connect this view with 
the popular conception that hysteria and sexual 1 
excitement are one and the same thing. It is an old 
theory, as is shown by the name, which is derived 
from the Greek word for womb. Hysteria was princi- 
pally to be found in women, and its symptoms were 
therefore connected with sexual deviations. Freud's 
theory confirms this view only in so far as it makes 
clear that hysterical symptoms are a substitute for 
and a disguised expression of sexual impulses, which 
for one reason or another have not been able to express 
themselves as such. Now and then hysterical patients 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

show strong sexual desires quite clearly. But just 
because the normal expressions of sexual desire have 
been involuntarily repressed, there can generally be no 
question at all of sexual excitement in the ordinary 
sense. On the contrary, such patients are cold and 
detached, although there may sometimes be indica- 
tions showing that they are capable of sexual emotion. 
However that may be, I hope to have shown clearly 
that hysteria and sexual excitement are not the same 
thing. 

On the basis of Freud's authority and experience, 
we shall assume that hysterical symptoms often arise 
in a complicated manner, which the patient himself 
cannot account for, as the result of repressed sexual 
emotions, the term sexual being used in a very general 
sense. Without entering into detail, it may be well 
to delineate the various factors which produce hysteria. 
For the sake of convenience, we shall distinguish 
between three kinds of hysteria, and consider the 
origin of each in turn. 

We have seen that both past and present circum- 
stances are of importance in bringing about morbid 
symptoms. In cases of obvious predisposition, the 
emphasis should be placed on previous incidents and 
circumstances as having prepared the later morbjd 
reactions. In genuine hysterical cases significant 
characteristics exist even in early childhood, and, as 
Freud has shown, are caused by strong, unconscious 
emotions reacting upon the conscious life. At a 
very early period, whether owing to circumstance or 
disposition, strong erotic emotions find a form of 
expression, which is subsequently repressed. But this 
repression soon more or less miscarries, so that the 

20 



THE ORIGINS OF PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 

influence of the unconscious makes itself felt, though in 
a concealed manner. This influence especially shows 
itself in oyeMension of the emotions, leading to violent 
outbursts about trifles, unaccountable terrors and other 
morbid feelings, and often taking the form of a demon- 
strativeness unusual at that age. Such children are 
likely to be unusually sympathetic, sensitive and un- 
selfish, but at the same time they show themselves to 
be as changeable in their sentiments as adult patients. 
In later life unexpected influences constantly inter- 
vene and disturb their relations with others, so that 
they gain the reputation of being exacting, difficult, 
jealous and intolerant. They are also blamed for 
attitudinising, for they are so anxious to make an im- 
pression on their entourage, that they do not scruple 
to mix fact and fiction. It will often be remarked how 
different the role they wish to impersonate, is from the 
one which they usually express in their actions. This 
is due to the emergence of their unconscious processes, 
which are much more noticeable to onlookers than 
to the patients themselves, who owing to their repres- 
sions are not able to become conscious of them. In 
fact their attention is only drawn to these processes, 
when they assume the form of troublesome hysterical 
symptoms. Even then their connection with the other 
workings of the mind is generally so little apparent, 
that patients will only become convinced of it after 
special efforts of introspection. Just as small diffi- 
culties and conflicts produced unaccountable and dis- 
proportionate emotional reactions, so these reactions 
lead to more or less pronounced morbid symptoms, 
which may seem equally mysterious in their origin. 
In serious cases, these symptoms may dominate the 

21 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

whole of the patient's life ; and as they are generally 
accompanied by peculiar emotional reactions, he is 
likely to become very difficult to deal with. 

A careful observer will note a peculiar attitude 
in such patients towards the general question of sex 
and love. Everything in this sphere that is not ex- 
clusively and definitely spiritual, is rejected as inferior. 
The patient will behave as if he were far above such 
problems and conflicts ; but various details of be- 
haviour, his curiosity, and certain unmistakeable 
reactions will show that he is very far indeed from 
being uninterested in such questions, and that uncon- 
sciously he is more interested in them than most other 
people. As a result he will often be misunderstood, for 
it will not be realised how little his involuntary be- 
haviour corresponds to his conscious intention. 

So far we have dealt with patients, whose mental 
deviations have extended over so long a time, that the 
causes must be looked for in congenital disposition or in 
events of early childhood. We now come to a second 
category, that of patients who become afflicted with 
hysteria at a certain moment in their lives, as a result 
of some critical difficulty. In cases of this kind it 
is easier to discover the causes of the disease, as they 
are much more in evidence. It is true that here also 
an enquiry into character and disposition would reveal 
emotions, which at an earlier period have been thrust 
back into the unconscious. But the repression will 
have been less comprehensive, and more successful, 
and more outlets will have been found for impulses 
and feelings, so that the severe tension caused by 
bottled-up emotions will never have expressed itself in a 
troublesome manner. In si!ch a case the causes of 

22 



THE ORIGINS OF PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 

morbid symptoms are in general unsatisfied desires 
in the emotional life. The symptoms appear when the 
emotions are debarred from a satisfactory outlet 
It might be objected that the patient might find other 
forms of expression ; also that there are plenty of 
unsatisfied ^people who show no hysterical symptoms. 

But to produce these symptoms, other conditions, 
connected with the tendency to repression, must be 
present. An unsatisfied desire causes strong mental 
tension and compression of emotional energy, and a 
number of older, elementary forms of expression crop 
up involuntarily. As the water of a dammed-up 
river is pressed back and flows into long abandoned 
channels, so the emotional tension will try to express 
itself in obsolete forms. Old habits, events or fan- 
tasies, which were accompanied in the past by strong 
emotion, will emerge once more as possible outlets 
for the suppressed emotion. This process is called 
regression, and occurs also in normal people ; but with 
them it is more consciously developed than with 
hysterical patients, who not only would never con- 
sciously adopt earlier ways of expression, but cannot 
even conceive them as a possible outlet. 

In many cases normal persons are able to find new 
forms of expression, when the old have to be given 
up. A girl who is unfortunate in love may find satis- 
faction in nursing ; a writer can express his unsatisfied 
ideal of love in a novel. Everyone does not possess 
to an equal degree this capacity for transferring sex 
feeling into channels of greater social value, a process 
which Freud calls sublimation. In most people it 
soon reaches its limits. In hysterically disposed 
individuals, the tendency to repress and the refusal to 

23 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

face facts about themselves, make it more difficult 
both to discover the trouble and to find a possible 
solution through sublimation, and so the unconscious 
tension is increased. 

Whereas in the first group of hysterical cases the 
tendency to repress rouses strong unconscious activities 
continuously throughout the patient's life, in the 
second series the unconscious only emerges in a trouble- 
some manner when a want has to go unsatisfied, so 
that a tension arises and seeks an outlet which is 
denied. This tension in its turn produces a regression 
towards earlier forms of expression ; but they are 
unable to penetrate into consciousness, and so the 
tension has to find an abnormal outlet. 

In a third series of cases, a hysterical symptom will 
suddenly appear in connection with an unusually severe 
shock, or with some emotion, which has either not 
been expressed at all, or only inadequately. In 
the war, such cases were very common. Here too 
investigation will generally reveal a predisposition to 
hysteria ; but it will not be an overwhelming factor, 
as in the two previous groups. Such cases are easier 
to cure than the others, for it is easier to bring back to 
consciousness the disturbing event, and to provoke the 
proper expression of the emotion.* Where the ten- 
dency to repression has become a settled habit, and 
frustrates partly or completely the expression of 
important impulses, the treatment presents much 
greater difficulty. The patient can no doubt find some 
relief by pouring out his innermost feelings to somebody 
in whom he places his trust. But if this method were 

* Unless the symptom acquires a secondary use which induces 
the patient to cling to it later on, e.g. ^ar of the trenches. 

24 



THE ORIGINS OF PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 

the only one used, it would lead the patient to be too 
dependent on his doctor. The repressed emotions 
will, it is true, find a different outlet from that provided 
by morbid symptoms ; but when the treatment comes 
to an end, and this mode of expression is no longer 
possible, the patient will probably relapse sooner or 
later, and again become subject to the same or other 
morbid symptoms. 

Thus a double problem confronts the psycho-analyst, 
when he has to deal with the more serious forms of 
hysteria. In the first place he must discover the seat 
of the various repressed emotions, and their connection 
with the morbid symptoms. Next, the patient must be 
induced to give up the bad habit of repressing his 
difficulties, and be taught how to find better outlets 
for his emotions by introspection, and by giving 
thought to his troubles, and so will learn how to direct 
his life in a more conscious manner. Small wonder 
that when the symptoms date from far back, or where 
individual characteristics are strongly pronounced, 
the treatment becomes a lengthy and difficult affair. 
It is only when the patient has abandoned the com- 
fortable position of refusing to see things as they are, 
and has come to face realities within and without, 
that he is able to find satisfaction for his emotional 
needs. Until then, his utterances of repressed emotions 
in the presence of the doctor are only a safety valve 
for the tension of his emotional energy ; and so long 
as this lasts, the patient remains more or less dependent 
on his doctor. But the doctor should always make his 
patients realise the nature of their dependence on 
him ; and this he can do by making them see that 
their unconscious infantile emotions are thus being 

'25 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

satisfied. It is obvious that such a treatment must 
make severe demands on the analyst. He will have to 
retain an objective attitude towards the most varie- 
gated emotions of his patient, neither rejecting them, 
nor accepting them, and he must reflect all his utter- 
ances faithfully like a mirror. Psycho-analytical treat- 
ment essentially consists in the attainment by the 
patient of fundamental self-knowledge by systematic 
and lengthy introspection. Opportunities for investi- 
gating inner problems will be furnished not only by 
the more or less important morbid symptoms, but 
by innumerable forms of expression which have no 
apparent connection with our conscious mental life. 
In a later chapter, I hope to show how some of these 
phenomena occur in normal persons too, and may 
give us insight into the unconscious. In psycho- 
analytical treatment dreams provide very important 
clues for penetrating into the depths of the unconscious. 
I do not intend here to make a profound study of 
the problems of psycho-pathology. Besides, it would 
be difficult to summarise briefly the various processes 
by which hysterical symptoms are connected with 
earlier incidents and fancies in the patient's life. 
But it may be as well to state now emphatically, 
what I hope to prove later on, that our mental life 
is far more complicated, composite and mysterious 
than most of us suppose on the strength of a super- 
ficial knowledge of our own conscious processes. We 
are ever ready with opinions about ourselves and others, 
and with the offer of advice to all and sundry. A 
better understanding of the complex structure of the 
human mind will make us tread more warily. Psycho- 
analysts, who are daily confronted with these problems, 

26 ' 



THE ORIGINS OF PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 

are all well aware of their overwhelming difficulty, 
which puts a strain upon all their faculties. Anyone 
who undertakes the psycho-analytical treatment of a 
patient without adequate preparation, has no right to 
ascribe failure simply to the method of treatment. 
It should also be clear that this treatment, more than 
any other, requires the co-operation of the patient. 
Understanding can only be attained if patient and 
doctor constantly work hand in hand ; and unless 
patients are really anxious to be cured, and are pre- 
pared to investigate themselves thoroughly, they are 
unsuitable for this kind of treatment. 

^We must now consider this further question. A 
patient may repress his impulses because they are 
unacceptable to him, or because they clash with the 
rest of his emotions. He will have to find some service- 
able forms of expression for his emotions by becoming 
more conscious of his inner life. But is this always 
possible ? May it not happen that either his emo- 
tional disposition, or his incapacity to create useful 
sublimated forms of expression, are of such a kind that 
the attempt to make him realise his problems may 
merely torture him without solving his difficulties ? 
Would it not be better to leave his morbid symptoms 
undisturbed, rather than increase the difficulty of 
the conflict by making him acutely conscious of it ? 
May not repression be a fortunate piece of mechanism ? 
We ought to differentiate between the various in- 
dividual cases, and consider in each separately whether 
the advantages of treatment will outweigh the draw- 
backs. Generally the patient will be able to tell by 
intuition whether a psycho-analytical treatment will 
suit his inner powers } and disposition. No serious 

27 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

psycho-analyst will force his treatment upon a patient. 
The liberty to break off the treatment at any time, 
and to carry on introspection by oneself, is of the first 
importance. But although there may at times be 
objections to treatment, they should not be over- 
rated. Even in cases of an unfavourable disposition, a 
clear understanding of the difficulties, and a conscious 
effort to overcome them, will afford a much better 
chance of a solution than would a mere struggle in 
the dark. 

I will now briefly summarise the results of our 
enquiry into hysteria. Charcot disposed of the con- 
ception that hysterical patients are female humbugs, 
who want to create an effect. It was left to his pupils 
to establish clearly that hysteria is connected with 
unconscious mental processes. So long as such pro- 
cesses were ascribed to an inferior mental disposition, 
the stigma of degeneracy was attached to anyone who 
showed hysterical symptoms. A change of view was 
brought about by Freud, who pointed out the import- 
ance of various influences which modify our emotional 
life from childhood onwards. Although hereditary 
disposition remains in many cases a factor of im- 
portance, in a great many others the emphasis should 
be placed on circumstances which have warped the 
growth of the emotions. Unconscious ideas and 
emotions are no longer considered to be by themselves 
the causes of the disease, but are looked upon as 
symptoms of repressed impulses, which would have 
found a satisfying outlet if other emotions had not 
intervened. The origin of hysteria may therefore be 
described as a conflict of vitally important impulses, 
which results in the repressio^ of one among them. 

28 



THE ORIGINS OF PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 

Experience also proves that these repressed impulses 
are always connected with sex, this term being used 
in its widest sense. Thus the old connection between 
hysteria and sex has been re-established, but not in 
the sense that hysterical patients must be persons 
with strong sexual requirements. On the contrary, 
Freud has shown that such requirements are here 
repressed. The popular conception is only so far true, 
that sex is seen to crop up everywhere in the utterances 
of hysterical patients, because these repressed needs, 
of which the patient remains entirely unconscious, 
are always endeavouring indirectly to push themselves 
forward. It would be foolish to attempt the cure of 
such patients merely by providing them with direct 
sexual satisfaction. Not only would other emotions 
oppose this very strenuously, but the whole temper 
of their emotional life is too delicate and complex 
to find satisfaction in a coarse and elementary manner. 
What is needed is that by increasing the sphere of 
their consciousness, they should attain a new harmony 
of the emotions, which would not simply consist in 
rejecting what does not fit in with the whole. The 
path that leads to this harmony has been revealed by 
Freud's difficult and slow psycho-analytical treatment, 
which compels the patient to become conscious of 
himself by a careful investigation of the workings of his 
mind. The essence of this method is a long and system- 
atic introspection, by which we may penetrate not only 
into what is generally called the unconscious, but also 
into those thoughts and emotions which can only be 
made conscious after some inner resistance has been 
laboriously overcome. It is only these last processes 
which Freud describes as unconscious, while he defines 

>2 9 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

as pre-conscious processes such matters as can easily 
and without any resistance emerge into consciousness. 
Freud's views on hysteria have now been accepted 
by many investigators, although there are still a number 
of doctors who adhere to the vague conception of 
hereditary degeneration without further inquiring into 
its causes. Meanwhile the new theories are percol- 
ating through, and have given us an entirely novel 
view of the nature of insanity, while the inner conflict 
between conscious personality and repressed uncon- 
scious tendencies plays an important part in general 
psycho-pathology. But this is a subject which is too 
complex for me to dwell upon in this book. Thus the 
study of hysteria and Freud's discovery of the psycho- 
analytical method have enabled us to penetrate by 
entirely new paths into the dark recesses of the human 
mind ; and we have come to realise that it is a very 
complicated organism, of which only a small portion 
is known to us in the conscious processes of our daily 
life. 



CHAPTER II 

THE UNCONSCIOUS IN THE NORMAL MIND 

WE have seen that the study of neuroses, especially 
of hysteria, has led to an increased understanding 
of the unconscious processes. Freud has shown that 
there are two kinds of unconscious processes : the 
pre-conscious, of which one is not aware at any given 
moment, but which it is possible, more or less readily, 
to recall to consciousness ; and the repressed uncon- 
scious, which consciousness resists, because it contains 
impulses which would not fit in with the rest of the 
personality. 

We now come to the question : does the repressed 
unconscious play any part in normal people, or must 
we look for it only in the abnormal ? We cannot give a 
complete answer if we rely merely on what we know 
about ourselves, because the very fact that there are 
unconscious processes in our mind, implies that we are 
not aware of them. But just as in hysterical cases 
we were led to admit the existence of unconscious 
feelings and thoughts, because of various symptoms 
which could not be explained by the conscious person- 
ality alone, so we can assume that there are uncon- 
scious processes in normal people, because in them also 
expressions occur which have no apparent relation to 
the conscious mind. Freud was naturally led to 
study these expressions, when investigating the psychic 

' 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

products of his patients. He found that not only 
morbid products could be traced back to unconscious 
origins, but also slight disturbances such as we fre- 
quently meet with in normal people, which are not 
usually classed among morbid symptoms. Instances 
of these are : forgetting names and foreign words, 
slips of the tongue or of the pen, forgetting what one 
meant to do, making slight mistakes and breaking 
objects, etc. Furthermore he found that dreams in 
particular showed the way to a clearer understanding 
of the unconscious, as they are the spontaneous experi- 
ence of a mental state, in which conscious criticism 
and reflection are almost completely absent. A close 
study of all these symptoms, which occur also in normal 
people, will teach us a great deal about the content and 
significance of the normal unconscious processes. 

We must first consider some of the disturbances 
of the conscious mind. Formerly these were explained 
by the fact that they are much more apt to occur 
when the mind is fatigued and distracted than when 
it is fresh and wide-awake. Although this is certainly 
true, it does not explain why a special disturbance 
arises at any given moment. Here Freud's theories 
give us a clue. He made his patients concentrate 
their attention each on some particular disturbance, 
and asked them to tell him all the thoughts that 
occurred to them. Freud attaches importance to all 
the thoughts that are thus naturally associated with a 
given phenomenon, even if the patient himself does not 
see any meaning in them. He found that when the 
search-light of the patient's attention had been fixed 
for some time on the moment of the disturbance, and 
various associated ideas had been called forth out of 

32 ' 



THE UNCONSCIOUS IN THE NORMAL MIND 

the dark background, it usually became clear that the 
disturbance was related to a conflict between the 
conscious thought and an unconscious feeling, which 
was not in harmony with it. In some cases this 
contrast was superficial and easily recognised, in other 
cases a strong resistance had to be overcome on the 
part of the patient in order to make him recognise it. 

A few instances may serve as illustrations. A 
young man is engaged to a young lady of a somewhat 
angular character, with whom he is very much in love. 
He often calls her his angel, and thus describes her in a 
letter to a friend : " My fiancee is a perfect angle/' 

V A patient made an unjustified attack upon me 
during treatment, and refused to see that she was in 
the wrong. When speaking of another doctor, she 
said, " I treated him also very badly/' This " also " 
led her to recognise that she was in the wrong. 

Another patient, to whom the payment of my fee 
was probably somewhat of an effort, said to me on 
leaving : "I have no money with me to-day to pay 
your fee, but I will forget it next time/' 

Prof. Bleuler relates the following instance of mis- 
reading (IV, p. 121). " Once, while reading, I had the 
curious feeling that I had seen my name printed 
two lines further down. To my astonishment I only 
found the word ' Blutkorperchen ' (blood-corpuscles). 
This is the strongest instance of misreading I have 
ever met with among the many thousand cases which 
I have analysed. If ever I thought I saw my name, 
the real word usually resembled it much more strongly, 
and in most cases it contained at least all the letters 
of my name. However, in this case the relation to 
myself which caused the optical illusion was quite 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

clear. I was reading at that moment the conclusion 
of a passage containing a criticism of a certain kind of 
bad style in scientific work, of which I felt guilty 
myself." 

Dr Stekel relates the following instance of a slip 
of the pen (VIII, p. 66). " Somebody had accused the 
editor of a well-known weekly paper of being cor- 
ruptible, and an article had to be written in defence of 
the editor. This was done with great enthusiasm. 
The chief editor of the paper read the article ; the 
author of course read it both in manuscript and in 
proof, and they all passed it. Finally the proof- 
reader's turn comes, and he points out a small mistake 
which they have all missed. The sentence ran : 
' our readers must admit that we have always repre- 
sented the general interest in the most selfish way. 1 
Of course the word ' unselfish ' was intended, but the 
real thought broke through the eloquent appeal with 
irresistible force." 

A matron in a hospital had to fill in upon some form 
the name of a patient who had just died.' She suddenly 
noticed that she was writing the name of another 
patient from an adjoining ward. The names began 
with the same letter. But this other patient, who was 
still alive, was a specially difficult one, and was always 
wanting to do forbidden things ; so it was no wonder 
that the matron wished to get rid of him. 

The following instance came to me from a very reli- 
able source. A doctor in hospital had a great dislike 
to a certain nurse, because she often severely criticised 
some of his actions. On one occasion this nurse 
was unwell and he had to prescribe for her. He wrote 
out the prescription for a tonic called ferratine, and 

34' 



THE UNCONSCIOUS IN THE NORMAL MIND 

he was very surprised when the chemist sent the 
prescription back with the message that he must have 
made a mistake. He had written instead of ferratine 
" veratrine " which is such a deadly poison that it 
hardly ever occurs in prescriptions. In this case the 
doctor would find it hard to admit that his dislike of 
the nurse was expressed in such a forcible manner. 
But we must remember that the unconscious expresses 
itself in a much more narrow and violent form when 
its expression is unmodified by the conscious feelings. 

Many of us have had the experience of taking a 
latchkey out of our pocket when we are passing a 
friend's house, and have usually found that it was 
a house where we felt thoroughly at home. Again 
when we leave an umbrella or walking-stick at some- 
body's house, we may assume that it means that we 
would like to return there. In order to be absolutely 
certain of such an explanation, it would of course be 
necessary for us to examine whether there really was 
such a motive at the bottom of our feelings. Psycho- 
analysis has drawn attention to many of these occur- 
rences, and an increasing number of instances are now 
known. 

The psycho-analyst Dr Sachs relates how he twice 
made the same mistake of going up too many flights of 
stairs in a building of flats. The first time he found 
that he was lost in a day-dream about climbing into a 
higher social status. The second time he realised that 
he was worrying at the time about some criticism of his 
work, in which he had been attacked for going " too 
far." His unconscious thoughts had thus been auto- 
matically translated into a symbolic action. 
An interesting mistake was made by a lady who 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

suffered from a weak digestion, and had to follow a 
severe diet. Her husband was carving a delicious 
piece of roast meat which she was forbidden to eat, 
and asked her to pass the mustard. The lady went to 
the sideboard, and got out something which she put 
before her husband, without noticing that it was her 
medicine (VIII). 

Probably many people will have noticed that they 
are apt to lose or break a present when they have 
quarrelled with the donor. When once we have turned 
our attention to these matters, it is often easy to find 
such reasons for little disturbances. But sometimes 
it is more difficult ; and such trifles may occasionally 
be the disguise of serious inner conflicts. It may 
even occur that an unexpected awkwardness resulting 
in an accident, must be ascribed to unconscious suicidal 
thoughts. 

We should be on our guard against attaching an 
unconscious significance to all disturbances of this 
kind in other people, because they may arise from such 
a variety of sources, and we may very easily be mis- 
taken. The most fruitful method is to study such 
symptoms in ourselves, as our material there lies close 
to hand. It is only when we know people extremely 
well that we can guess what is the background of these 
slight mistakes. 

The significance of dreams is usually much more 
difficult to understand than that of such small dis- 
turbances ; though sometimes we meet with very 
transparent dreams, of which the following is an 
instance. A coquettish good-looking young girl told 
how she was sitting in her dream by the edge of some 
water in which great fishes were swimming. Her 

36* 



THE UNCONSCIOUS IN THE NORMAL MIND 

beautiful fair hair was in one long plait, finished off 
with a scarlet bow ; she was dangling this in the water, 
and fishes kept coming up to bite the plait, and then 
disappeared again. At last one was caught and landed, 
when to her surprise it turned into a young man of her 
acquaintance. 

*This kind of dream, which probably everyone will 
explain in the same way, is very rare in comparison 
with the enigmatical ones ; and hence the conviction 
had grown up that dreams are merely deceiving, 
fantastical images which arise by chance during sleep. 
In former times they were looked upon from a very 
different point of view, and the instances of dream 
interpretation in the Bible are good illustrations 
of the significance ascribed to them by all ancient 
peoples. A prince would consult his dreams before 
undertaking a hazardous expedition. Dreams were 
believed to reveal the cause and cure of illnesses. 
They were held to be the inspirations of gods or demons ; 
and a special meaning was ascribed to certain signs in 
the dream, which could only be interpreted by priests 
or " medicine-men, " and were collected later on in 
dream books. Nowadays all this is regarded as mere 
superstition, and most people will feel reluctant to 
begin again ascribing meanings to dreams. 

Freud's theory of dreams, however, is very far 
removed from these ancient ideas. He does not search 
the dream for prophecies or information from outside 
the dreamer's own mind, but uses it only as a means of 
penetrating into his inner life, by discovering the 
relation of the dream to his experiences and recollec- 
tions. He does not therefore explain every image in 
the dream arbitrarily, but makes the patient think 

37 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

of any ideas that may occur to him in connection 
with some particular image, and which might explain 
why it arose. If for instance a house occurs in a dream, 
Freud does not ask, " What do you think is the meaning 
of this house ? " but he requests the patient to fix his 
whole attention on the image of the house, and to 
consider whether he has ever seen it before, or whether 
perhaps it reminds him of some other house. In this 
way the dreamer will not have to concern himself 
with the possible inter-relation of the various images 
in the dream ; and it will be found that this is the 
way we all naturally set about to look for the origin of 
a mental image. We ask ourselves : " how did I get 
that image ? Where did I hear or see such a thing 
before ? " When we have thus found various ideas, 
that are related to the images in the dream, we shall 
then have a network of associated ideas which are 
usually related to each other at various points of 
junction. This inter-relation is of great importance, 
and will help to throw light on many -obscurities in the 
dream. 

In order to understand the meaning of dreams, it 
is best to begin with simple ones, such as those of 
children, which do not require any deep analysis. 
Freud gives some good instances of these (XV, p. 133). 
A little boy of two years old was made to offer a basket 
of cherries to someone. He probably felt this as a 
great sacrifice, and the next morning he told his dream 
in the following words : " Hermann eaten up all the 
cherries." A little girl of three years old was allowed 
to go in a boat on the lake for the first time. She 
enjoyed herself so much that she would not leave the 
boat, and cried when she was taken out. The next 

38 



THE UNCONSCIOUS IN THE NORMAL MIND 

morning she said : " Last night I was going on the lake 
in a boat." 

These children's dreams show clearly how desires, 
which have not been satisfied, or only partially, the 
day before, may be realised in dream. This also 
applies to the dreams of people who are suffering from 
physical needs, such as explorers suffering from thirst, 
who dream of great stretches of water. Nordenskjold 
relates that the men who shared his winter quarters 
in the polar regions, were always dreaming of food and 
drink (XV, p. 140). Their dreams satisfied other 
desires as well, for one of them dreamt that the 
postman brought a large mail for them. In the 
same way a prisoner will dream about escape or 
freedom. 

In the next class of dreams come those in which 
physical sensations or noises have been woven into the 
dream. We often notice that a fairly long dream has 
only lasted a very short time. The following dream 
for instance was the reaction to the sound of an alarum 
clock : (XV, p. 92). The dreamer goes out on a fine 
spring morning, and walks through the fields to a 
neighbouring village. He sees the villagers going 
to church in their Sunday clothes, and decides to join 
them ; but first he walks round the churchyard. 
While he is reading the inscriptions on the tombstones, 
he hears the bell-ringer ascending the tower, and he 
looks up at the church-bell which is going to be set in 
movement. At last he sees that it begins to move, 
and the sounds are so clear and strong that they wake 
him, and he finds that it is the sound of the alarum. 
It is probable that the mechanical sound, which pre- 
cedes the actual ringing of the alarum, warned the 

39 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

sleeper, and so caused this dream, in which we see 
this expectant attitude reflected. 

A Norwegian, Mourly Void, has made a long series of 
experiments about this kind of dream, which is caused 
by an outside stimulus. One of his experiments 
was to pinch the dreamer's neck softly, who would 
then dream about a mustard plaster which had been 
applied to him as a child, and about the doctor who 
treated him at the time. If a drop of water was let 
fall on his forehead, he would dream that he was in 
Italy, perspiring from the heat. 

Freud arrived at the conclusion, based on similar 
dreams, that dreams occur when an outer or an inner 
sense-stimulus threatens to disturb sleep. If the 
stimulus is woven into the dream, then sleep is not dis- 
turbed ; but the sleeper will be wakened if the stimulus 
is too strong. Freud therefore regards the dream as the 
guardian of sleep. He gives the remarkable instance 
of a medical student, who is called in the morning, 
because he must go to his work at the hospital, but 
falls asleep again, and dreams that he is lying in bed 
in one of the hospital's wards, and reflects that now he 
need not get up as he is already in the hospital (IX, 
p. 91). 

Not all dreams however contain pleasant images ; 
on the contrary they may be full of fear or of other dis- 
agreeable ideas, and so cannot all be regarded, like 
children's dreams, as the realisation of some wish. 
The study of hysteria will throw some light on the 
interpretation of these unpleasant or indifferent dreams, 
since it has taught us that the human mind is full of 
conflicting emotions and desires. Even an apparently 
harmonious consciousness may have a background of 

40* 



THE UNCONSCIOUS IN THE NORMAL MIND 

discordant unconscious processes. Freud found that 
these unconscious thoughts and emotions were ex- 
pressed much more clearly in dreams than in conscious 
life ; but that even in dreams a certain restraining 
influence was hardly ever absent, by which these 
emotions were changed or disguised so that they could 
not be immediately recognised. Freud compared this 
process with the work of a censor, whose business it is 
to suppress the expression of certain thoughts and 
feelings. But one of the various ways of escaping a 
censorship, is to express one's thoughts in an indirect, 
disguised manner ; and this is what happens in dreams. 
When Freud analysed his patients' dreams, and tried 
to overcome their resistance, the relation between these 
indirect expressions and certain unconscious desires 
was constantly brought to light. In connection with 
his theory that the dream is the guardian of sleep, he 
regarded these disguised dreams as a compromise 
between the repressed desires, which are trying to 
force a way out, and the repressing censor Therefore 
if sleep is disturbed in these cases, it is because the 
dreamer's wishes are not realised. It is not surprising 
that in cases of sharp mental conflict the rising up 
into consciousness of these repressed desires may cause 
much disturbance and anxiety to the dreamer. 

Dreams of this kind occur in normal as well as 
abnormal people, and frequently contain even less 
disguise. We all know the dreams that seem to us as 
unpleasant because we cannot approve of their con- 
tent ; and we are all apt to dream things which we 
would rather not relate in public, even though no 
psycho-analyst were present. 

But there is really no need to be afraid that a psycho- 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

analyst might immediately deduce the most intimate 
secrets from a dream which he hears related ; for 
he knows only too well by experience that dream- 
interpretation is a far too complicated affair, and that 
he could say little about a dream's significance without 
hearing the dreamer's associated thoughts. The danger 
lies more with outsiders, who have browsed a little 
in psycho-analytical books, and think they can inter- 
pret all dreams which they come across. 

It is difficult to give a short yet complete instance 
of dream-analysis, because a dream is a complicated 
product related to all kinds of things in the dreamer's 
past and present life. The doctor will not only use 
the associated material for his analysis, but everything 
he knows about the patient's character and circum- 
stances will help him to arrange this associated material 
into a comprehensive whole. Hence any instances 
I can give could never be so convincing as they are 
to the analyst or to the patient himself, who can always 
refer to the complete psychic background. It should 
also be remembered that it is very rare for one dream 
to be analysed by itself. Psycho-analytical treatment 
usually takes many months, during which time many 
dreams and other psychic expressions are examined. 
Naturally this has some influence on the character of 
the patient's dreams and thoughts. Things which are 
talked over during treatment may be redigested in a 
dream. I do not believe that the intrinsic nature of 
the dreams would be altered by thus directing the 
patient's attention to them ; but in any case the 
whole process becomes much more complicated. In 
order to give a complete account of this, we should 
have to publish a whole series of dreams with all their 

42 



THE UNCONSCIOUS IN THE NORMAL MIND 

associated material, and this would soon extend to the 
length of a long novel, and would contain many in- 
timate details of the patient's life, which would not 
be permissible. 

Notwithstanding these objections, I will try to 
give a few instances of dream-analysis. The first is the 
dream of a girl who had been under treatment for 
so short a time, that her mind had not yet been pre- 
judiced by dream- theories. She dreamt that she 
read in the paper that a certain young man of her 
acquaintance had failed in his examination. She 
told me that the day before she had in fact looked in 
the paper to find the result of this examination, but 
had been unable to find it. If this young man passed, 
he would soon get married to a girl she rather disliked. 
She had the impression that his fiancee did not care 
for him enough, and did not behave well to him. After 
a good deal of further talk the fact emerged that she 
herself was much inclined to flirt with young men. 
All this helped to make the dream much clearer. It 
is probable that the failure in the examination was a 
disguise for the wish that the marriage should be 
prevented, because she was jealous of the fiancee. 

Freud relates the following dream (XV, p. 127). 
A young woman, who had been married for several 
years, dreams that she is sitting in a theatre with her 
husband. One side of the stalls is quite empty. 
Her husband tells her that a friend of hers with her 
fiancee had also intended to come, but they had only 
been able to get very inferior seats, three for 1.50 
kronen, and they thought this was not good enough. 
She thinks that it would not have been so bad. The 
apparent cause of the dream was the fact that her 

43 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

husband had told her that this friend of hers had 
become engaged. Also the week before she had been 
to a theatrical performance for which she had taken 
tickets very early, so that she had had to pay more for 
them. When she came to the theatre she had noticed 
how unnecessary her precaution had been, for one side 
of the stalls had been quite empty. Her husband had 
laughed at her for her unnecessary hurry. But what 
was the origin of the 1.50 kronen ? She remembered 
that the day before she had heard that her sister-in-law 
had received 1.50 kronen from her husband, and that 
she had immediately spent it at a jeweller's. But 
why were there three tickets in the dream ? The only 
thing that occurred to her in that connection is that 
her friend, who is just engaged, is only three months 
younger than herself, and she adds, " And yet I have 
already been married for ten years/' Nothing further 
occurred to her in connection with the dream, but 
Freud could already interpret it with a fair amount of 
certainty. He was struck by the recurring motive of 
" too early " in the associated thoughts. She bought 
her tickets too early, and she condemned her sister- 
in-law for spending her money so soon. When he 
connected this with her saying that her friend had 
found a good husband, though she was only three 
months younger than herself, Freud suspected that the 
hidden feeling behind this dream was : " It was foolish 
of me to get married so early. My friend's case shows 
me that if I had waited, I could have found just as 
good a husband." Here therefore the marrying is 
disguised as going to a theatre. Space forbids me 
to say more about the symbolism of this dream, which 
would lead us into too many details. 

44 



THE UNCONSCIOUS IN THE NORMAL MIND 

A patient of Freud told a dream in which she had 
seen her sister's only son lying dead in his coffin, 
just as she had actually seen his elder brother, who had 
died a little time before (IX, p. in). She maintained 
that this disproved Freud's theory that the dream 
expresses an unrealised wish, for she said that it was im- 
possible for her to desire such a disaster. However 
after some enquiry the meaning of the dream was 
proved to be entirely different. She had formerly 
lived with this elder sister, and had made at that time 
the acquaintance of a professor, w;th whom she fell 
in love. Her sister however had prevented any 
engagement, and the professor had avoided meeting 
them since. But she was still in love with him and 
always attended his lectures, and she had meant to 
do so upon the day after the dream. When Freud 
asked her whether she could remember anything that 
happened after the death of her nephew, she said at 
once : " Yes, certainly. The professor came to call 
after a long interval, and we met again at the little 
coffin of my nephew." Inwardly she was resisting 
the desire to meet the object of her love, and therefore 
it was expressed in this very complicated way. If her 
nephew were to die, she might have another oppor- 
tunity of meeting him. 

Thus the interpretation of a dream aims at finding 
the latent content behind the apparent or manifest 
content. This latent content is the group of thoughts 
and emotions by which the dream is related to the 
mental life of the dreamer, and is therefore an integral 
part of the dreamer's mind. We discover the latent 
content by inducing the dreamer to let his mind dwell 
on the images of his dream, and record any impressions 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

or thoughts that occur to him, without allowing any 
resistance or self-criticism to interfere. Freud has 
lately enlarged this technique considerably, because 
he has discovered the curious fact that there were 
certain dream-images, to explain which he was unable 
to collect any associated ideas, however much the 
dreamer might strive to overcome any possible re- 
sistance. Freud was led to translate these images in a 
new way, which was suggested to him by the symbolic 
meaning ascribed to them in popular language, proverbs 
and songs, and also in the symbolism of old myths 
and legends. His method has thus some resemblance 
to that which we find in the old dream-books. I must 
point out that Freud realised from the beginning that 
this form of interpretation might lead to dangerous 
misunderstandings, and repeatedly warned his pupils 
not to use this method except in certain special cases, 
and then only with the utmost caution. Freud wishes 
symbolic interpretation to be applied only to simple 
images of general human interest, such as the human 
body as a whole, parents, children, brothers and sisters, 
birth, death, nakedness and sexuality (XV, p. 164). 
The human body as a whole is often represented by a 
house, parents by royalties or persons in authority. 
Brothers and sisters are often symbolised as small 
animals or vermin : falling into water or being rescued 
from it, represents birth ; dying is symbolised by 
setting out on a journey, or disappearing, nakedness by 
its opposite, clothes or uniform. According to Freud, 
sexual symbolism is very rich in its variety, and he 
gives a great many instances in his book. 

At first these dream symbols will give the impression 
of being chosen quite arbitrarily ; yet it will be found 

46* 



THE UNCONSCIOUS IN THE NORMAL MIND 

that they are in close relation to the more individual 
symbolism which was revealed to us by the association 
method, in which many ordinary images are sometimes 
found to be capable of a general symbolic interpretation. 
Let us take the instance of a dream about a dog. The 
associated ideas will teach us in what light we must 
regard this image. The dreamer may remember a 
dog he has seen the day before in the street, and this 
will give him occasion to talk about the lady who was 
walking with the dog, and who plays an important 
part in his emotional life, though he refuses to admit it. 
In this case the dog is not properly a symbol, but an 
indication or a help to memory. 

There are other cases in which someone dreaming of a 
dog is reminded of a particular dog, but goes no further 
than that. For instance, he may recall various char- 
acteristic details of a dog, which he used to possess. 
He will tell how his dog was in the habit of barking 
very loudly at cats and pretending to be very cour- 
ageous, yet as soon as a cat began to show anger, 
would walk past as if it did not see it. This may lead 
the dreamer to realise, however unwillingly, some of 
his own character-traits. In this case too the dog 
cannot be regarded as a symbol ; but it might be said 
that this particular dog was a simile of some special 
characteristics. 

Lastly, it may happen that the dreamer declares 
that no associated ideas occur to him. Sometimes this 
is caused by his involuntary repression of unpleasant 
associations. But he may also say : " Whatever I 
might think about a dog, could not be of any impor- 
tance." If all the same we insist, the dreamer may 
respond by mentioning some well-known character- 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

istics of dogs, such as faithfulness or watchfulness. 
If this idea can be brought into relation with the rest 
of the dream, it may very well be found to be con- 
sistent with the dream's meaning. In this case the 
dog will be used as a symbol, which is fairly widely 
accepted. 

The above instances of interpretation, however 
incomplete, will serve to show how the relation between 
dream-images and associated thoughts may vary in 
value. When the interpretation of the dream symbols 
depends entirely on the dreamer's associated thoughts, 
we might talk of individual symbolism as opposed to 
general symbolism, in which the images possess some 
generally accepted symbolic meaning. In general 
symbolism the interpretation or translation may often 
seem somewhat strange and far-fetched to the dreamer, 
whereas in individual symbolism he will understand 
and accept the meaning quite readily. Freud assumes 
that general symbols, which need to be translated 
nowadays, used to be easily understood by everyone 
in the past. He writes (XV, p. 181) : " We seem to 
have come upon an ancient form of expression, which, 
except for a few fragments here and there, appears 
to have vanished from our knowledge/' Thus it 
would seem as if traces of this ancient form of expression 
of the human mind may be found in dreams, and this 
is not to be wondered at when we remember that all 
our thoughts and expressions in dreams are on a lower 
level than in our waking life. All kinds of curious 
combinations of thought, which our critical conscious 
mind would not permit, occur quite freely in our 
dreams. I have not space to describe fully the peculiar 
laws that regulate the unconscious thinking and 



THE UNCONSCIOUS IN THE NORMAL MIND 

emotional life ; it is full of a variety of forms of thought 
and of feeling which belong mainly to primitive man, 
and which the modern mind is supposed to have out- 
grown. The study of dreams has opened a wide field 
of highly interesting and complicated problems, which 
many scientists will have to work at before they can be 
completely solved. 

I hope that the above somewhat superficial de- 
scriptions of dream-symbols will suffice to show how 
difficult and lengthy any dream-analysis must neces- 
sarily be. It should only be undertaken by those who 
have studied the subject profoundly, for amateurishness 
may easily cause very serious mistakes. Some modern 
writers are apt to give the impression that the analysis 
of dreams chiefly consists in guessing intuitively at the 
meaning of dream-images. I must earnestly warn the 
reader against believing this to be true. No doubt 
we can sometimes interpret a dream without the 
dreamer providing any associated material ; but we 
can only arrive at a successful interpretation if we have 
a thorough knowledge of dream-problems in general, 
and of the dreamer's character and circumstances in 
particular. Even then the dreamer's own introspection 
will finally have to decide whether the interpretation 
is the right one! 

We will now return to our original question : can 
we assume the existence of repressed unconscious 
processes in a normal person ; and if so, are these of 
the same nature as those that are the cause of hysterical 
symptoms ? Freud undoubtedly, from his study of 
dreams and small disturbances in conscious life, came 
to the conclusion that repressed unconscious processes 
are at work in a normal individual ; and this seems 

49 D 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

plausible enough to anyone who remembers that our 
modern culture requires the suppression of much that is 
natural. If we were always obliged to deal consciously 
with what we must repress, our mental life would be 
wholly occupied with this, and so it is a good thing 
that we gradually learn to allow our expressions to 
flow automatically along certain channels. Some 
people succeed so well in suppressing what is useless 
to them, that they are never aware of this process ; 
and they would reject as incredible the idea that they 
too possessed an unconscious emotional background. 
Therefore repression in itself is rather a condition of 
health than a morbid symptom. The significant 
characteristic of abnormal people is that their repression 
is not complete, and that these hidden forces are not 
kept down sufficiently, but keep cropping up and giving 
rise to disturbances. They suffer from having tried 
to repress more than they were capable of. This 
may be due to one of two causes : either they have had 
to deal with unuseable emotions that are more numerous 
and strong than with normal people, -or else they may 
have aimed at repressing the emotions which the 
normal man would naturally express. There are 
thus two types of neurotics ; first those who possess a 
very difficult and unharmonious disposition, con- 
taining many useless and contradictory elements ; 
secondly those who possess a more normal disposition, 
but make excessive demands upon it, in order to fulfil 
which, they have to repress every unsuitable element 
in their nature. This naturally leads us to the question 
whether the content of the unconscious is the same in 
the healthy mind as in the morbid. We saw that 
Freud found that the content of the unconscious in 

So 



THE UNCONSCIOUS IN THE NORMAL MIND 

hysterical patients was based chiefly on sexuality in its 
widest sense. Is this also the case with the uncon- 
scious of normal people ? After reading Freud we 
come to the conclusion that in his opinion, though 
sexuality plays an important part in the normal 
unconscious life, it must not be supposed to be the 
only factor. There are many other tendencies, besides 
sexuality, which are often repressed, such as ambition, 
cupidity, malice, cruelty ; and we find instances of the 
repression of these emotions in the dreams quoted by 
Freud. It is all the same unnecessary for me to demon- 
strate that there is a great deal of repressed sexuality 
in many healthy people, as they are strongly influenced 
by the fear of social conventions. If we are accus- 
tomed to introspection, and are honest enough to 
acknowledge the character of the thoughts and emotions 
which we sometimes detect in ourselves, we may dis- 
cover many surprising qualities in human nature. 
But unfortunately only few people nowadays take 
pains to discover the truth about themselves, and this is 
probably one of the reasons why Freud's theories about 
the unconscious have met with so much opposition. 
He is frequently attacked for laying too much stress 
on the sexual impulses in the emotional life. This 
reproach is probably founded on a misunderstanding 
of the term sexuality. He includes under this term all 
the feelings and expressions which are related to the 
development of the sexual emotions. This is contrary 
to ordinary usage and may cause some confusion, 
but anyone acquainted with the course of Freud's 
studies will easily understand and accept his termino- 
logy. I shall try to avoid the use of such terms as 
much as possible, as they are often misunderstood by 

31 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

those who have hitherto used them in a somewhat 
different sense. All the same according to the latest 
theories the sexual impulses, in the narrowest sense, 
are of great psychological importance. Miss M. K. 
Bradby has illustrated, by an interesting comparison, 
the general repugnance aroused by Freud's theory that 
many psychical manifestations are derivations of the 
sexual instinct, though not commonly thought to be 
so (V, p. 46). 

" Let us suppose that instead of a sexual motive he 
had put his finger upon an ' acquisitive ' motive, which 
is in fact no less universal. Man is by nature acquisi- 
tive, desirous of acquiring and of possessing for himself 
every object which takes his fancy or promises to satisfy 
his desires. So far we all agree, but our imaginary 
Freud would go on to say that in consequence of this 
strong and innate instinct of man, we were all thieves 
in will if not in deed. He would point to the scrupulo- 
sity of strictly honest people as a proof of their hidden 
desire to steal, and he would convict us of refraining 
from theft, not out of any natural goodness, but because 
we were afraid of public opinion, afraid of the concrete 
penalties of the human law or of the magical penalties 
of the divine. He might work out his theory by analys- 
ing the dreams of dishonest people, show exactly how 
it was that they came to steal, and classify the various 
forms of stealing prevalent, recognised and unrecog- 
nised. Now to the average middle-class person, though 
he might not be disposed to agree, there would be 
nothing especially revolting in all this, because the 
accusation does not ' touch him on the raw.' He 
would think Freud was one-sided, but he would be 
prepared to treat his views with respect and to give 



THE UNCONSCIOUS IN THE NORMAL MIND 

him credit for taking a scientific and not a morbid 
interest in his special subject. The lady however who 
owes her washerwoman, the man who does not pay 
his debts, might dislike being convicted of a particu- 
larly mean form of stealing, and if deliberately paying 
less for a thing than one knew it was worth were in- 
cluded under the heading, still more people might 
feel indignant at the charge. Very poor people would 
be touched more nearly. When you are often hungry 
and cold because you are poor, it is difficult not to 
feel bitterly envious of less honest people who ' help 
themselves ' in safe ways, and difficult not to be 
' touchy ' on the point of one's own honesty. How 
many people who are honest have thought the subject 
out and know just why they are honest, and why they 
would urge a poor man to go to the workhouse rather 
than to steal ? 

" But the case would be different if the struggle to 
be honest were an absorbing difficulty in the back- 
ground of most people's minds, if secret thieving in 
various forms were universal, and if many people's 
lives were marred, and to a greater or lesser extent 
rendered miserable, because of the extreme or heroic 
measures they took to check their own thieving pro- 
pensities. To treat the subject then in a cold, calm, 
detached and scientific manner would seem an outrage 
against humanity. We should all be up in arms 
against a theory which assumed us to be as bad as we 
really are, and worse, whatever might be the motives 
of its adherents. Nevertheless, we should be mis- 
taken, because in the long run any light from whatever 
quarter thrown upon the origin and nature of dis- 
honesty helps men to become honest in will and deed." 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

The above quotation indicates the peculiar position 
of the sexual impulse among all our other impulses, 
for it is the only one that is systematically repressed 
from early youth upwards, without any regard to 
possible injury to the whole emotional life. Recent 
scientific investigations have clearly proved, what was 
known for a long time by all good pedagogues, that 
sexual expressions are most intimately connected with 
all possible forms of love, so that the total repression 
of sexuality may easily give rise to disturbances of the 
more delicate emotions, such as a lack of balance or 
emotional dishonesty. Repression is then substituted 
for self-control. Children are usually taught to dis- 
simulate very early, and instead of being given the 
right sort of instruction and guidance, are met with 
reproof and punishment, which they do not understand. 
Very few parents are sufficiently unprejudiced on this 
subject to give their children the help they need. The 
result is that the child often suffers from inner conflict, 
or is led into bad habits, and for a long time may 
secretly cling to the wrong forms of emotional expres- 
sion. The same difficulty is met with in later life. 
It is considered wrong or indecent to talk about sexual 
problems and difficulties. One may only hint at them 
in a jocular way ; any serious treatment is forbidden. 
The fact that a man has found an apparently satis- 
factory form of self-expression, such as marriage, 
is by no means a guarantee that he has succeeded 
in bringing harmony into his emotional expressions. 

Imperfections in the early development of the 
emotions often vindicate themselves in later life. No 
one who is convinced of this will find any difficulty in 
accepting Freud's theory that the chief source of a great 

5*4 



THE UNCONSCIOUS IN THE NORMAL MIND 

many nervous diseases is to be found in disturbances of 
the sexual life in all its ramifications, caused by repres- 
sion of sexual problems. These delicate and subtle 
questions are apt to be treated in a coarse and summary 
way in our modern social life, without paying any heed 
to the intricacies of emotional development. 

A simple-minded or well-balanced nature will suffer 
less mental disturbance from this summary and con- 
ventional attitude than one more delicate or compli- 
cated. The former type will more easily find a way 
out, and will in general conform to conventional 
ideals only in so far as they do not interfere with the 
satisfaction of his desires. But the more complicated 
character will take these conventional ideals much 
more seriously, because he hopes to find in them the 
solution of his inner conflict. People of this kind often 
suffer from more or less serious neurotic symptoms 
as a result of their failure to live up to ideals which 
they have really misunderstood. It is sometimes 
said that Freud would advise such persons to allow 
unrestrained liberty to all their instincts as a cure ; 
but he is evidently far too clever a psychologist ever 
to have made such statements. Rather he aims at 
bringing these problems into the consciousness of 
his patients, so as to enable them to find a new harmony 
between their emotions. This advice is by no means 
intended to do away with all restraint. Nevertheless 
there is a good deal to be said against the ordinary 
ideals of our time, to which otherwise these patients 
would have conformed. 

I must now return to the two determining factors 
of a neurosis due to repression, which I described 
above as firstly a difficult and unharmonious dis- 

55 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

position, and secondly as the tendency to repress 
too much. In most cases these two factors will be 
found to co-operate, though in various proportions ; 
and this is most clearly seen in sexual matters. In the 
following chapter we shall describe how, as a result of a 
difficult disposition, of unfavourable circumstances, 
or of an injudicious education, the sexual emotions 
may be led into the wrong channels ; and we shall 
also show the bad influence this may have on the other 
emotions. The wrong forms of expression which will 
then arise, will be all the more readily repressed, 
if the patient is governed by high ideals and delicately 
developed emotions ; but sometimes these ideals are so 
exaggerated that all sexual expression is regarded as 
inferior and discreditable, and the patient will then tend 
to adopt the same attitude to the greater part of his 
other emotions. In such a case we must consider that 
the neurotic symptoms are due not to the nature of the 
repressed material, but rather to a mistaken ideal, 
and the treatment will therefore aim in the first place 
at criticising this ideal. Some psychologists, especially 
Adler of Vienna, consider this to be the exclusive cause 
of most neuroses (I). According to him the nature 
of the neurotic disposition is a childish feeling of 
inferiority, which causes in the patient a reaction, 
which takes the form of an obstinate wish to make his 
personality felt, and a desire for power combined with 
the pursuit of high and unattainable ideals. Freud 
agrees with this ; but his point of view seems to me to 
be somewhat wider. He too regards the exaggerated 
ego-ideal as the cause of disturbances (XIII, p. 17) ; 
but he thinks that these may also arise as the result of 
repression of unconscious desires by this ego-ideal, 

56* 



THE UNCONSCIOUS IN THE NORMAL MIND 

which is as it were the representative of our conscious 
personality, and thus assumes the power of repression. 
In so far as the morbid symptoms are an expression 
of the compromise between the repressed elements 
and the repressing power, we are no doubt right in con- 
sidering the exaggerated ego-ideal as the cause of these 
symptoms ; but it seems to me that Adler's theory is 
only justified in those cases where the ego-ideal is entirely 
predominant, and that in most other cases Freud's theory 
throws a better light on the complicated causes of neuroses. 

The question may well be asked whether we must 
then reject our former beliefs, and consider it dangerous 
to strive after an ideal ? Our answer must be that 
on the contrary a high ideal may provide a great 
support to the development of an individual, provided 
the ideal is in sufficient harmony with his natural 
disposition, and is the expression of its potentialities. 
But the ego-ideal may be a source of danger if he 
loses sight of the distance that divides him from his 
ideal, and is inclined to identify himself with it ; he 
will then ignore his shortcomings, and satisfy himself 
with his good intentions, and he will ascribe virtues 
to himself which properly belong to his ideal. As he 
will expect his neighbours to recognise and appreciate 
these virtues, this will often lead to conflict, and he 
will be looked upon as arrogant and conceited. In 
such a case it is not necessary to destroy the ideal, 
so long as the individual can be made to understand 
the wrong use he was making of it. 

It is clear that in most cases both the nature of the 
ideal, and the way it is used, might be improved, 
which implies that the ideal might well be pushed 
somewhat into the background, so as to avoid its 

57 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

insistent interference at every turn ; thus room will 
be made for other expressions, such as affection, 
which shed a warmer and kindlier light on human life. 

Cases may also occur when the conscious ideal is 
free from all strained exaggeration, and the suppression 
of an important part of the disposition is not due to the 
influence of this ideal, but to special difficulties inherent 
in the disposition itself. But if its nature is not 
essentially different from that of a normal person, 
the way towards sublimation can usually be found, 
as soon as a conscious effort is made in that direction 
and the suppression is removed. 

If we look back upon the various psychological 
problems discussed above, it becomes clear that there is 
no very marked line separating the normal from the 
abnormal mind. The same contrast may be observed 
in normal people between the ego-ideal and the diffi- 
culties inherent in their character, although their 
ideal is usually a less strained conception, and their 
disposition more harmonious than is the case with the 
abnormal. Normal persons also suffer from unrecog- 
nised repressions, though the repression may be less 
thorough and recognition more easily attained than in 
abnormal cases In normal persons the unconscious 
is expressed in a less disturbing manner ; but it may 
all the same be the source of some curious character- 
istics, of which they themselves are unaware. Almost 
every human being has these weak points in his char- 
acter, which are sometimes of great and sometimes of 
little importance, but are nearly always better known 
to his family, friends and servants than to himself. 
Usually we learn more about anyone's unconscious 
life ly these small' weaknesses, than by his dreams or 

5 



THE UNCONSCIOUS IN THE NORMAL MIND 

conscious disturbances. His whole emotional life is 
revealed rather by small occurrences and delicate 
shades of expression than by violent outbursts. Though 
sometimes it may be difficult to prove the existence of 
such unconscious qualities of the mind, we shall find 
that quite ordinary people usually know very well how 
to interpret these small weaknesses which they observe 
in someone with whom they have daily intercourse. 
The psycho-analytical method by which we search 
into the depths of the unconscious is by no means 
the only way to attain self-knowledge. Great men, 
through all the ages, have succeeded in gaining this 
self-knowledge, and developing themselves, by methods 
which everyone is free to use, and of which psycho- 
analysis is a somewhat more technical and systematic 
expansion. We can bring our hidden unconscious 
processes to the light of consciousness simply by 
observing our expressions, and our relations to other 
people, and by studying the way other people react 
to these expressions. We shall then begin to under- 
stand how our character is gradually modified by 
experience and circumstances, and we shall see the 
inter-relation between our past and present emotions, 
which are the outcome and expression of a similar 
impulse, however much they may have changed in the 
course of time. The actions and relationships of normal 
people depend upon the conditions and emotions of 
their childhood, and are chiefly explained by them, 
just as the morbid symptoms of a patient are caused by 
emotions and circumstances of childhood which pre- 
pared the way for the later neurotic reaction. The 
study of this problem belongs to the psychology of the 
emotions, which I shall treat in the next chapter. 

>59 



CHAPTER III 

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE EMOTIONS 

IN this chapter I intend to give a short survey of 
Freud's work on the development of the emotions, 
which may be of greater interest to the general reader 
than the interpretation of dreams or the origin and 
character of neuroses. I shall assume that the methods 
which led Freud to formulate his theories are now 
sufficiently well known, and shall only be concerned 
here with the conclusions he reached after studying 
a great number of very intricate case-histories. It 
ought not to be demanded of Freud that these con- 
clusions should be formulated in one complete system, 
because they depend principally upon his observations 
of his patients, and are thus continually being amplified. 
His theories also reveal their practical origin, by being 
mainly concerned with difficulties and disturbances 
which occur in various stages of the emotional develop- 
ment. Thus the chief conclusion to be drawn from his 
observations is that certain special difficulties in the 
emotional development may cause special disturbances 
in later life ; and, vice versa, it may be inferred that 
the development of a certain kind of patient has been 
arrested by corresponding disturbances. 

We have seen that we must assume a gradual transi- 
tion between the normal and the abnormal ; and that 
just as in abnormal persons the history of their symp- 

60 1 



DEVELOPMENT OF EMOTIONS 

toms can be traced to their development, so various 
characteristics of normal persons are connected with 
former circumstances and conflicts. Thus the diffi- 
culties met with in the emotional development may 
result according to the nature of their solution either in 
morbid symptoms or in mere character traits. This 
interesting connection was discovered by others before 
Freud. Some neuroses were known to reveal them- 
selves as morbid exaggerations of certain types of 
character : but Freud has thrown a great deal of new 
light on the matter. 

Emotional difficulties may appear quite early in 
childhood, and one of Freud's most striking discoveries 
is that the emotional experiences of childhood exercise 
a predominating influence upon later development. 
This is in clear contradiction to the prevailing opinion 
that human character is chiefly determined by heredity. 
But I must add that Freud does not entirely deny the 
importance of heredity, though he has severely criticised 
those who wish to explain everything by means of it 

It is clear that the emotions play an important part 
at a much earliei stage than reason. An infant not only 
expresses its emotions in an emphatic manner, but also 
makes use of such expression to attain satisfaction of 
its desires. We are so accustomed to connect these 
exhibitions of emotion in ourselves and others with 
reasoned conceptions, that some may doubt whether 
similar exhibitions in infants can be already termed 
emotional. The only satisfactory method of solving 
this question would be by introspection. If we could 
clearly recall the emotions of our infancy and our 
expression of them, we ought to be able to decide 
whether we then possessed emotions of the same 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

nature as in later life. As this is impossible, we must 
employ another method, which we do in fact use 
every day in other cases : we must determine the 
character of the emotions from their expression. 
We then see that the mother clearly perceives the 
feelings expressed by the infant before it can talk 
clearly ; and we find that the emotional life of the 
infant is closely connected with its physical needs, 
such as feeding, sleep, excretory acts and washing. 
The infant depends on others for the satisfaction of 
its emotional needs ; but it has already discovered 
that a strong expression of discontent can bring about 
the satisfaction it desires. Thumb-sucking is also one 
of the ways by which some infants try to satisfy them- 
selves. Probably this replaces the gratification of being 
fed. Later on other bodily sensations may come into 
play. It is probable that some children enjoy the 
sensation of tension caused by the holding back of 
stool or urine. They try to prolong this sensation as 
much as possible, and obstinately refuse to be trained in 
methodical habits which might interfere with these 
sensations. At this point the conflict caused by the 
suppression and control of natural impulses arises 
for the first time. The manner in which the infant 
reacts to such training, foreshadows certain important 
characteristics of its later life. It is worth while 
considering this question somewhat more closely. 

Freud discovered early in his investigations that 
a relation existed between certain character traits 
and irregularities in the control of excretions during 
childhood (X, p. 132). These character traits are 
orderliness, parsimony and self-will. The sense of 
order includes physical neatness, accuracy and reli- 

62 



DEVELOPMENT OF EMOTIONS 

ability. Parsimony may develop into miserliness, 
and self-will easily becomes obstinacy. In consequence 
of this discovery he assumed that these traits repre- 
sented a later development of an earlier emotional 
conflict. Thus neatness and orderliness are a later 
reaction against an original childish tendency to 
oppose neat and orderly methods, and to find a certain 
satisfaction in bed-wetting. Obstinacy is the develop- 
ment of the child's tendency not to pay attention 
to its elders in such matters. Parsimony illustrates 
the connection between the desire to retain faeces 
and the desire to retain money, instances of which 
constantly occur in common speech and fairy-tales. 
It may throw light on this relation between precious 
gold and the most despised and disgusting of material 
objects, if we remember that the attitude of disgust 
towards excrement is not a natural one with most 
children. On the contrary they attach great interest 
to it, as it is associated with not unpleasant bodily 
sensations ; and if not interfered with, they would 
often use it for moulding and smearing. Although 
parents and others may speedily teach them that it is 
objectionable and dirty to occupy themselves with 
excrements, yet on the other hand the importance of 
these things is thus impressed on their minds. The 
child is praised when it has done " its duty/' and called 
good and clever. Thus for a long time this function is 
associated in its mind with important emotions, 
especially if it is accompanied by difficulties. These 
difficulties can have two origins : either a natural 
sensitiveness of the organs, owing to which the emo- 
tions are unduly stimulated by pleasant or unpleasant 
sensations ; or else some malady of the organs in 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

childhood which may make them over-sensitive, or 
specially direct the child's attention to them. The 
experience of children's doctors shows that children 
suffering from intestinal disease often grow up into 
discontented, irritable and melancholy human beings. 
It should now be easy to answer certain questions 
which may well occur to students of Freud's theories. 
Even if it be agreed that there is this connection 
between excretory disturbances and certain character- 
traits, is it so certain, it might be asked, that these 
traits are caused by the child's taking such pleasure 
in retaining the faeces and depositing them accord- 
ing to its own choice ? Is it not more likely that 
these childish traits reveal the inherited basis of 
its later character ? In this case it might be possible 
to regard the whole childish episode as something 
accidental, without which its character would develop 
in just the same trend. It is no doubt true that if 
we attempt to trace back any human traits to their 
remotest origins, we shall find them expressed at a 
very early and simple stage, for the original disposition 
is always the same. At the same time when Freud 
deduces these psychical traits from some special 
physical peculiarity in this case a natural hyper- 
sensitiveness of the anal mucous membrane we cer- 
tainly ought not to reject this conclusion because it 
seems unpleasant or materialistic. Experience must 
finally decide in such a case ; and it would be interesting 
to investigate whether children, who originally have 
not shown any symptoms of this kind of hyper-sensi- 
tiveness, are found to develop these special character- 
traits after a chronic abdominal illness. Though 
Freud's theory that psychical traits are due to physical 



DEVELOPMENT OF EMOTIONS 

conditions may be incomplete yet his remarks about 
the way these traits change under the influence of 
environment, are of great value. The inter-relations 
between orderliness, parsimony and self-will, and the 
ways in which they express themselves, are no doubt 
very various, and depend chiefly on other character- 
traits. But this subject is too complicated to be fully 
treated here. 

The emotions associated with passing water, are 
also sometimes of importance, because they may 
create other disturbances and peculiarities in the 
general emotional development. They are moreover 
in close relation to the later sexual emotions, which 
is understandable when we remember in what close 
proximity the sexual organs are to the organs of 
excretion. During strong tension of the bladder 
and at its evacuation, many children experience special 
sensations, which are akin to the feelings experienced 
during discharge of the sexual organs. Such children 
will find it difficult to abstain from the satisfaction 
of bed-wetting, although they are not clearly conscious 
of the reason. It may happen that such difficulties in 
childhood will recur again in the form of some dis- 
turbance at a later age. 

We have seen that the emotional life of the small 
child, though it may seem simpler than the adult's, 
presents all possible varieties and degrees of emotion, 
which are chiefly expressed by the bodily functions. 
As the child develops, these functions increase in 
number, and so create new sources of emotion. It 
begins to move and to walk, and the noises it makes 
grow more and more full of meaning. In contrast 
with the first infantile period, which was much more 

65 E 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

passive and under the influence of the alimentary 
functions and everything connected with them, this 
second period might be described as the period of 
desire for movement, in which activity and passivity 
are found in opposition. This desire for movement 
leads to many opportunities of experiencing pain- 
sensations, which again may lead to emotions of anger 
or fear. The desire to possess and control becomes 
more and more evident at this stage. The emotions 
connected with the excretory functions are growing in 
importance, as the struggle to control these functions 
is now taking place. 

The psychic life of the child is at this time being 
gradually co-ordinated. The process is accelerated, if 
not caused, by the beginnings of thought ; while 
thought in its turn is strongly stimulated by the 
beginnings of speech. The result of this co-ordination 
is that sensations are experienced much more by the 
whole body as a unit, than by the separate organs. 
The child's attention is more concentrated upon 
its own body, and this contemplation and investiga- 
tion is sometimes connected with strong emotions, 
which are naturally still much influenced by the organic 
sensations that used to be predominant. Here we 
see a process that frequently takes place in the emo- 
tional life, the gradual growth of new expressions 
of emotion from older ones. In this period of co- 
ordination the child's own body, and later on its ego, 
becomes the centre of the chief emotional satisfactions. 
The child not only finds satisfaction in looking at 
itself, in practising walking and other movements, and 
in performing various tricks, but it likes being looked at 
when undressed, or when it is performing its newly 

66 



DEVELOPMENT OF EMOTIONS 

acquired movements. Sometimes it shows great sensi- 
tiveness to praise or blame, which either strengthen or 
oppose its emotions. Thus we see that the child's 
emotions are not exclusively connected with its bodily 
functions. Already some emotional relation exists 
with the outer world ; and this relation is gradually 
developed in conjunction with the emotions that we 
have been describing, though it is only at a later stage 
that it becomes a guiding force in the emotional life. 

At an early age the child becomes aware that the 
sensations caused by certain bodily functions are 
connected with a powerful beneficent intervening 
influence. The psychic life at the very beginning 
is probably too indeterminate for the child to make 
even a vague distinction between the ego and the 
non-ego, so that probably the mother is more or less 
identified with its own body. This will make it all the 
easier for the child at a later stage to transfer its 
pleasurable emotions to the mother, who seems to be so 
closely connected with them. At this early stage the 
nature of these emotions is determined entirely by 
bodily condition. The child experiences its mother 
almost exclusively as the one who gives satisfaction. 
Later on too this remains the prevailing point of 
view ; but as soon as educational difficulties arise, 
the relation to the mother grows much more compli- 
cated, as she is often forced to refuse satisfaction. 
The child will then learn the importance of reading 
on the mother's face whether its emotional desires 
have a good or bad chance of being satisfied ; and 
as soon as it has learnt that it can change its mother's 
face by expressing itself in various ways, it will try 
to influence events by these means. We have seen 

67, 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

that being taught habits of cleanliness may cause com- 
plications in the child's emotional relations with its 
surroundings, and may produce a tendency to resist 
interference and to react with anger. Up to this 
point we have found that the influence of the outside 
world upon the child was only of importance in so 
far as it stimulated or opposed the emotions connected 
with its own body. It is only after its own ego has 
been discovered and its limits realised, that it becomes 
possible for the child to obtain a clear view of the out- 
side world, or to conceive the existence of other egos 
besides itself, and understand their emotions and 
desires as contrasted with its own. Conversely the 
child is prepared for the realisation of its own ego 
by attempts to enter into the thoughts and feelings 
of other people, for example by imitating them. As 
soon as it realises this division between the ego and 
the non-ego, innumerable problems and difficulties 
arise in the child's life. It is true that it generally 
derives great satisfaction from this discovery of the 
ego, by which means alone it is able to become 
acquainted with the outer world, where it can gratify 
its desires. But these advantages go together with 
considerable disillusionment ; for it is only now that 
the child perceives how much more dependent it is on 
external forces than on its own will and desires. No 
wonder that it does not reach a clear perception of 
this conflict at once, so that it is only after a long 
period of internal and external struggle that it can 
rightly understand the relation between the ego and 
the outer world. No wonder too that in the history of 
mankind, numerous more or less successful solutions of 
this problem have been formulated by religions and 

68 



DEVELOPMENT OF EMOTIONS 

philosophies, and that many people in their emotional 
life never succeed in satisfactorily solving this con- 
flict, which they became aware of for the first time 
when they were about three years old. 

The most usual result of this inner change in the 
child is that it realises more clearly its own depen- 
dence upon its surroundings, and so tries to get into 
closer touch with them. Hence the child's environ- 
ment is apt to have a preponderating influence on the 
further development of its emotional life. A child 
surrounded by loving care will tend to judge lightly of 
the difficulties it meets with when seeking to satisfy 
its emotional needs, and will be ready to put its trust 
in life. Another child that is treated roughly and 
brutally may easily be overpowered by a hopeless sense 
of incapacity to satisfy its needs, and will probably 
turn its longings towards its early state of ignorance, 
which was less painful. These two extremes are 
bridged by many transitional stages. Most children, 
when difficult demands are made of them, will be 
inclined at times to shut their eyes upon the whole 
outside world and its complications, and to concen- 
trate on their own emotional needs alone, just as they 
used to do so much more easily in early days. Here 
we find a sharp contrast between the two principles 
which govern the psychic life, the " pleasure-principle " 
and the " reality-principle " (XII), and here too is the 
source of the life of the phantasy, which often begins to 
appear at this age, and is strongly influenced, in its 
form, by the child's newly acquired mental powers, 
though its emotional bias is much more determined 
by the previous stage of development. By this 
phantasy process the child is again enabled to find 

69 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

gratification of various desires ; but whereas in a 
former stage this gratification was found more by 
purely physical means, the psychic life will now tend 
to gain the upper hand. All the same, when diffi- 
culties arise in the way of gratifying the emotional 
desires, the need of physical gratification may again 
come to the fore. 

If circumstances are at all favourable, this period 
between the third and sixth year is chiefly marked by 
the new relationships formed by the child with its 
surroundings. And in the first place the relationship 
with the parents is of great importance, and may be 
of various kinds. At this age children often show a 
preference for one of the parents, and it is noteworthy 
that the difference of sex often influences their choice. 
Not only does the young son feel a strong attraction 
towards the mother, but he begins to look upon his 
father as a rival. This often finds expression in such 
sayings as, " I will marry my mother when I am grown- 
up/' or, " Father had better go away on a journey, or 
to the war, and then I will look after mother/' The 
child has only a vague notion of death. His only idea 
about it is that " dying " and " going away " are the 
same thing ; and so the child may easily come to say 
that the father may as well die, and then he will marry 
his mother. Freud has named this the Oedipus- 
complex, from the Greek tragedy, in which Oedipus 
is driven by the Fates to kill his father and to marry 
his mother. Freud's theory that the great impression 
made by this tragedy is due to the fact that we have 
all felt similar desires at a certain stage of our life, 
has created much indignation and anxiety. A con- 
fusion has usually been made between two of Freud's 

70 



DEVELOPMENT OF EMOTIONS 

theories, firstly that this Oedipus-complex may be of 
decisive importance in the emotional life of some people, 
especially neurotics, and secondly that everyone has 
felt similar emotions at some stage of his development. 
The possible disastrous results of the Oedipus-complex, 
which usually appear only at puberty, I shall deal with 
later. At present I will only point out that we should 
be misunderstanding Freud, if we applied this theory 
too strictly to any normal person. In his last book 
(XV, p. 381) he writes as follows : " What does direct 
observation of the child, at the time of the selection of 
its object, before the latent period, show us concerning 
the Oedipus-complex ? One may easily see that the 
little man would like to have the mother all to himself, 
that he finds the presence of his father disturbing ; 
he becomes irritated when the latter permits himself 
to show tenderness towards the mother, and expresses 
his satisfaction when the father is away or on a journey. 
Frequently he expresses his feelings directly in words, 
and promises the mother he will marry her. One may 
think this is very little in comparison with the deeds of 
Oedipus, but it is actually enough, for it is essentially 
the same thing. The observation is frequently clouded 
by the circumstance that the same child, on other 
occasions, gives evidence of great tenderness towards 
its father ; this only means that such contradictory, or 
rather ambivalent emotional attitudes as would lead to a 
conflict in the case of an adult, readily take their place 
side by side in a child, just as later on they permanently 
exist in the unconscious. Someone might object 
that the behaviour of the child springs from egoistic 
motives, and does not justify the hypothesis of an 
erotic complex. The mother provides for all the neces- 

7* 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

sities of the child, and it is therefore to the child's 
advantage that she should trouble herself for no one 
else. This is true ; but it will soon be clear that in 
this, as in similar situations, the egoistic interest 
merely offers the opportunity which the erotic impulse 
seizes upon. If the child shows the most undisguised 
sexual curiosity about his mother, if he wants to sleep 
with her at night, and insists upon being present while 
she is dressing, or even tries in his childish way to play 
the seducer, as the mother can often clearly perceive, 
and afterwards laughingly relates, it is undoubtedly 
due to the erotic nature of the attachment to his 
mother. We must not forget that the mother shows 
the same care for her little daughter without producing 
the same effect, and that the father often vies with her 
in care for the boy without being able to win the same 
importance in his eyes as the mother does. In short, 
it is clear that the factor of sex preference cannot be 
eliminated from the situation by any kind of criticism. 11 
It is clear that Freud has used the term Oedipus- 
complex more in order to indicate the nature of the 
emotions, than to imply the presence of a tragic 
conflict. In the case of a little girl, the emotional 
relation is somewhat of the same nature. Her ego- 
istic motives do not point in the same direction as 
her erotic ones, for she sees it is to her interest to 
maintain good relations with her mother, as she is 
dependent on her care, while the father is mostly 
absent. Tenderness and caresses from the mother 
will no doubt also bring about greater intimacy between 
mother and daughter. Yet it constantly happens, 
especially when there are several daughters in the 
family, that the attraction between father and daughter 

72 



DEVELOPMENT OF EMOTIONS 

appears quite early, and often coincides with a certain 
jealousy of the mother by the daughter. The parents 
themselves often influence this emotional complex, 
because they also may unconsciously be affected by 
the difference of sex. 

We must be on our guard against judging the child's 
emotional life according to adult standards, because 
the emotions at this early stage have a peculiar char- 
acter of their own. Our present knowledge shows 
us that our unconscious life is closely related to the 
infantile emotions, and this helps us towards a better 
understanding of their peculiar character. In a 
child contradictory emotions can exist side by side 
much more easily than in an adult. A child can show 
great affection and tenderness for someone who the 
next moment will arouse its fury and rage. Greed 
and generosity can alternate very rapidly. Little 
children generally exhibit all kinds of primitive emo- 
tions. They take great pleasure in breaking things 
to pieces and in causing pain, but these emotions are 
usually quickly superseded by others. The less kindly 
emotions are especially shown towards brothers and 
sisters. When a child hears that the stork has brought 
another little brother or sister, its feelings will be very 
mixed. It will soon perceive that the new arrival 
claims most of the parent's interest and care, and that 
it will have to be satisfied with less. Jung relates 
the instance of a girl of four years, who was going to 
have a little brother (XXIII, p. 9). The father 
put the child on his knee and asked, " What would 
you say if you were to get a little brother to-night ? " 
" Then I would kill it," was the immediate answer. Of 
course we must not lay too much stress on the word 

73 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

" kill," because the child had no clear conception of 
what it meant ; all the same it expressed her feelings 
clearly enough. 

When we realise of what enormous importance 
the arrival in the family of a new child can be to 
an older one, and how fundamentally it may transform 
its emotional life, we shall easily believe that small 
children begin quite early to be interested in the 
question of where babies come from. We may at 
first doubt the intensity of this curiosity, because most 
children do not show it except by a few questions, and 
seem to be easily satisfied with the ordinary stories 
about storks and cabbages. But investigations have 
revealed that the parents 1 reticence may often have 
far-reaching results of which they have no idea. In 
the first place children often notice that they are 
given an evasive answer, and the slight embarrassment 
of the parent at their questions gives them the feeling 
that some secret or other is being hidden from them. 
The curious result is that they do not mention the 
subject any more because they do not quite trust 
the parent's information, or, if they do continue 
their questions, they do so in such a roundabout 
way that they are often misunderstood. Another 
result of the unsatisfying answer may be that the 
child's attention is now more drawn to the problem, 
which might otherwise have been put aside. The 
child often sees and hears much more than the parents 
imagine, and so may easily find a starting point for 
speculation ; but as some important facts nearly 
always remain hidden, the result of all this vague 
searching will be quite fantastic. An observant child 
may easily deduce the fact that the infant comes out of 

74 



DEVELOPMENT OF EMOTIONS 

the mother's body, but it is more difficult to find out 
exactly how. Judging from experience of its own 
body, the child naturally sees a connection with its 
excrements, which are also produced from its body. 
Thus the idea arises that the infant leaves the body by 
the anus. In this way the child may come to imagine 
that it can produce an infant itself. A little precocious 
boy of three years old had been told by his parents 
that a new baby would arrive in a couple of months. 
At a children's party he said to his hostess, pointing to 
his abdomen, " I have a baby in my tummy. Listen ! 
you can hear him grumbling. He is coming out to- 
morrow/' 

This knowledge leads to new questions as to how the 
baby gets into the mother's abdomen, and also as to 
what part the father plays. As the connection between 
food and excretion is known, the idea may arise that 
the origin of the baby is to be found in something the 
mother has eaten. Or there may be other theories, as 
for instance that the baby is produced by means of an 
operation ; or else fantastic ideas connected with 
death may appear. The following dialogue took place 
between a little girl of three years old and her grand- 
mother (XXIII, p. 8). 

Anna. " Grandmother, why are your eyes so 
wrinkled ? " 

Grandmother. " Because I am so old/' 

Anna. " I know ; but then you will grow young 
again/' 

Grandmother. " No ; for, you know, I shall grow 
older and older until I die." 

Anna. " And then ? " 

Grandmother. " Then I shall become an Angel/ 1 

75 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

Anna. " But then you will be turned into a little 
child again ? " 

A year later, after the birth of a little brother, this 
same child whispered anxiously and mistrustfully into 
its mother's ear, " Are you sure you won't die now ? " 

These birth theories probably play this important 
r61e in the child's life, because they are so closely 
connected with the physical images and sensations 
which predominate at this period. Sexual feelings may 
have something to do with it also, though we must be 
on our guard against identifying this kind of sexual 
expression with that of later life. The emotions are 
still but little differentiated : they are still in a closely- 
knit tangle, out of which later on definite shapes will 
arise. Two facts which help to emphasise the con- 
nection between the excretory functions and vague 
sexual sensations, are first the close local connection 
between the organs, and secondly the atmosphere of 
secrecy and of the forbidden which surrounds them both. 
Also disturbances in the excretory organs may cause 
a stimulus leading to an early habit of masturbation. 

The importance which children attach to their 
physical sensations is clearly revealed in their relations 
to others. They often show curiosity as to the bodily 
functions of parents or equals, and are greatly inter- 
ested in watching other people's excretory functions. 
If they are left at all free, they will find expression for 
these feelings in many of their games, such as playing 
at being a doctor, or " keeping house," the details of 
which will show the importance to them of physical 
intimacy. Even falling in love with a playfellow, or a 
brother or sister, may occur in this early stage of 
budding erotic sensations. 



DEVELOPMENT OF EMOTIONS 

Now that we know how deep is the influence of the 
early stages of emotional expression upon later life, 
we can easily understand the very great importance 
of the child's position in the sequence of his brothers 
and sisters. With an only child the relation to the 
parents will be preponderant, while in a large family 
this may be compensated for by other relations. 
Thus the later social feelings of an only child will be 
strongly influenced by its feelings towards its parents. 
Especially if such a child has been spoilt, it will retain 
for a long time the impression that the gratification 
of its desires can be easily obtained. It is used to 
having everyone at its beck and call and ministering to 
its needs. This may grow into such a habit, that the 
child will feel it as a great injustice in later life, if 
it does not continue to form the centre of its sur- 
roundings. 

When we consider the relations of the eldest child in 
the family, we must not forget that it once occupied the 
favoured position of an only child, and hat at a 
certain moment it was dispossessed. Of course it is 
important to know at what age the successor appeared, 
because the effect on the child may be much more 
complicated when it is already three or four years old, 
than when it is younger. But even where the differ- 
ence of age is only slight, the effects of this dispossession 
are felt deeply enough to give rise to complicated 
reactions. When the older child feels that it receives 
less affection and care from the mother, it may seek for 
compensation from the father, or from someone else in 
its surroundings, who in turn will then become the 
centre of the child's emotional life. If it does not 
succeed in finding such compensation, an emotional 

77 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

regression may occur, and the child will then centre 
its emotional life upon itself, just as it used to do 
unconsciously at the time of its physical interest 
in itself But now more complicated results arise. 
The child will appear to attach less importance to 
care and affection of which it now feels the lack, and 
will pretend to have outgrown those needs. A boy 
especially will then make an effort to appear brave and 
grown-up ; he will emphasise all the attainments in 
which he is superior to his younger brother or sister, 
and this feeling of superiority will be a great consola- 
tion. An elder sister will tend to become more motherly 
with the younger ones. Altogether this change in the 
child's life may be a strong stimulus to the intellectual 
and phantasy-life, and may also have a far-reaching 
influence on the later character. The desire of the 
eldest to be independent and to dominate over the 
younger, will often arise from this first conflict. 

The position of the youngest child has also its 
peculiarities. It enjoys the advantage of not being 
dispossessed of its rights by a youngfcr successor. On 
this point the case is somewhat similar to that of the 
only child. It does in fact sometimes get spoilt, but its 
joys are not unadulterated. The fate of Joseph, who 
was ill-treated by his brothers, and finally sold as a 
slave, is an apposite case. The youngest has to defend 
the privileges showered on him by the parents against 
the attacks of his older brothers and sisters. He will 
feel that special favours are due to him, and at the same 
time may be in fear of subjection, which may give rise to 
angry feelings towards these elders, and to a desire to 
pay them out and be their master. In later life this 
may result in a feeling of rancour towards equals, side 



DEVELOPMENT OF EMOTIONS 

by side with love and respect towards those in high 
authority. 

It might be thought that the position of the middle 
child was of a less definite type, and would have less 
far-reaching results. This is certainly not the case 
(XIX). One of the strongest influences is the uncer- 
tainty of its position. Sometimes it is included with 
the elder ones, sometimes with the younger, and it 
has less privileges than either the youngest or the eldest. 
As soon as it has obtained some privilege, it may have 
to be given up to the younger ones. The eldest or 
the youngest are often chosen out for a special treat ; 
the middle child will always have to share it with 
one of the others. The eldest will treat the middle 
child as inferior, and the youngest will feel itself its 
equal. Hence often a certain bitterness, and a feeling 
of enmity both towards older or younger brothers or 
sisters. Sometimes it feels out of touch with them, and 
then withdraws into its ego, or seeks to find some 
satisfying relations outside its own family circle. Very 
often this may lead to the child's making its way more 
easily later on into society, as it is accustomed to make 
less demands than the others. But it may also give 
rise to a feeling of uncertainty and of being pushed 
into the background. The position of the middle child 
is most difficult when it is of the same sex as the older 
and younger. A girl coming between two boys may 
develop the typical feminine traits of " child wife " 
towards the older, and of " little mother " towards 
the younger. A boy between two girls will be sure 
to come to the front by means of his male character- 
istics. 

When once the connection between these juvenile 

79 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

circumstances and later character-traits has been under- 
stood, it is astonishing how constantly we come across 
illustrations. There are two reasons why this influence 
on the later development is so powerful, (a) because 
the influence described above, such as the relations 
to parents, brothers and sisters, is spread over a long 
period ; and (b) because the child's mind is extremely 
sensitive to strong impressions, and is like wax in its 
plasticity at this early period. In some cases it is 
evident that a single event in childhood has influenced 
the whole of later life. The importance of such an 
event is due not only to the strong emotion aroused 
by it, but to the fact that these emotions are closely 
connected with fundamental impulses. We constantly 
find that an event during this plastic period has deter- 
mined the trend of sexual expression for the rest of 
life. With some people sexual gratification is de- 
pendent upon unusual circumstances. Such deviations 
of the sexual instinct are called perversities. It used to 
be generally accepted that such perversities were the 
outcome of an inherited bias. Later investigations have 
proved that in most cases such abnormality was deter- 
mined by some event in early childhood, when the 
sexual impulse was prematurely over-stimulated, either 
through sexual temptation by adults or older children, 
or through a sexual scene which the child may in- 
voluntarily have witnessed. I have treated a patient 
who as a child had been sexually excited by an adult's 
foot, with the result that later in life his sexual feelings 
were unusually roused by a special kind of foot. Most 
parents consider a child between two and four years 
old to be much more innocent than it really is, and 
so it often happens that children of that age continue 

80 



DEVELOPMENT OF EMOTIONS 

to share their parents' bedroom, and thus see and 
hear things which they had better not. In this way 
feelings are aroused, especially in the case of nervous 
or over-sensitive children, which if their development 
had been normal, would have remained correlated 
with other emotions, until the later stage of normal 
and independent expression had been reached. Such 
a precociously aroused sexual emotion is not always 
easy to recognise as such. In the first place the form 
it takes is vague, and so the child is not clearly con- 
scious of it, and the emotion often finds an outlet in 
anxiety or fear ; also the child feels, often quite early 
in life, that it has done something that is forbidden, or 
witnessed what it was not meant to know ; and the 
consequent emotional conflict forces it to banish such 
unpermitted experiences from its consciousness, that is 
to say to repress them. Hence inner conflicts, caused 
by external events, may produce later on great dis- 
turbances in the emotions, neurosis, and even insanity. 
The intensity of the early emotional life, though of 
great importance, is naturally not the only factor that 
determines further development. Freud has never 
maintained that all such early conflicts must irrevo- 
cably result in insanity, to which a great many more 
factors would have to contribute. 

One of the most important events which may leave a 
lasting impression on the child's life, is the death of a 
near relation. The influence of such an event varies 
according to whether affection is felt for the deceased, 
or whether death removes a rival in the family's 
affections, so that a disturbance in emotional 
gratification is cleared away. In the first case 
the deprivation of affection may lead the child 

81 F 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

to seek consolation and compensation from someone 
else. 

But very often this may not succeed, or only in- 
sufficiently ; and then a curious phenomenon may 
appear, which we constantly meet with in later dis- 
turbances of emotional gratification : I mean regression, 
or a return to infantile expression. In the primary 
stage of its development, the child obtains expression 
for its love-emotions through its own mind or body. 
Lack of affection will drive the child back into this 
early stage. It will become self-centred ; phantasy 
will supply the means to satisfy its needs, and its 
attention may again be drawn to various physical sen- 
sations which may help to supply some gratification. 
A small child generally has a yearning hunger for love, 
which is partly due to its sense of weakness and de- 
pendence. If it finds no satisfaction for this hunger, 
it may retreat into its own little world, and retain the 
impression of the callousness and enmity of the outer 
world for the rest of its life. Lack of love may also 
cause a reaction in the child, who may become sullen 
and cruel, as if it wished to prove to itself that all this 
need of affection is senseless, and that to be a victim 
and to victimise others is merely human destiny. If 
such children do not come into timely contact with 
people who understand their condition and needs, they 
will run great risk of growing up with spoilt and per- 
verted emotions. 

When a rival in affection is removed by death, the 
difficulties are of a very different kind. If the rival 
were only thought of as such, the consequences would 
be fairly simple. The circumstances that lead to 
spoiling, as in the case of an only child, would merely 

82 



DEVELOPMENT OF EMOTIONS 

become more frequent. But it is not always so simple. 
We have seen that a child can experience contradictory 
emotions at the same time. Usually it will have also 
felt affectionate and friendly feelings towards its 
rival. When feelings of hatred and rivalry have been 
gratified, the child will not only become more clearly 
conscious of its opposite feelings, but it may become 
aware of the contradiction for the first time, and 
this often arouses a sense of guilt. When they have 
been gratified, it will think of its angry feelings as 
being bad, and a tragic feeling of remorse may be 
combined with grief for the loss of a dead parent or 
brother or sister. In this connection we sometimes 
find a peculiar characteristic that is more clearly 
marked in some children than in others. This is 
what Freud has called " the belief in the omnipotence 
of thought/' which means that the child believes that 
its mere wishes are followed by immediate results in the 
external world. We find the same conviction prevail- 
ing in savages, who urge their chief to produce the 
wished-for rain by mere thinking, or ask the " medicine 
man " to bring illness upon their enemy by some 
incantation. Such analogies between the psychology 
of children and primitive people are constantly to be 
met with, and they are the foundation of many fruitful 
investigations by Freud and his followers. Space 
forbids me to treat them more fully ; but we may 
assume that the child ascribes great power to its 
thoughts, and thus often feels specially responsible 
when the desired result seems to be obtained. The 
remorse for its earlier feelings and desires may find 
expression in exaggerated grief and display of affec- 
tion for the dead rival, and may indeed have a lasting 

83 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

influence, which will chiefly take the form of a suspic- 
ious attitude towards its own emotions, manifested 
by over-anxiety, uncertainty and an exaggerated 
conscientiousness. A child often seems to be much 
altered by such an event. The desire for affection, 
which might be more easily gratified after the removal 
of the rival, is now disturbed by the feeling of guilt 
with which it remains associated. As with other 
emotional conflicts, we find that the problem is made 
more difficult, if not impossible, to solve, by its remain- 
ing in the regions of the unconscious or half-conscious. 
The struggle cannot be fought out, but remains in the 
background as a threatening influence affecting and 
disturbing all kinds of conscious processes. 

Physical illness is of great importance among the 
many circumstances which may influence the child's 
emotional life. A child that has suffered from a long 
illness, is put back as a consequence into an earlier 
stage of its development. Everyone pets it and is 
at its beck and call ; it is the centre of its surround- 
ings, and shut off from the stimuli of the outer world, 
while its attention is strongly drawn towards its 
own ailing body and its own emotional life. Feelings 
of affection are pushed into the background by the 
importance of the ego. We find here some resemblance 
to the case of the child who has been spoilt, or else 
driven back into its own emotional life by lack of affec- 
tion. But in the spoilt child the love of its parents 
still remains an influential factor ; and the mind of 
the child in need of affection will be centred on its 
mental functions and activities more than is the case 
with the invalid, whose attention will be almost wholly 
occupied with the physical and passive side. So we 



DEVELOPMENT OF EMOTIONS 

need not wonder that a lengthy illness in this plastic 
period of youth should have a far-reaching influence 
on the later character. The emotions often retain their 
infantile mode of expression, and so their full develop- 
ment is hampered. 

This primary stage is of great importance from the 
point of view of the later emotional life, because the 
mental functions, which alone enable the child to adapt 
itself to the outer world, are hardly yet developed, and 
so the inner impulses will have to find a simpler outlet 
of expression, which will be determined by the child's 
bodily condition and its surroundings. The conditions 
of the body will tend to control the first infantile period, 
while the influence of environment will predominate 
between the third and sixth year. This first period of 
bodily emotions up to the third year, can be divided 
into three sub-divisions : (i) when the alimentary 
functions are of most importance, (2) when activity 
begins, and the struggle to learn habits of cleanliness 
takes place, (3) when the various physical emotions 
are being co-ordinated, and the consciousness of the 
ego and of the individual body is awakening. Freud 
combines the two first periods under the name of 
auto-erotic period (XI, p. 45), because the emotions 
are of a sensual kind and are connected with the body. 
He gives the name of Narcissistic period (XIII) to the 
time when the body as a whole forms the centre of the 
child's interest. This name is borrowed from the youth 
Narcissus, who according to Greek mythology fell in 
love with himself, and never grew tired of contemplating 
his own image mirrored in the water. 

The transition from the Narcissistic period to the 
period when the emotions are directed outwards and 

85 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

grow into the so-called objective emotions (object- 
libido), is marked by the discovery of the ego and the 
non-ego. The reaction to this discovery creates in 
the child a feeling of dependence on the outer world, 
and makes him desire to be in closer relationship with 
it. We have already seen how strong an influence the 
circumstances of the child's life at this age may have 
on its emotional development, and how special events 
at this period may for ever determine the later 
character. 

A disturbance, which develops in later life in conse- 
quence of abnormal conditions in early childhood, 
has been given the name of fixation by Freud. He 
wishes to indicate by this term, that a child's desire 
for gratification may be so influenced by circumstances, 
as to remain fixed in its earliest form of expression. 
The cause may be some physical peculiarity, such as 
pleasurable sensations during defaecation, or the fact 
that the child was spoilt by its parents. Other circum- 
stances, such as illness or loss of affection, may have an 
indirect influence, by inducing the child to seek satisfac- 
tion in its phantasy life. But the result will always be a 
fixation of the gratification idea. Such fixation may 
hamper the normal development of the emotional life in 
two ways, by retardation and by regression. It is an 
instance of retardation when a sense of gratification 
remains connected with bed-wetting instead of being 
transferred to the sexual functions ; or when a boy's 
emotions continue to be centred upon his mother 
during his whole life. But we should call it regression 
when a child, who has been clean for some time, falls 
back into old habits, because it has met with punish- 
ment or resistance when it was seeking for new forms 

86 



DEVELOPMENT OF EMOTIONS 

of expression ; or when a man, meeting with diffi- 
culties in his married life, re-directs the whole of his 
emotional life towards his mother. We find retarda- 
tion and regression expressed in many varied forms. 
It is an instance of regression when a man comes to 
blows with another because he is at a loss for an argu- 
ment. The sexual life, in its widest sense, is specially 
subject to similar disturbances. We have seen the 
importance of early childhood in this connection, 
because during that time the emotions are most rapidly 
transformed and developed. 

After the sixth year the child has passed through 
most of its Sturm-und-Drang period. The emotional 
life has now become co-ordinated into a group of 
expressions, out of which it continues to develop 
as best it may, if no further disturbances take place. 
As mental power increases, and under the influence 
of the outer world in the form of school-life, sensi- 
tiveness will decrease. Reason will enable the child 
to work off its emotional tension, while at school 
it will find it easier freely to select and modify its 
relations with others. The difficulties experienced 
by the child at this stage are usually a weak reflection 
of those belonging to an earlier period. But in the 
case of the only child, it is now that it becomes aware 
of life's difficulties for the first time. School-life 
has also the effect of once more emphasising the 
emotions connected with the ego. Praise and punish- 
ment will tend to centre the child's attention upon 
itself. 

Having passed through these years, which Freud 
calls the latency-period, the emotional life regains its 
predominating influence at puberty (XI). The general 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

equilibrium, hitherto fairly well maintained, will now 
be upset, and many years will often elapse before a 
satisfactory readjustment is found. What is the real 
nature of the process that goes on during this period ? 
It has been defined as the birth and development of the 
sexual emotions ; but this explanation does not seem 
entirely satisfactory. Freud has proved that sexual 
emotions are experienced in early childhood, though in 
a less definite form, so that it would be a mistake to 
say that they appear now for the first time, which 
would also conflict with our knowledge that emotions 
nearly always arise out of earlier related emotions. 
Freud holds that the essence of puberty consists in 
these two changes : (i) vague sexual emotions now 
begin to centre themselves upon the sexual organs, 
and are thus directed towards a more definite object ; 
(2) the impulse arises to focus all love and admiration 
upon one ideal object, which in return can gratify 
all the higher emotions. Both changes have very 
different results, and vary much in importance in 
different individuals. 

The sensations connected with the sexual organs will 
tend to make the child more conscious of the difference 
of sex, and its attention will be drawn to other bodily 
sensations, which had been pushed into the background 
during the latency period. The phantasy life may now 
become more occupied with the products of an earlier 
stage. In any case both the physical and phantasy 
life will be increasingly centred round the sexual organs. 

The influence of sexual maturity on the psychic life 
is manifested in quite a different way. The tendency 
to idealise, to find an object of admiration, is in con- 
trast to the love-emotions of the former period ; for 

88 



DEVELOPMENT OF EMOTIONS 

now the object is usually sought for outside the family 
circle. This is a new departure, for it implies separa- 
tion from the home, which will in the end lead to an 
independent position. But the loosening of these 
ties is not always easily accomplished. For a long time 
the father and mother have been the centre of the 
child's predominating emotions ; and this fact often 
has an influence on the choice of a new person to 
idealise, when this loosening process takes place. The 
admiration and love of a boy is often directed towards 
a much older woman, and the young girl will often feel 
more attracted by older men than by her contem- 
poraries. 

Much light will be thrown on this matter if we per- 
ceive the connection between these two important 
changes during the puberty period. The search for 
an ideal object of love, and the direction of attention 
outside the family circle, are both due to the physical 
change which concentrates all erotic emotions upon the 
sexual organs. During the latency-period, the control 
of the bodily functions and the suppression of dis- 
turbing emotions has become fairly complete : the 
child has absorbed all sorts of current opinions about 
good and bad, about what is allowed and not allowed, 
until they have become a second nature. The super- 
fluous part of the emotions has been suppressed, and 
the remainder is now mainly centred on the parents, 
of whom one is sometimes selected as the favourite. 
Though these emotions are sometimes of a vaguely 
erotic nature, they do not create a disturbing element 
among the other emotions with which they are closely 
combined. When a child happens to exercise its 
fantasy upon sexual matters, it will naturally include 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

its parents in this connection. But when at puberty 
the vaguely erotic emotions are condensed into the 
sexual, in the narrow sense of the word, they will then 
appear to be in sharp contrast with the emotions the 
child feels for its parents, and also with everything it 
has learnt to regard as good and pure. The internal 
conflict which then follows may be solved in three 
ways, (i) The emotions may all remain associated 
together, yet be gradually detached from the parents, 
and directed towards some object, with whom sexual 
relations are not forbidden. (2) In some cases, children 
will find it very difficult to accomplish this process of 
detachment in an easy and gradual way ; consequently 
the irreconcilable emotions will be torn asunder, and 
the emotional life will become divided on the one side 
into high ideals and pure love, without any sexual 
element, and on the other into sensual impulses that are 
considered reprehensible, and connected with people of 
low origin, and are often gratified by masturbation. An 
example of such a solution is the young man who, 
having a sentimental adoration for his mother, thinks 
of woman as a being too sacred to be defiled by mar- 
riage, yet who at the same time gratifies his passions 
by short and superficial sexual relations. (3) In 
the third case the emotions are not detached from 
the parents, nor are they torn asunder and partially 
directed towards a new object. The difficulty created 
by these irreconcilable emotions is hidden away, 
and anything to do with sexual or useless emotions is 
promptly driven out of the conscious life. This will 
often require a strong effort of will, and the result will 
be that the problem seems to have disappeared. Such 
people appear to lack all sexual emotions, and the 

90 



DEVELOPMENT OF EMOTIONS 

equilibrium of the latency-period seems to be con- 
tinuous. But we have seen that such people are likely 
to suffer from hysterical or other morbid symptoms, 
because it is impossible to repress or divert these 
vitally important impulses without bad results. There 
is a fourth possible solution, which often appears in 
combination with one of the others. If the child is 
able to reach a clear understanding of the various 
difficulties, the sublimating process will then be more 
consciously and satisfactorily accomplished, and the 
emotions will be able to develop to their richest 
expression. 

This transition stage is likely to be very difficult for 
the parents, who often have little knowledge of what 
is going on in their children's minds. Many parents 
make a dogged attempt to preserve the former rela- 
tionship with their children, and so make it doubly 
difficult for them to find a new one. When children 
continue to feel and show the same affection and 
intimacy towards their parents, this behaviour will be 
considered as specially amiable and praiseworthy. 
Bui later on, at the time of an engagement or a 
marriage, all sorts of difficulties arise. The parents 
will be taken aback at finding that such a thing could 
happen in the case of their meek and yielding daughter, 
or of their excellent and affectionate son. It will 
probably seem to them extraordinary that other 
children, whose relations with their parents may have 
been more difficult and unpleasant, now seem to be 
able more easily to adapt their new emotional experi- 
ences to parental claims. Many parents are apt 
to drive out from their consciousness what they prefer 
not to see, for they find it an unpleasant experience, 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

when the emotional changes during puberty begin 
to lead to the child's independence and detachment 
from home ties. Moreover if the natural develop- 
ment is hampered, we may meet with the Oedipus- 
complex in a more serious form than in cases of small 
children, because the conflict has been more completely 
driven back into the unconscious, and thus the strongly 
suppressed impulses will remain in a state of tension. 

Even those parents who are aware of the necessity of 
this natural development, will find it a difficult task to 
help their children ; for while the child is longing for 
liberty to direct his emotions towards the outer world, 
he cannot entirely dispense with his old emotional 
centre, and needs love and care, although he can no 
more give the same undivided love in return. Great 
understanding and tact is required by the parents 
all through this psychic process ; and so this period of 
youthful life often runs a stormy course. 

Another danger that belongs to the period of sexual 
maturity, is connected with the difficulty of choosing 
an object of the affections. At this age intimate 
friendships between young people of the same sex are 
very common. During this transition period the 
sexual tension is such that a physical touch may easily 
arouse sexual emotions, which may then be directed 
towards the same sex. Where intercourse with children 
of the same sex only is the rule at this age, such expres- 
sions of the sexual impulses cannot be wondered at. 
Homosexual emotions, sometimes psychic, sometimes 
combined with sexual acts, are a fairly common 
symptom, until a more definite form of expression 
can be evolved. Usually the attraction of the other 
sex will soon make itself felt, and then the emotions 

92 



DEVELOPMENT OF EMOTIONS 

felt for the same sex will return to normal channels. 
But if these emotional relationships should continue 
for a long time, or if they are the result of quite early 
experiences in childhood, they may then lead to a 
fixation of the emotions, which may prove extremely 
difficult to re-adjust. Freud therefore considers neither 
this abnormality, nor the other perversities of the 
sexual life, as mere symptoms of degeneration, but 
looks upon them as disturbances in the normal develop- 
ment, usually brought about by circumstances (XI), 

By way of recapitulation, I wish to draw the attention 
of those responsible for the education of children to the 
following three stages of development in the emotional 
life. 

(1) In the first period contact with the outer world is 
as yet very slight, and it is of great importance to 
control the physical functions, suppressing what is 
useless and eliminating any wrong influences, because 
it will then be easier to prevent the emotions from find- 
ing a wrong channel of expression. 

(2) The second period makes higher demands upon 
the educator, because it is now that emotional relations 
between the child and its surroundings are formed. 
Love has now become the most effective means of 
influencing the child, so it is imperative that parents 
should retain their children's affection and confidence. 
They ought to give an honest answer to any questions 
the child may ask, even about sexual matters ; other- 
wise the child's confidence might easily be destroyed, 
and the influence of the parents would come to an 
end. 

Experience teaches us that there is nothing to fear 
for those children, who have always received rational 

93 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

answers to their questions, and have thus been gradu- 
ally initiated. If once their curiosity has been satisfied, 
they will not think so much about such matters as those 
children do who are left to search in the dark. The 
difficulty here is often on the side of the parents. Unless 
their attitude towards sexual questions is sufficiently 
natural and unprejudiced, they will not find it easy to 
enlighten their children in a tactful manner. Although 
love and confidence are most potent factors in educa- 
tion, parents ought to be on their guard against over- 
stimulating their children's love by sensual means. 
Too much tenderness, exaggerated caresses, frequent 
getting into bed with the parents, may all influence 
the child's emotions in a wrong direction by emphasising 
their sensual expression. Allowing a child to share its 
parents' bedroom too long may also have its dangers. 
No doubt any bad habit in the child, such as sexual 
auto-stimulation, must be discouraged. But what is 
most important during this period is that the child's 
emotions towards its environment should find new and 
better forms of expression. 

(3) The third period coincides with puberty, when 
the parents are faced with the difficult task of helping 
the child to become independent and self-reliant. 
Satisfaction of the emotions must now be gradually 
transferred from the family circle to wider social 
relations. 

We must not expect that these psychological dis- 
coveries of Freud will revolutionise education in the 
near future and shake it out of its usual routine. We 
can only hope to see great changes brought about 
when these new ideas have been more generally 
accepted. Our knowledge on this subject is con- 

94 



DEVELOPMENT OF EMOTIONS 

stantly growing more exact as our data are amplified. 
Many details may have to be elaborated and revised ; 
but the chief points, as indicated in this chapter, will 
probably remain the same. I hope that notwith- 
standing this short and somewhat superficial treatment 
of the subject, I may have convinced my readers 
how important these theories are, and how useful it 
must be to gain a clear understanding of these intricate 
problems. 



95 



CHAPTER IV 

THE ANALYTIC AND THE SYNTHETIC POINTS OF VIEW 

BEFORE drawing attention to certain objections to 
Freud's psychology, I wish to recapitulate briefly the 
chief points of his theories. 

According to Freud, all psychological phenomena, in 
their rich variety, are caused by instinctive impulses. 
The general trend of these impulses may be determined 
by heredity, but, within those limits, they are expressed 
in a great variety of ways. Those impulses which 
organise their forms of expression under the influence 
of the desires of the conscious self, may be said to 
constitute the conscious individuality, which is thus 
able to suppress the expression of other impulses 
that are inconsistent with it. These useless forces, 
whose expression has been suppressed, constitute the 
unconscious mental life ; and if they are few in number 
compared with those that constitute the conscious 
individuality, then they will probably cause no trouble, 
though they may give rise to some slight disturbances 
which find expression in dreams and in various char- 
acter-traits. But if the suppressed element is 
important, it will manifest itself in morbid symptoms. 
The nature of these symptoms will depend upon all the 
various useless impulses whose expression was sup- 
pressed at a former stage. When an earlier form of 
expression has become " fixed, 11 it will very likely 



ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS 

be an important factor in causing morbid symptoms 
by means of regression. 

It cannot be denied that these views on psychology 
often create an unpleasant impression. Freud was 
continually experiencing, at first much to his surprise, 
that the publication of his ideas had the effect of 
estranging the public and leaving him in isolation. 
Others have had the same experience. Discussions 
about Psycho-analysis, though arousing much interest, 
often produce an atmosphere of coldness and hostility. 
We must now try to discover why these theories create 
this unpleasant impression. 

Freud's followers maintain that the resistance, which 
all of us feel to any exploration of our hidden impulses, 
must be the chief reason for our opposition to his views. 
I believe that this is true where the intensity of the 
hostile attitude clearly reveals its emotional basis. 
Some inner conflict is probably then touched on the 
raw by the theories of Psycho-analysis, as often be- 
comes evident upon close investigation. So far, the 
explanation given by Freud and his followers appears 
to me to be right. All the same I consider certain 
objective criticisms to be reasonable. I can well under- 
stand that strong opposition has been aroused by 
Freud's terminology, by his wide use of the word 
sex, and by the careless manner in which his theories 
have been applied to insufficiently explored material. 
I have therefore avoided, as much as possible, the use 
of terms which might lead to misunderstanding : 
they are not essential to the new theories, and may 
well be altered and improved in the future. Such 
criticisms of Freud's work are justifiable, though they 
do not detract from the real value of his discoveries. 

97 C 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

But there is a further important reason why many 
people oppose his theories. They cannot always define 
it clearly, and can only express their repugnance. 
This resistance would seem to be due to unconscious 
complexes : and yet this is not entirely the case The 
true reason is a difference of general outlook upon 
life. The character of Freud's theories clearly shows 
a pathological basis. It is true that he has also studied 
the unconscious life of normal persons as manifested 
in dreams and psychic disturbances ; but this has 
formed only a small fraction of his material, and he has 
been apt to treat normal and pathological cases from the 
same point of view. There are many degrees of transi- 
tion between the normal and the abnormal. Many 
abnormal conditions and traits are exaggerations of 
normal ones, magnified as by a microscope, In this 
way no doubt psycho-pathology throws a great deal 
of light upon normal psychology, and on various 
transitional stages between the healthy and the morbid. 
A neurologist does not usually meet with hostility 
when he confines himself to describing these transi- 
tional stages ; but it is otherwise when he uses transi- 
tional symptoms as a means of judging normal persons, 
who are unpleasantly affected when they find such 
symptoms regarded as faults and frailties, in fact 
as signs of degeneracy. It is true that, if they are 
candid, they will admit these shortcomings ; but they 
object to being judged and classified by means of them. 
They are right when they maintain that pathological 
psychology and normal psychology should be studied 
from different points of view. The function of a 
doctor, as of a policeman, is based on the assumption 
that there is something wrong in the world : his work 



ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS 

only begins when some disturbance arises. Thus he is 
apt to judge everything from the point of view of the 
disturbance, or of the degeneracy of his patient, and his 
scientific training will urge him to trace these back to 
their origins. But the normal man approaches the 
problem from a different point of view. He is more 
concerned with what is right and successful than with 
what is wrong and a failure, and the idea of an ultimate 
goal is of more interest to him than a chain of causes 
and effects, The student of natural science only values 
the future in so far as he is able to find its causal 
connection with the past, and so to establish his 
causal laws. But scientific laws, and the past, only 
interest the normal practical man in so far as they 
help him to shape the future according to his desires ; 
so he may well think that all this analysing and search- 
ing for the origins of weaknesses, is only of secondary 
importance, unless it shows how to build up a better 
future. Freud does not give us direct advice on this 
matter ; he only throws light on the causal laws of 
morbid symptoms, and reveals the unconscious to 
the conscious mind, leaving his patients to find for 
themselves the guidance they require by looking into 
their inner mental life. 

Freud realises that it is desirable to find new and more 
suitable fields of interest, to which the unconscious 
and repressed energies may be transferred. He calls 
this process of transference sublimation. But he 
leaves it to the patients to find their own way of 
sublimation, because he is convinced that any guidance 
by the doctor would be impossible without his obtruding 
his own views of life and his own manner of sublimation 
upon the patient. Freud confines himself to clearing 

99 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

away every obstacle to sublimation. Sometimes this 
method makes an unpleasant impression both on the 
public and on the patients, who are thus left to work out 
their own salvation. It is the process of sublimation 
which chiefly interests the normal person, and about 
which he desires to be enlightened. He does not ask, 
what is the cause of ill-health, but how he can keep 
healthy, or become healthy, and what are the best 
ways of development. Freud would say that the 
answers would be different in every individual case, 
and that everyone must find them for himself ; other- 
wise he will become a copy of some general type and 
thereby lose his individual character. He would 
further expatiate on the difficulties inherent in the 
development of character, and so explain how certain 
traits and deficiencies are connected with earlier circum- 
stances. To many people such theories seem dis- 
couraging, because they emphasise what is impossible 
rather than what is possible in human life. 

Freud has given us a broader and deeper under- 
standing of the human soul. Formerly its nature was 
conceived as being completely stable, and characterised 
by certain traits or attributes. Later on association- 
psychology taught us that all psychic events were caused 
by the interchange of atomistic-intellectualistic ideas. 
But Freud tends more and more to conceive the psychic 
life as the expression of various opposed forces which are 
continually being replenished from the unconscious 
background, and he has minutely described the develop- 
ment and inter-relations of these forces as they are 
manifested in the human emotions. Only in his last 
book (XVII, p. 34-4i) has he treated the problem 
of the real meaning of life, and the forces that cause 

100 



ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS 

development. His answer is characteristic of his 
special point of view. He thinks that every instinc- 
tive impulse aims exclusively at reconstituting a 
former condition. Thus the desire for repetition 
would be the most fundamental power in living beings./ 
The fact that changes have occurred in nature, is 
due exclusively, according to Freud, to external 
influences, and to the development of our earth and its 
relation to the sun. It is true he is objective enough 
to recognise that this view is purely speculative, and 
cannot be deduced from experience. He writes, " It 
is impossible to prove the existence of an evolutionary 
impulse in animals and plants, though it is also impos- 
sible to find arguments against supposing such a 
tendency/' A little further on he adds, " But I do not 
believe in such an impulse, and I see no possibility of 
preserving this satisfying illusion/ 1 Whoever shares 
these views, will have to follow Freud to the logical 
conclusion he draws from them. If life has sprung 
from lifeless matter, and if all life's impulses are 
directed in the last resort towards reconstituting former 
conditions, then death, which is the return to the most 
primary condition, must be the real aim of life. If 
we agree with Freud in interpreting life merely as an 
adaptation to outward circumstances, we shall easily be 
convinced that the real significance of life lies in 
this last and most definite adaptation. 

Freud considers that environment is the chief 
formative influence in the growth of the human mind. 
Thus, if the standards of civilised society did not early 
in life put a check upon the inherited impulses, they 
would create for themselves far wider fields of expres- 
sion. It is true that he recognises that such checks 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

and inhibitions as shame, repugnance or pity, may be 
in part inborn ; but to him they are just as much blind 
impulses as the other inherited instincts. It will 
depend on the child's milieu how far he will learn to 
harmonise these opposed forces. All the same, some of 
his inherited characteristics may modify this process. 
Thus a complicated temperament may cause special 
difficulties or unusual developments. The capacity 
for sublimation in each individual must largely depend 
on his physical and mental condition. All this is 
certainly one of the most practical and helpful of Freud's 
theories, for it is based on fact, and formulated accord- 
ingly, without wandering off into speculations which 
often prove misleading to students. Yet it seems to me 
somewhat onesided. I can best illustrate this by 
describing a similar problem in natural science. Dar- 
win held that the complicated development of the 
various forms of life was due to environment, and 
to the struggle for life ; he tried to show the relation 
between every detail of the circumstances and of the 
corresponding development, and he' rejected the idea 
that the development might be due to an inherent life- 
force which is always pushing on towards further 
expansion and evolution. Later scientists have proved 
the incompleteness of some of Darwin's theories, and 
further research has gradually convinced most men of 
science that, although the influence of environment 
must still be regarded as an important factor, it can 
no longer be considered as the only cause of evolution. 
Thus we are led to believe that life possesses some 
inherent force, which notwithstanding all the varying 
influences of surrounding circumstances, follows its 
own principle of development, and makes use of 

102 



ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS 

circumstances only in so far as they can be made to 
agree with this principle. This may explain the fact 
that an organ, such as the eye, arises in a similar 
manner in different animals, at different stages in 
their development, and under entirely different circum- 
stances (II, p. 67). Bergson describes this life-force 
as a powerful vital impulse, the " elan vital/' which is 
working throughout nature, and continually creating 
new forms in which to express itself. 

The same problem of evolution can be found again in 
the microcosm of the soul. Here also new variations of 
form and expression are constantly arising, and though 
it is evident that past and present environment has a 
strong influence, yet it is doubtful whether these 
variations are in all circumstances exclusively due 
to environment.* I do not mean that a new variation 
might suddenly spring up independently of all sur- 
rounding influences, but that a guiding force may some- 
times compel these various influences to work together 
in one direction. The question could be stated thus : 
does our desire for inner harmony belong intrinsically 
to the nature of the human soul, or is it caused by 
external influences alone ? To put the question in a 
more psychological form : is the desire for sublimation 
a natural part of the human mind, or only the result of 
education ? It is no doubt impossible to give an 
absolute answer to these questions. It depends 
upon our individual character, experience and general 
philosophy of life, whether we believe that all natural 
phenomena are subject to fixed laws, or that an inde- 

* If one considers the inherited temperament as being a result of 
the influences of environment in former generations, we are again 
faced with the general problem of evolution. 

IO3 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

pendent creative force may intervene. The relative 
value of these two beliefs cannot be measured by the 
intellect alone. Pure reason will never prove whether 
a mechanical determinist, or a creative indeterminist 
philosophy is the better (VII). 

A believer in determinism holds that all the future 
is contained in the present, and will develop from 
the present according to fixed laws. In psychology 
this means that all psychic events have been com- 
pletely predetermined by past and present circum- 
stances which have influenced the soul. On the other 
hand, a believer in the free creative principle holds 
that, even if we could have full knowledge of all that 
the present contains, the future is largely uncertain 
and incalculable because, besides the mechanical laws, 
there exists in nature a creative principle of life, which, 
within limits prescribed by circumstances, is free to 
choose and create new forms. In psychology this would 
mean that in psychic events a human being can have 
a certain freedom of choice, and so may exercise a ; 
decisive influence on his mental development. 

Scientists, in general, will feel inclined to hold the 
determinist theory, because they are occupied in 
finding causal laws for all natural phenomena, and 
therefore deny the possibility of freedom of choice. 
Even when investigating a process of evolution 
which never repeats itself, such as history, they are 
apt to apply their causal laws ; but they never com- 
pletely succeed in explaining the process according 
to these laws. They express what Jung calls nur das 
Nach-Wissen (merely after-knowledge). 

In opposition to the scientist's point of view, the 
practical man believes that within certain limits 

104 



ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS 

he is free to choose how he will direct his life. He 
recognises that his mental life is a process which never 
repeats itself in exactly the same way, and although 
ready to admit that he is bound by certain regular 
laws, he can never consider his free will to be a pure 
illusion. He feels within himself an independent 
impulse towards expansion, and if he is given to 
speculation, he will divine the presence of this spon- 
taneous impulse in other forms of life. Several 
philosophers of our day (Bergson, Driesch, Vaihinger) 
do not accept the purely determinist point of view. 
The reader must turn to philosophical literature for a 
fuller treatment of this subject. I only wish to draw 
attention to these two divergent views of life. 

The fact that Freud and his followers are apt to 
ignore this creative impulse, has caused a reaction in 
several psycho-analysts, who, both in their theory 
and in their practice, pay special attention to the 
sublimating process, and under the leadership of 
Jung and Maeder have founded the so-called " Zurich 
school of Psycho-analysis/' This name is somewhat 
misleading, for the main point of their theory is syn- 
thesis rather than analysis. With them introspection 
does not merely serve to trace the origin and explain the 
meaning of mysterious desires and thoughts, but is 
used as a means to discover inner impulses of growth, 
which may be synthesised into a harmonious person- 
ality. It is true that this latter process is also recog- 
nised in Freud's psycho-analysis ; but with him it is 
rather an indirect result of the treatment, and not 
the chief object. By attaining to a better understand- 
ing of themselves, his patients are naturally led to 
improve their mental organisation and to feel their 

105 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

way gradually towards better conditions.* The Zurich 
psychologists, on the other hand, concentrate upon' 
this inner searching, and maintain that this can be 
done without endangering the objective nature of 
the treatment. Though they recognise the objections 
which have prevented Freud from working in this 
direction, they do not consider them insurmountable. 
They think that, although no general rules can be laid 
down as to how particular desires and emotions are 
to be sublimated, there are nevertheless various ways 
in which the human mind solves its difficulties, and 
that a clear understanding of these processes will 
help towards finding the best solution. The chief 
task of the synthetic method is therefore to explain 
to the patient the way in which, partly in his con- 
scious and partly in his unconscious mind, this sublim- 
ating process is continually developing. It is evident 
that a satisfactory explanation of this kind can only 
be given after thorough introspection, as there would 
otherwise be a danger that the doctor might involun- 
tarily impose his own opinions and theories on his 
patient. Intuitive guessing at the meaning of psycho- 
logical phenomena would be as much out of place 
here, as when a doctor is trying to discover their 
origin in the patient's life-history. The way in which 
a dream is analysed, must depend upon the spon- 
taneous association of ideas with the dream by the 
patient. In some cases these associated ideas will 
refer to the past, so that its connection with the dream 
will then be evident ; in others they will refer to the 

* Dr Ernest Jones, a follower of Freud, has written about the 
significance of the process of sublimation in education and in 
psycho-analytical treatment, but he has confined himself to indicat- 
ing certain special points of view of general interest. 

106 



ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS 

present in relation to various hopes and plans, upon 
which the dream may throw new and valuable light. 
In other cases again the association method may show 
that both past and present are referred to.|i 

A few examples will illustrate the way in which 
the introspective material is made use of. Let us first 
take a simple case of forgetting. Someone has for- 
gotten to post a letter, and now tries to discover the 
meaning of this forgetfulness. Suppose he remembers 
that the letter contains a promise of financial assistance 
to a relation, he will then realise that an unconscious 
avaricious motive prevented him from sending off 
the letter. Or it may have contained violent reproaches 
addressed to a friend, which on further consideration 
prove to be exaggerated or baseless, in which case 
the writer of the letter will be only too thankful that 
his unconscious feelings prevented him from sending 
it off. Thus in addition to many disturbing influences 
arising from the unconscious into the conscious, 
there are a number that are very valuable. Some 
people are easily susceptible to such influences, which 
may have an important effect upon their lives. We 
find this special influence of the unconscious mind 
not only in the inspiration of artists or scientific men 
of genius, but often in more ordinary lives. The 
publications of the Society of Psychical Research will 
provide any reader who is interested in this subject, 
with many striking examples. There he will find 
descriptions of dreams which revealed the place where 
a lost object could be found, or of cases when persons 
were warned of an approaching danger by premonitory 
feelings. 

My next example will be a dream in which the 

107 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

working out of an unsolved problem was continued. 
One evening a student had been reading a book about 
Einstein's Theory of Relativity, without completely 
understanding it. He had however grasped the idea 
that Newton's laws were upset by Einstein ; so he 
made up his mind to study the elementary side of 
the problem more thoroughly. At night he dreamt 
that he went into a cellar where an Englishman, called 
Newton, whom he had once met on a journey, was 
occupied in soldering together two metal pipes, but 
was doing it in the wrong way. The dreamer felt 
anxious on Newton's account, lest his work should be 
criticised. As he turned to go away, he suddenly 
noticed various wires stretched from the pipes to the 
wall behind, and surrounding him in such a way that 
he had to cut them through before he could extricate 
himself. The shape of these wires was peculiar 
in being round at one end and square at the 
other. 

When the dream was examined, the associated 
ideas soon made it clear that the acquaintance called 
Newton represented the great scientist, who, according 
to Einstein, had not done his work properly. The 
soldering of the pipes reminded him of a system of 
speaking tubes which he had seen somewhere, and 
which were going to be extended ; this had seemed 
to him a stupid job, because he thought that a private 
telephone would have been a much more effective and 
up-to-date arrangement. Here we find the contrast 
between the old and the new system, just as with 
Newton and Einstein. The anxious sympathy he 
felt for Newton should be noticed, as it shows that 
the dreamer evidently felt more at ease with him than 

108 



ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS 

with Einstein. The necessity of breaking through 
the wires evidently arose from his having seen similar 
wires the day before in a workshop, where they served 
to connect some electrical apparatus (called " elements " 
in Dutch), and so might very well symbolise the ele- 
mentary principles of Newton which imprisoned his 
mind. Thus the dream emphasised the necessity of 
breaking through this network before he could face the 
problem freely. 

Here we see how an intellectual problem can be 
expressed by a dream, and how the search for its 
solution may be continued during sleep. In this 
case the dream did not really help to solve the problem ; 
yet this does sometimes happen, as I once experienced 
myself, when I was busy preparing a lecture but 
could not find a satisfactory way of treating my 
subject. After I had been puzzling over it, I dreamt 
that I was copying an etching, but that I felt I must 
emphasise more strongly the contrasts of light and 
shade. When I thought over this dream, it struck 
me that, a little while before, I had read a short abstract 
of the subject of my lecture, which at the time had 
seemed to me too flat and impersonal. The dream 
now revealed to me that I might use this article as a 
scheme for my lecture, only I should have to fill out 
and enrich the exposition. 

It is such cases, which are concerned with intel- 
lectual problems, that reveal most clearly the creative 
and inspiring influence of the unconscious. But the 
unconscious may attempt to find a solution of emo- 
tional problems too, and it then often resembles a 
moral force working upon the human character. A 
curious instance of this is described by Peter Rosegger 

109 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

in his book called Waldheimat (IX, p. 317 and XXVII, 
p. 668). 

" I usually sleep soundly ; yet I have missed many 
a good night's rest, owing to my being haunted for 
many years during my simple life as a student and 
author, by the shadow of a tailor's life. It was not 
because I was always thinking about my past during 
the day ; a thorough revolutionary like myself, who 
has cast aside his Philistine garb, can use his time 
more profitably. Probably I did not pay much 
attention to my dreams in my gay youthful years ; 
it was only later in life, when I had acquired a habit 
of reflecting about everything, and when perhaps my 
Philistine side was re-awakening, that I began to 
notice that whenever I dreamt, I always imagined 
that I was a tailor's apprentice, and had been working 
for a long time in my employer's shop without receiving 
any wages. While I sat next to him busy with my 
sewing, I was conscious of not being in my proper sur- 
roundings, and I felt that I ought to be doing other 
things ; but somehow an arrangement was always 
made by which I spent my holidays doing extra work 
for my employer. I often felt very uncomfortable 
about this, and regretted the waste of time. Besides 
I had to submit to scoldings and listen to reproaches, 
when my work was not satisfactorily finished. My 
wages were never mentioned. While sitting with 
bent back in that dark workshop, I often made up my 
mind to give up the job and go away. Once I actually 
gave notice, but my master paid no attention to it, 
and I went on working for him. How happy I used 
to feel when I waked after so many tedious hours ! 
I used to make up my mind that if this persistent 

no 



ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS 

dream should recur, I would call out, ' It is only 
fancy. I am lying in bed, and I wish to sleep ' And 
yet the next night I would again be sitting in the 
tailor's shop. 

" This went on with uncanny regularity for many 
years, until one night I dreamt that both my employer 
and myself were working at Alpelhofer's, the place 
where I had begun my apprenticeship, and that my 
employer was particularly dissatisfied with my work. 
He looked at me angrily and said, ' I wonder where 
your thoughts are wandering/ I thought that the 
moment had now come for me to get up and explain 
to him that I was only working for him out of kindness, 
and then to run away. But I could not do it. I did 
not resist when the employer took on another appren- 
tice, and ordered me to make room for him on the 
bench. I moved into the corner and went on with my 
sewing. The same day another fellow was taken 
on. , . . There was no room for him to sit down ; 
and when I looked up inquiringly at my employer, he 
said, ' You have no talent for tailoring. I dismiss 
you : you can go.' The shock of this remark was so 
great that I awoke. 

" The morning light shone through the bright 
windows into my comfortable room. Treasures of 
art and luxury surrounded me on every side. ... In 
the next room, I heard the cheerful voices of my children 
romping with their mother. It was delightful to re- 
discover this idyllic and peaceful life, so full of poetry 
and spiritual harmony ; and yet I felt annoyed that 
I had allowed my employer to dismiss me, instead of 
giving him notice myself. The curious result was that 
from the night of my dismissal I enjoyed peace, and 

ill 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

have never since been troubled by those apprenticeship- 
dreams about imaginary youthful years, which had 
cast such a dark shadow over my later life. My real 
youth had in fact been quite a cheerful and careless 
period." 

These dreams of Rosegger presented a somewhat 
difficult problem to Freud. It was obvious that sup- 
pressed desires were not here seeking for gratification, 
for they were being gratified during the conscious life, 
and the dreams only recalled a life of humiliation and 
drudgery. Freud at first thought that their only 
significance lay in their relation to the past, and he 
compared them to his own dreams about working as a 
student in the chemical laboratory, which he used to re- 
gard as a particularly tedious occupation. For a long 
time he was in doubt whether to consider them as 
dreams of punishment for pride in a man who had been 
successful in life, or as the expression of a strong 
desire to be young again. He was at first inclined to 
hold the latter view (IX, p. 320), which however was 
strongly attacked by Maeder (XXXVII), who pointed 
out that it is difficult to find a satisfactory explanation 
of the feeling of relief which Rosegger always experi- 
enced when waking up, if his early life had been so 
attractive. Nor is it easy to understand the liberating 
effect of the last dream, unless we assume that Roseg- 
ger's fame and worldly success had tended to make him 
feel proud and vain. These weaknesses, though 
threatening to poison his mind, created at the same 
time a reaction in the depths of his delicate poetical 
soul, which resulted in a continuous striving to conquer 
such evil tendencies. This was expressed by the 
sense of humiliation felt by him in his dreams. The 

112 



ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS 

dismissal, and the consequent feeling of liberation, 
would mean that he had conquered his snobbish pride 
and vanity. If we consider the dream from this aspect, 
we shall find that it symbolises a fragment of the poet's 
moral development, like other similar dreams that 
symbolise the soul's strivings after inner harmony. 

After rejecting this theory for a long time, Freud 
has lately declared his acceptance of it, but with 
one reservation : he does not believe that such dreams 
originate from repressed unconscious backgrounds of 
the mind, but from what he calls the " preconscious " 
mind.* We must however be careful not to confuse 
such processes with those other preconscious pro- 
cesses which can easily be transferred into the conscious 
mind. With many people this kind of psychic process 
never becomes conscious, f We owe a debt of gratitude 
to Jung and Maeder for drawing attention to this 
matter. The right understanding of these uncon- 
scious processes is most important both from a theo- 
retical and a practical point of view, although Freud 
and his followers do not attach much importance to 
this side of psychology. Here again they have been 
influenced by their attitude towards pathological 

* Freud's paper on " Erganzungen zur Traumlehre " at the 
Sixth International Psycho-Analytical Congress at the Hague, 
September njzo. 

| I am glad to find that Tansley (XXXIII, p. 53-56) has also 
noted that Freud's extinction between the preconscious and 
unconscious is in this case unsatisfactory. Tansley considers the 
unconscious does not consist merely of repressed unconscious pro- 
cesses, but is chiefly composed of what he calls, the primary 
unconscious. According to him, '* the primary unconscious is to 
be regarded as the basis of the entire rnind, as the centre or core of 
the psychic organism. The mental elements corresponding with the 
great primitive instincts are originally seated in this region, and 
from it the psychic-energy which activates the complexes of the 
forcconscious is continually welling up." 

113 H 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

psychology. They aim first of all at eliminating 
morbid symptoms in their patients by discovering 
their origin through the historical-analytical method ; 
and so the history of such symptoms is more important 
to them than the meaning. When the patient's 
symptoms reveal some intention, this is often merely 
the intention to be ill, and so escape from some difficult 
problem the so-called " escape into illness/' No 
doubt such intentions may not give us much informa- 
tion about the nature of the illness itself ; all the 
same we are not therefore justified in considering all 
expressions of the unconscious merely from this point 
of view. 

Every process in a living organism can be looked 
at either from the historical and causal side, which 
will reveal its connection with the past, or from the 
actual side, which will throw light upon its future 
development. When we explain a machine or a 
scientific theory, we describe how it is used and for 
what purpose, and we may leave out the historical 
origins as of little importance to our explanation. 
But if we wish to explain the meaning of the Nelson 
Monument, or of the coronation of a king, the historical 
side will necessarily be emphasised, while the use made 
of them will be unimportant. Freud and his followers, 
being chiefly interested in the historical side, are in 
danger of misunderstanding those psychic processes in 
which the other side is the more important. During 
the actual treatment of patients this danger may be 
small ; but even then it is important to discover what 
are the real aims of the patient, and what their possible 
value may be as a factor in his particular phase of 
development. But the narrowness of Freud's theory 

114 



ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS 

is most apparent when the historical-analytical method 
is applied to the normal and healthy mind, which is 
constructive and synthetic in character. (Symbols 
in art and religion should in Freud's view be reduced 
to nothing but expressions of suppressed emotions, 
chiefly of a sexual nature. We admit that further 
enquiry into the history of the human mind may 
prove that the sexual impulse has been a great factor 
in the development of religion and art ; and there 
are many facts that point that way. All the same it 
cannot be maintained that mere analysis and reduc- 
tion will lead us to a full understanding either of art or 
religion, We may be thoroughly acquainted with the 
history of religious symbols or of art, and yet be very 
different from the religious man or the artist, who daily 
use these symbols as the formative elements of their 
lives. There is a constructive force in human inter- 
course, in art and in religion. They educate man 
towards clearer and more beautiful forms of self- 
expression. In order to make use of these forms, it 
is more necessary to gain an insight into their meaning 
than to understand their historical origins. Even 
if we assume that the sexual instinct has contributed 
towards developing these symbols, the wonder is that 
the sexual impulse, instead of retaining its most 
primitive form, has gradually developed such very 
different modes of expression. Interesting as the 
history of this development may be, it will teach us 
less about the real nature of these symbols, than the 
actual experience of them in our present life can do. 

The dreams of Rosegger suggested to us that the 
constructive interpretation of dream-symbols might 
be of great importance. We saw that lately Freud 

"5 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

has been inclined to accept this point of view, though 
hesitatingly and with reservations. On the whole 
he seems to consider these constructive dreams to be 
very exceptional. Not long before he wrote very 
decidedly (XV, p. 61) : " A dream does not want to 
tell anyone anything : it is no vehicle of communica- 
tion ; on the contrary, it is constructed so as not 
to be understood. For this reason we must not be 
surprised or misled, if we find that a number of the 
ambiguities and vagaries of a dream do not permit of 
determination/ 1 Thus Freud regards dreams merely as 
a kind of safety-valve for suppressed tension, of which 
the immediate and undisguised expression could not 
be accepted by the conscious personality. Jung and 
Maeder on the other hand consider that in both normal 
and abnormal cases the constructive analysis of dream- 
symbols is of great value, as it reveals the dreamer's 
endeavour to solve his difficulties, and that this ought 
never to be overlooked. All the same, while a mere 
historical interpretation will often lead to erroneous 
conclusions, we must be on our guard against seeking 
for a constructive meaning in every dream. Maeder 
distinguishes between dreams which act as an outlet 
for suppressed tension, and those which search after 
some solution (XXVII, p. 673), but holds that the 
condition of the soul is symbolised in all Works of 
art may also symbolise both the relaxation of tension 
and the search for new forms of expression. 

This double meaning of symbolism has been clearly 
explained by the Viennese psycho-analyst Silberer 
(XXXI, p. 665). He points out that a symbol can only 
be regarded as such, if we try to discover a further 
meaning behind it, which is usually more complicated 

116 



ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS 

than the symbolic image. Before we can say that a 
mental image A is really a symbol of the thoughts B, 
C and D, the mental image A must have been further 
analysed and differentiated.* Now there are two 
occasions when A may be regarded as A and nothing 
more. First, when the more detailed interpretation 
leading to B, C and D might be painful or unpleasant. 
In this case the symbol A has been selected for reasons 
of sentiment. This happens in repression. Secondly, 
when someone is too unintelligent to express a compli- 
cated mental concept, his want of intelligence will 
then make him choose the symbol A, which in his 
case is the only form of expression suited to his stage 
of development. The human mind is only capable of 
grasping a certain proportion of truth at each stage 
of its development, and will resist any higher demands. 
Thus we find in the old alchemy-lore an intricate 
mixture of chemical and psychological knowledge, 
that later on became differentiated into chemical and 



* Silberer says that a symbol A may be used to express an idea B. 
This may lead to misunderstanding, for it seems to me that a symbol 
is always trying to express something of a complex nature. Ernest 
Jones in his article on " The Theory of Symbolism " (XXII, p. 129) 
indicates that a symbol is chiefly a substitutive representation of a 
definite unconscious image. This view seems to me to result from 
his somewhat narrow theory, which only attaches value to the 
historical side of a symbol. By using this arbitrary restriction, the 
solution of the problem given by Jones is deceptive. Though he 
agrees with Silberer that symbols may occasionally be a factor 
in a sublimating process, he is chiefly interested in those symbols 
which do not succeed in this process, but appear as substitutes for 
the sublimation aimed at. In my opinion he does not sufficiently 
emphasise the important rAle of symbolism in the history of 
humanity as a bridge between old and new forms of expression. He 
expresses his disbelief in all creative evolution (p. 173), and there- 
fore concludes that the explanation of symbolism as expressing 
a development or striving towards new forms, is wholly unscientific 
(P- 179). 

117 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

psychological-philosophic theories, which diverged ever 
further and further, until each acquired a complete 
terminology of its own (XXXII). Another instance 
is the idea of re-birth, which, when we look into it 
closely, is found to be a symbol of intricate psychic 
processes. We often cling to old symbols, because 
of historical tradition, or because our sentiments 
are thus gratified, or owing to a suspicion that there 
may be more in those symbols, than has yet been ex- 
plained. Thus the alchemist parables may possibly 
contain some spiritual lore, which the new psychology 
has not yet unravelled. 

If we admit that the mind is in a state of modified, 
or rather diminished consciousness while dreaming, 
it seems reasonable to suppose that, apart from any 
repression, the same thoughts, which appeared in 
a clearly defined form by day, may appear as symbols 
in dreams. These symbols will arise because the 
dreamer lacks control over his thoughts during sleep. 
I may here remind the reader of the dream about 
Einstein's theory which I referred to above. 

Freud has admitted that the choice of symbols by 
the unconscious may be due to its peculiar way of 
expressing itself, and not merely to repression. Yet it 
seems to me that his attitude towards symbolism is 
influenced by his theory that the choice of symbols is 
determined by sexual repression, otherwise he would 
surely have been able to find a greater variety of mean- 
ings in fairy tales, myths and popular sayings. For 
instance, the symbol of sacrifice is common throughout 
the world, and expresses the necessity of giving some- 
thing up in order to attain to something higher. The 
profoundest interpretation of this general law of 

118 



ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS 

life is not found in the domain of sex, but is clearly 
manifested in religious symbols. Throughout history 
we meet with symbols of a general nature, which, 
far from having a merely sexual significance, have 
continually assisted the human mind in its search for 
new forms of expression. Symbols are the chief means 
by which the human mind expresses, not so much those 
ideas which it has outgrown, or wishes to conceal, but 
those which it has not yet mastered. 

Thus every symbol has a twofold aspect. It may 
express a regression, a backward movement, which 
leads us away from a clear conception. This happens 
either under the influence of a strong affect, such as 
occurs in neurotic repression, or else in a state of 
diminished consciousness, such as is produced by 
fatigue or sleep. Both cases present a condition of 
collapse and diminished potentiality. We find the 
same phenomenon in social psychology. During 
periods of collapse the human mind falls back upon 
symbols, which are apt to be made concrete and so 
lead to dogmatism and convention. But new ideas 
also tend to clothe themselves in symbolism. Every 
idea and every synthetic emotion which is not yet 
clearly defined, needs a symbol for its preliminary 
expression. Instances of such symbols are the com- 
munist state, the superman, the " elan vital/' Here 
the symbol will be a sign of progress, as when at 
the call of some watchword, a man throws himself 
into some vague project, which may be of a religious, 
social, artistic, or mystical nature. The influence 
of such symbols is specially felt at a certain period 
of youth ; and we find their clearest expression in 
the ecstasy of poetry and religion. Nietzsche ex- 

119 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

pressed this in striking words : " My brethren, take 
note of the hour when your spirit wants to speak in 
parables ; that will be the beginning of your virtue." 
Such symbolism is a sign of exaltation and ardent 
vitality. 

We now have two keys for the interpretation of 
symbolism : historical reduction or causality, and the 
discovery of the intention or finality. If we take 
the view that the symbol is only in appearance an 
attempt to express something definite, but is really 
nothing but the outlet of uncontrolled impulses, and is 
therefore merely " something primitive/' the danger 
will be that by thus reducing the symbolic material to 
its simplest form, we may overlook its more interesting 
side. On the other hand, if we try to discover in the 
symbol some mystical, elusive meaning which cannot be 
more clearly defined, and which we feel bound to treat 
with the respect we owe to all hidden sources of life, 
we may make the dangerous mistake of attaching some 
deep and valuable meaning to symbolic material, the 
importance of which is merely historical, and so fail to 
realise that this meaning is not inherent in the symbol, 
but is put into it by ourselves. 

Both these dangers are met with in the interpretation 
of dream-symbols. The followers of Jung and Freud 
are as usual the extremists in this matter. Some 
followers of Freud hold that all symbols are a dis- 
guised expression of repressed sexual tendencies. It 
must be admitted that Freud himself is partly respon- 
sible for this opinion, as he has always concentrated the 
whole of his attention upon the analytical side of both 
dream-symbols and general symbols, and is chiefly in- 
terested in tracing their origins from primitive instincts. 

120 



ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS 

He admits that there is room for the other point of view, 
but considers that it is superficial, that it will fail to 
teach the patient anything new, and may often give 
rise to fancies which will hinder him from finding a 
genuine solution of his difficulties. Freud may well 
be right about this in the actual treatment of many 
cases ; but he is not justified in his general condemna- 
tion of the synthetic method of interpretation, and it is 
quite possible that the adoption of his view may lead 
to serious misunderstanding of the dreams of some 
patients. 

Jung and Maeder on the other hand consider that 
both dreams and general symbolism may reveal new 
ideas and new aspects, though expressed only in vague 
symbolic form. They agree with Freud that it is 
impossible to interpret the whole of dream-symbolism 
by means of the association-method, and so they regard 
the dream as a primitive form of expression of the 
human mind. But they adopt a wider point of view 
than Freud, when they relate the significance of these 
symbols to the history of civilisation. Thus they 
sometimes discover a similarity between the problems 
that occur in the development both of individuals and 
of the human race (XXIV, XXVIII, XXXII). There 
is some danger that this method of interpretation 
also may be applied too narrowly, for every psychical 
phenomenon has a history, but not everything that 
has a history is necessarily capable of development. 
Enthusiasts of this school may be too ready to find 
a profound meaning in every dream-symbol, and 
the analysis of dreams might thus easily degenerate info 
washy mysticism or superficial moralising, and lay 
itself open to ridicule and contempt. 

121 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

It will need great circumspection to avoid these 
dangers in actual practice, pur standpoint, when 
we are interpreting a dream, ought to depend both 
upon the associated material provided by the dreamer, 
and upon his general condition. When we are treating 
such complicated material as the human mind, it is 
always dangerous to work according to a set scheme. 
A dream, like every other psychic product, is con- 
nected with the rest of the mind by innumerable 
threads, and these connections can never be satis- 
factorily expressed in a simple formula. This com- 
plication also makes it difficult to give satisfactory 
illustrations of dream-symbolism, for the interpretation 
of a patient's dream is only a small fragment of the 
psycho-analyst's vast field of observation. It is 
almost impossible to select and define any part of the 
intricate and coherent structure of ideas and images 
which are provided by the patient in connection with 
the dream, without destroying the greater part of 
this cohesion. When we relate an analysis of a dream, 
we are like a traveller, who wishes to describe to his 
friends a country which is completely unknown to 
them. However exact his descriptions may be, 
he will never succeed in giving a perfectly clear 
picture./ 

All the same I will try to give illustrations of these 
two standpoints of interpretation. My first instance 
is the dream of a patient who at the time seemed much 
inclined to give up my treatment, and to seek a cure 
in work for which she was making somewhat extrava- 
gant plans. She was also much exhausted by anxieties 
and difficulties. One night she dreamt that she was 
lying in a cavern under a hill, in which she was im- 

122 



ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS 

prisoned, and from which she could find no way of 
escape. She felt too weak to search, and had the 
feeling that she had been lying there for a long time. 
She felt her strength was slowly ebbing away, and 
thought that she would probably die of exhaustion. 
Then she suddenly noticed an opening in the roof of 
the cavern, through which someone, whom she recog- 
nised to be myself, was looking at her. She thought 
that the opening would be too small to let me through, 
but though constantly overcome by a feeling of faint- 
ness and exhaustion, she noticed that I was succeeding 
in reaching her. She could not exactly tell how, but 
I managed to draw her through the narrow opening, 
and when she looked around, she found herself in 
my house, lying on a bed, naked. I was searching 
in a cupboard to find her some clothes, but could not 
find anything that would fit her. She felt somewhat 
stronger and thought that she had better not stay 
any longer ; but as no clothes could be found, she 
had to go out naked. 

In my opinion the real value of this dream cannot 
be discovered by the association-method, and no 
associated ideas were given me by the patient in this 
case. In order to avoid undue elaboration, I will 
interpret these images without attempting to justify 
each interpretation. We can take this dream to 
symbolise the idea of birth. The dark cavern which 
contains the weak and helpless dreamer, the small 
opening through which she emerges with difficulty, and 
the curious fact of her being naked at that moment, 
will then all become clear. According to Freud, the 
dream would be the regression to a childish fantasy, 
which probably had its origin when the child was 

123 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

discontented with its lot and imagined itself returned 
to the mother's womb in order to be re-born under 
more favourable circumstances. For the dreamer, 
these circumstances would be connected with her 
treatment in the doctor's house to which she comes 
after re-birth. 

It is doubtful whether this interpretation takes 
into account all the important aspects of the dream. 
In the first place it does not explain why the dreamer 
should have the dream at this exact moment ; nor are 
the other points, such as the impossibility of finding 
clothes and the necessity of returning home, made 
much clearer. It may help us if we compare this 
birth-fantasy with similar symbols in history. The 
idea of birth as symbolising a re-birth, and as indicating 
an inner spiritual change, has played an important 
part in the religious creeds of nations of very different 
kinds. My patient was undergoing a similar spiritual 
change at the time of her dream, and this would explain 
the reason of its occurrence just then. If we consider 
the dream in this way, we are struck by the fact 
that her unconscious attitude towards the treatment 
is very different from her conscious attitude. In 
the dream she is excluded from the influences of the 
outer world, from which she is consciously expecting 
a solution ; and the doctor's influence, which she con- 
sciously resists, is all the same of assistance to her 
in her difficult re-birth. A possible explanation of 
her being unable to make use of the doctor's clothes, 
might be that these new clothes symbolise a new 
relationship to the outer world, so that the 
dream would express her feeling that she cannot 
simply adopt this new relationship directly from 

124 



ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS 

the doctor, as then it would not fit her particular 
needs.* 

The other dream which I have chosen, also contains 
some symbolic images that cannot be interpreted 
by the association of thoughts and recollections, 
although the dream was related to an occurrence 
of the previous evening. The dreamer is a musician 
who suffers from the fact that he loses the mastery of 
his instrument when playing alone in public. Conse- 
quently he has never attained as much success as his 
talents would lead one to expect. He is well-read and 
intelligent, but has led a somewhat solitary life owing 
to various circumstances during his youth. He seldom 
expresses his feelings, but when he does so he is usually 
very vehement. He has always been inclined to take a 
sceptical view about ideals, and professes to admire 
science alone. After a discussion on religion in which 
he took a strongly anti-religious line, I lent him two 
books on Hindu philosophy. These interested him 
very much, and he read them till late in the evening. 
That night he dreamt that he came into my consulting 
room, and told me that a sentence in one of the books 
had seemed to him entirely unintelligible. It ran as 
follows : " When the murderer believes that he has 
killed a man, or when the murdered man believes 
that he has been killed, both ignore the fact that the 
soul cannot murder or be murdered." Then he 
dreamt that I laughed and said I would try to explain 
it to him. The room then changed ; everything 
remained in its place but became transparent like 
crystal. He was able to look far away through the 

* I must add that I had never talked with the patient about 
re-birth or any similar subjects. 

125 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

walls, and seemed to be surrounded by space. It 
was very beautiful and impressive. He looked around, 
but could not find me, and then he realised that I 
also had become transparent. He now saw that he 
would not be able to reach me, and awoke with a 
mixed feeling of anxiety and admiration. 

The patient could only add that he had really read 
that sentence in the book, and had found it difficult 
to understand. The obvious interpretation is that the 
dreamer's unconscious mind was working at the difficult 
sentence, and that his dream symbolised this search 
for an explanation, which he felt to be beyond his 
grasp. It is also clear that the sentence was specially 
difficult to him, because it assumed the possibility of an 
independent spiritual existence, an idea entirely alien 
to his sceptical materialistic attitude. His attempt to 
approach this conception was symbolised in the dream 
by the way in which the material world became trans- 
parent, for spirit is popularly conceived as transparent 
matter. It was natural that he should think of this 
in my consulting room, because he wanted to question 
me about it, and also because it was the place where 
he had gained some understanding of his own spiritual 
independence. In this way we can regard the dream as 
a continuation of a rational process in a psychic domain, 
where thoughts are more naturally clothed in images. 

But some points in the dream remain untouched 
by this explanation. It is not clear why the dreamer 
hit upon that particular sentence about murder, as 
there were many other references to the spiritual life 
in the book. Nor is it clear why I should disappear, 
and why he should feel anxious. We should have ex- 
pected that he would discover me in these new spiritual 

126 



ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS 

surroundings, and that this would have given him satis- 
faction. It is a curious fact that these points are 
related to two dreams which he dreamt a short time 
before. We know by experience that successive 
dreams are sometimes connected, if the mind, in 
between, has not been influenced by some disturbing 
event. So I will point out the connection between 
this dream and the two earlier ones, though it would 
lead me too far to give a full account of them. In 
the earlier dreams also someone had laughed, but in 
both cases this had so infuriated the dreamer that he 
had killed the person who laughed. Here we find the 
problem of murder which is the starting-point of the 
third dream. The later part of my treatment had 
revealed that the patient was more dominated by these 
passionate feelings of hatred and rage than he would 
admit, and that they probably had a strong effect on 
his relation with his audience, when he appeared in 
public. The mere idea that anyone should laugh at 
him was enough to arouse these passionate feelings. 
After the dream had been interpreted, several memories 
arose which showed what an important part these 
feelings had played in his early youth. In the dream 
the laughter is not followed by murder as before, but 
by matter becoming transparent and by my disappear- 
ance. We know that Freud considers disappearing 
to be the symbol of death ; and if we accept his view, 
it is clear that in the last dream the images of laughter 
followed by disappearance or death have the same 
murderous significance as in the former dreams ; 
but this was not expressed, because here it would clash 
with too many of the patient's feelings, and so was 
only expressed by the sentence about the possibility 

127 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

of murder. His anxiety about my disappearance 
would thus mean his reaction against his passionate 
feelings of hatred. This interpretation may seem some- 
what far-fetched, but we must remember that a man 
who has an exaggerated fear of being laughed at or 
despised, has usually a strong sense of his own import- 
ance. While he is giving a truthful and detailed 
account of his life, he may easily imagine that the 
doctor is laughing at him, and may feel hurt and re- 
sentful. Other feelings towards the doctor may 
repress his resentment ; but it may all the same find 
expression in his dreams, though usually in a disguised 
form. 

By these illustrations I have attempted to show 
that there are two entirely different methods of inter- 
preting dreams. How can we decide which is the 
right one ? They seem to represent two entirely 
different points of view, two opposed outlooks on 
life. The answer should be that both are right, but 
that neither of them can contain the whole truth, 
and that they cannot be brought into harmony with 
each other, because each points in a different direction. 
It is like two men on a road, one always looking for- 
ward, the other backward. Each sees a different 
landscape, and their description of the road will be 
true in either case, yet entirely different. The attitude 
of each patient towards his own problems must deter- 
mine whether we should interpret his symbolism 
chiefly from a prospective or from a retrospective 
point of view. Any ideas associated with the dream- 
symbols will also naturally influence our interpretation, 
and this association-method will often reveal a ten- 
dency in the dreamer to compensate for the narrowness 

128 



ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS 

of his conscious views of life. But the psycho-analyst 
who relies entirely on the purely scientific point of 
view, and is only concerned with the retrospective 
side of dream-symbolism, is in great danger of mis- 
interpreting the meaning of a dream in which pro- 
spective symbolism predominates. 

In my last instance the dream was the first sign 
that the relations between the patient and his fellow- 
men were undergoing a radical change. The feelings 
of hatred, the fear of being laughed at or of being badly 
treated, are expressed, as well as the attempt to find 
more satisfactory relations. It is remarkable that this 
change of attitude during treatment is often specially 
noticeable in the patient's relations with his doctor. 
He is the object on whom the patient can practise his 
feelings. Thus the real significance of the dream is 
that it does not so much reveal the prospective or 
retrospective point of view in the dreamer's mind, 
as the inner change within him, which is an attempt 
to harmonise these two aspects. The old wild feelings 
of resentment tried to force an outlet for themselves, 
just as they did in the earlier dreams. But some- 
thing now intervened. The meaning of the sentence 
in the book was, " You cannot kill : that is an illusion." 
But why ? It was I, who in his dream, showed him 
the reason ; and it was here in my room that his 
outlook on the world was widened. It was both 
crystallised and grew more spiritual, and consequently 
the motives of his resentment and hatred towards 
me gradually disappeared. This illustrates the way 
in which the two sides of dream-symbolism can 
be brought into harmony, and only by means of 
such a harmony can we find an interpretation of 

129 I 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

dreams of this kind, which does full justice to their 
content. 

j Freud in all his investigations applies his causal- 
historical theory, so he naturally emphasises the 
past influences which unconsciously govern the present 
psychic event. The actual form in which these influ- 
ences are expressed interests him less than their origin, 
and their expression appears to him merely as a 
camouflage of unconscious desires. Jung, on the other 
hand, lays special stress on the importance of this 
expression of desires. This appears to Freud and his 
followers as a return to the old theory, according to 
which dreams and morbid symptoms are the simple 
automatic expressions of actual psychic processes. 
But they do not perceive that Jung is able to in- 
corporate Freud's historical method into his own inter- 
pretation, while his attention remains chiefly directed 
towards the dreamer's actual conflict and its solution 

I must repeat that it is a mistake to try to discover 
such deep meanings in all dreams. Many dreams, if 
not most, are simply outlets of various kinds of 
tensions, which are caused by repressed emotions. 
But when these special dreams occur, which symbolise 
the solution of the dreamer's difficulties, a true and 
clear understanding of their meaning will considerably 
advance the solution of many other psychic problems, 
which their misinterpretation will tend to retard. 

Later on I hope to consider how far the theory 
of the unconscious, and of its relation to the conscious 
mind, is affected by our recognition of this impulse 
towards sublimation, and by knowledge of the various 
ways which lead to it. Here I only wish to trace 
the influence of these new conceptions upon psycho- 

130 



ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS 

analytical treatment. We have seen that psychic 
products such as fantasies and dreams sometimes 
possess a constructive meaning, which indicates a 
possibility of psychological development. They thus 
show some resemblance to the inspiration of artists and 
inventors, which reveals a creative function in the 
unconscious mind. This wider outlook brings new 
light, but also a new danger. The theory may be 
exaggerated in practice, and so lead to endless arbitrary 
interpretations. JThe great advantages of psycho- 
analytical methods can only be realised, when the 
doctor takes a purely objective attitude and abstains 
from any form of suggestion. This is difficult enough 
when he is tracing back the psychic content of dreams 
to its origins ; but it is much more so when he tries 
to discover in his patients the constructive and sub- 
limating impulses, which constitute their process of 
growth. The temptation to use suggestion is always 
strongest in connection with one's ideals and views on 
psychological development. Suggestion and direct 
teaching may of course often be useful ; but they must 
not be confused with strictly psycho-analytical methods 
of investigation, which are meant to be helpful by an 
objective statement of the truth. To deal properly 
with synthetic psychology, we must first be thoroughly 
acquainted with analytic psychology and the construc- 
tion of the mind. Even then there is a danger that we 
may be tempted to lose our objective point of view and 
wander away into the morass of dilettantism and 
quackery. What is needed is that the new synthetic 
psychology should be based upon a sufficiently scientific 
and comprehensive theory of psychic development, 
The next chapter contains some account of the results 
of the latest medico-psychological experiences. 



CHAPTER V 

PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES 

NEW methods of education are now being explored 
in all countries. The old system has not been entirely 
abandoned, but its weakness is so evident that even 
those who still cling to the old school, recognise that 
a thorough reform is needed. Many principles, which 
used to be regarded as infallible, are now being given 
up. In old days the child's mind was considered to 
be plastic like wax, so that it could provide a suitable 
material upon which the educator could exercise his 
talents. Nowadays we pay more attention to the rights 
of the child's nature. We try to discover his own 
particular line of development, and to eliminate any 
disturbing influences, such as social pressure, which 
might interfere with his freedom of growth. But we 
must not confuse such freedom with aristocratic indi- 
vidualism. The ideal of freedom, whether in education 
or in social life, often comes into conflict with the ideal 
of equality that forces the individual to surrender his 
own rights in favour of the rights of the community. 
Freedom for one often means lack of freedom for an- 
other, and so causes inequality ; while equality 
necessitates some sort of constraint. A just com- 
promise between both principles is the only solution, 
but it is rarely met with. The educational ideal which 
emerges from this conflict, attempts to satisfy both 

132 



PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES 

the need for freedom and the need for equality. Its 
realisation will mean that all children would have equal 
opportunities of development ; but at the same time 
education will have to adapt itself so much to the in- 
dividual needs of the children, that no special or 
exceptional line of development need be suppressed. 
Even should economic conditions allow such ideals to 
be put into practice, there would still be the question 
whether the demands made upon the teacher would not 
prove to be too great. He will not only need a thorough 
knowledge of all the various claims of society, so that 
he can gradually prepare the children to adapt them- 
selves to their life in the community, but he will also 
need a delicate understanding of the children's various 
temperaments and the difficulties connected with each. 
He will need special tact besides, if he is to apply his 
knowledge in the best way, so that the children may 
develop along independent lines without undue pressure 
from the teacher. Only thus can the combined ideal 
of general and individual education be realised. The 
educator will have to shape the child's surroundings 
in such a way that the child may find in them what he 
requires in each stage of his development. Thus the 
educator will have to become himself a part of these 
surroundings, rather than the sculptor who desires to 
model the child according to a design of his own. 
Freedom is the means, not the aim. The aim must 
always be development, which implies the idea that 
the child should learn to adapt himself to the lack of 
freedom that exists in the world. It is therefore of 
the utmost importance that the educator should thor- 
oughly understand and sympathise with the inner life 
of his pupil, so that he may have a clear vision of the 

133 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

child's tendencies and struggles. Only under such 
conditions will the teacher be able to develop the child's 
conscience and self-confidence, while allowing his 
special talents to attain their full growth. 

Although there are many practical difficulties in the 
way, it is probable that an increasing number of people 
will devote their best powers to the service of such 
ideals. Perhaps the most serious difficulty is due to 
the differences between human beings, and the narrow- 
ness of human character. It is surely due to differences 
of temperament, that people so often misunderstand 
and torture each other with the very best intentions 
and principles. If all these disagreeable mistakes 
could be avoided, the world would become a much 
pleasanter place to live in. This not only applies to 
adults, but more particularly to children, who often 
become the victims of unsuitable education. The 
knowledge of these mistakes and injustices sometimes 
induces educators to throw all principles overboard ; 
but this will not improve matters, and will only lead 
to chaos. The real solution would be that instead of 
formulating the principles of education in easy ignor- 
ance, we should remodel them with a view to special 
forms of character. For this purpose there is great 
need nowadays of a true understanding of types of 
character and of their individual needs. Anyone 
seeking enlightenment on this subject from official 
psychology, is likely to be bitterly disappointed. 
Hitherto psychology has been chiefly concerned with 
the investigation of the intellectual and perceptive 
processes of the mind, with the object of laying down 
as many generally valid laws as possible, in imitation of 
natural science and its exact laws, where great results 

134 



PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES 

have been obtained by starting with simple processes 
which can be repeatedly observed and tested. Now 
the intellectual and perceptive processes, because they 
are less directly influenced by the whole personality, 
are more easily isolated for the purpose of investiga- 
tion than the emotional processes, which are more 
complicated and differ more from one another. The 
result has been that comparatively little attention 
has been paid to the emotional life, which is never- 
theless of the greatest importance for the study of 
character types. Freud, though he has added so much 
to the psychology of the emotions, has concerned 
himself very little with the problem of classifying 
character types, but, led by his practical experience, 
has been chiefly interested in the origin of various 
mental disturbances. His medical point of view has 
emphasised problems and difficulties rather than their 
possible solution, and so his psychology is of little use 
for a classification of character. All the same human 
character is constituted by such solutions and sublima- 
tions far more than by its failures and difficulties. It 
is true that suppressed tendencies and emotions may 
give a certain colour to the character ; yet it would be 
an exaggeration to say that the whole character is 
dependent upon them. We have seen how Jung and 
Maeder, in their treatment, draw special attention to 
sublimations and their origins and inter-relations, and 
how Freud has objected to this on account of the danger 
of suggestion. This objection may be valid and useful 
in practical treatment ; but in theory such one-sidedness 
cannot be justified. 

However great may be the importance of recognising 
the individual type, and allowing it to develop in its 

135 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

own characteristic way, no one can deny the possibility 
of establishing the general validity of certain definite 
principles of psychological development, and of certain 
practical rules for dealing with it. The whole science 
of education is based upon this possibility. Otherwise 
all educative influences would have to be imposed upon 
children from without, regardless of the way their 
minds are constituted. To take another instance, 
an important side of religion aims at assisting our 
inner strivings ; and if these strivings were utterly 
different in each individual case, the influence of 
religion, which only aims at a general solution, would 
then merely have a spoiling and distorting effect. 
Freud and his followers are apt to make a bugbear of 
" the schoolmaster " and " the parson/' This fear 
is not wholly unwarranted, and is shared by many 
other people. Both pedagogy and religion have, 
too often relied upon dogmatic claims, and thus have 
done violence to the growth of the mind. All con- 
structive psychologists must be on their guard against 
a similar error. The Zurich psychologists who are 
consciously aiming at a synthetic psychology, are 
aware of this danger, which they try to avoid by closely 
examining the actual and potential characteristics 
of each individual, in order to collect sufficient material 
to build a general theory as to the aims and possi- 
bilities of development. In this they clearly differ 
from the theologians and pedagogues. But of course 
the individual solutions at which they aim have a close 
relation to the more general solutions ; and thus the 
two schools of thought influence each other, in a way 
which may prove of great benefit to psychology, 
pedagogy and religion alike. 

136 



PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES 

In defence of his synthetic psychology Jung has 
pointed to other sciences, such as synthetic chemistry, 
which tries to construct new combinations of matter, 
in contrast to analytical chemistry, which aims at 
reducing composite matter by the shortest possible 
method to its component elements, and deduces the 
qualities of composite matter from its elements, and 
from the laws according to which its elements are 
combined. Synthetic chemistry, on the other hand, 
though it too is based on these elements and these 
general laws, aims at applying and combining them in 
new ways, so that attention is specially directed to 
the difference between the various ways of forming 
new composite matter, and to its new specific qualities. 
To continue the comparison, a synthetic chemistry that 
is not founded on the laws of analytical chemistry 
would be an impossibility Anyone who tried to 
work at synthetic chemistry without a thorough know- 
ledge of analytical laws, would resemble the muddle- 
headed alchemists of the middle-ages. Psychological 
synthesis without analytical knowledge would be 
equally dangerous. The comparison fails in one 
point : the psychological process is not so much a 
construction as a growth ; and intuition may make it 
possible for us to enter imaginatively into this process 
of growth without thoroughly understanding it, whereas 
such intuitive methods would be utterly impossible 
with any chemical process. All the same, if psychology 
is to help us to a truly scientific understanding of our 
needs, it must be based on analytical knowledge, and 
not merely on intuition. A synthetic psychology can 
only be formulated after analysis has furnished us 
with extensive knowledge of spiritual development. 

137 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

The most important part of Jung's work is his 
classification of certain psychological types. In con- 
trast with Freud's typical forms of failure, he is more 
concerned with typical ways of sublimation. We must 
begin by distinguishing between the original dis- 
position of a human being, and his special character, 
which is the product of his development. A character 
is always a complex whole : it appears as an organised 
entity, which is not yet revealed in the original dis- 
position. The organisation and unity of the developed 
mind is not merely the result of the repression of 
what does not fit in with the whole ; for when we 
compare its psychic content with that of a child or 
savage, we find that the difference does not consist 
merely in the repressed parts. The conscious develop- 
ment of an individual is the process of differentiating 
his original forms of expression when he is forced to 
find new adaptations. This process will bring into 
harmony various contrasts which at first appeared 
irreconcilable. For instance, when a child or a savage 
insists on realising all his desires, there will be an 
impassable gulf between his selfishness and the general 
interest. This selfishness may become circumscribed 
and differentiated by the force of circumstances. He 
may come to insist upon some only of his thoughts, 
feelings and purposes. In so far as he does this, some 
of his own interests will then be merged in the interests 
of the community, and this will lead to a solution of 
the conflict. To take another instance : a man may 
have a very quarrelsome nature, and at the same 
time feel a great need of affectionate relations with 
other people. These two sides of his nature will con- 
stantly give rise to inner struggles and conflict with his 

138 



PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES 

surroundings, until he has found a wider and more 
general interest, for which he can work in union with 
others. A similar synthetic development may be 
observed when someone is endeavouring to find a more 
stable outlet for his sexual needs. 

In the course of his investigations Jung was struck by 
the fact that the individual adaptation, which leads 
to differentiation, varies greatly in different people. 
He was thus led to distinguish two groups, which he 
named the introvert and extravert types. Introverts 
are those persons who have an inwardly directed mind, 
and whose life is governed by their inner needs. We 
must not however identify this with selfishness, for the 
inner nature is not merely selfish ; it often calls for 
sacrifices, and it desires love and friendship, forces 
which impel men to live for others. People of the 
introvert type are not exclusively governed by their 
own needs, because they are forced to take the circum- 
stances of their environment into account. But when 
different possibilities of action present themselves, they 
will choose rather to be led by their own feelings and 
opinions. Of the two worlds, the outer and the inner, 
with which the psychic life is concerned, it is the inner 
world which will be of most importance to the introvert. 
The laws of the inner world may be seen most clearly 
in certain psychic processes, such as fantasy or a logical 
train of thought, although they may contain some 
factors borrowed from the outer world. 

Persons of the extravert type are primarily con- 
cerned with adapting themselves to their surroundings. 
They cannot of course entirely ignore their own dis- 
position, but they specially develop that part of it 
which is considered useful and desirable by the sur- 

139 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

rounding world, without taking into account the 
satisfaction of the most important needs of their own 
nature. Their attitude of mind is turned chiefly 
towards the outer world, and their psychic life is 
governed more by their sense-perceptions, than by 
inner needs and laws. 

Both modes of adaptation are indispensable to every 
living being. A person who only takes into account 
his own instinctive needs, without adapting himself 
to the claims of the outer world, would be incapable 
of satisfying those very needs, and would die of starva- 
tion. On the other hand, one who completely adapts 
himself to his surroundings, without making any 
attempt at selection, would submerge his own indivi- 
duality and waste all his energy in being tactful. 

In the unconscious or partially conscious condition of 
the animal mind, the balance between these two adapta- 
tions is naturally maintained ; for nature takes into 
account the necessity of both. In man, this balance 
is often upset by the conscious mental life. If once 
our attention has been drawn to this distinction, we 
shall easily notice the more pronounced instances of 
either type. It will be found that most people belong 
rather more to one type than to the other, governing 
their life either with a view to their surroundings or 
to their inner needs. 

After Jung's practical experience as a neurologist had 
led him to distinguish between these two mental 
attitudes, his attention was drawn to another important 
factor, the predominant mental function, which to- 
gether with the predominant mental attitude are the 
two chief influences that determine the form of adapta- 
tion. Further investigation led Jung to distinguish 

140 



PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES 

four primary functions, which he could not differentiate 
any further. These functions, which co-exist in the 
mind of every individual, Thinking, Feeling, Intuition 
and Sensation, have long been recognised and distin- 
guished by psychologists ; but Jung was the first to 
point out that their effect will vary enormously accord- 
ing to whether one or another is predominant. For 
instance, if a person is chiefly guided by his feelings 
when trying to adapt himself to daily life, his thoughts 
and sensations, and also his actions, will be strongly 
influenced by his feelings. This would apply also to 
the predominance of any other function. 

In order to understand the relations between the 
functions, we must first consider the psychic life of 
primitive man, and conceive the content of his mind as 
centred round the unconscious instincts which are the 
supreme governing force of his psychic life Con- 
sciousness at this stage appears rather as a by-product 
than as a dynamic factor. There is as yet no will, no 
conscious striving, no sense of responsibility. The 
fragmentary psychic events are governed by Sensation 
and Intuition, in the form of impressions and impulses. 
The unity and logic of the conscious civilised man is 
still lacking ; and the primitive mind allows many 
conflicting elements to exist in it side by side, which 
would not be possible at a later stage of development. 
Besides the instincts, the primitive mind contains 
some vague knowledge about the object of its instinc- 
tive activity, and it will also be vaguely aware of its 
subjective attitude towards this object. These ele- 
mentary functions however will be still mingled in 
an indistinguishable whole, nor will they always be 
found in equal proportions. If at any moment some 

141 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

obstacle prevents or delays the instinctive activity, 
then the thinking and feeling functions will get an 
opportunity for being developed ; activity will then 
be turned either into Thinking or Feeling, Thus we 
see that the primitive mind, though mainly governed 
by chance impulses, also contains some rudimentary 
forms of Thinking and Feeling. This leads us to 
consider the relations of these functions to Sensation 
and Intuition. It is a mistake to regard these latter as 
the immediate symptoms of instinctive life. Between 
the instincts, as we find them manifested in animal 
life, and Sensation and Intuition, lies the borderland 
of the unconscious psychic life. This borderland of 
unconscious processes is a development of the original 
instincts, which conditions Sensation and Intuition. 
Sensation does not mean a merely passive receptivity 
to all impressions ; it also contains an unconscious 
choice, which is determined by the general character 
of the individual. In Intuition, the influence of the 
unconscious is still more clearly seen ; intuitive action 
or perception is still more obviously determined by the 
unconscious process of discovering a certain meaning 
or connection behind a given fact, and of moulding and 
adapting this fact to personal needs. The uncon- 
scious processes of choosing, discovering and com- 
bining in Sensation and Intuition, lead to an immediate 
experience of conviction ; but it is seldom possible to 
discover the grounds on which this conviction is based. 
If we try to penetrate into these unconscious origins 
by a difficult and elaborate introspection, we may meet 
with some curious psychic processes which are very 
different indeed from conscious rational processes. 
This has led Jung to adopt the term irrational or 

142 



PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES 

empirical functions for Sensation and Intuition, as 
contrasted with Thinking and Feeling which he calls 
the rational functions. 

Both Thinking and Feeling are functions concerned 
with sorting and organising the conscious material of 
the mind. Their activity presupposes the existence 
of Sensation and Intuition, which provide the material 
of the psychic event ; but this material is systematised 
and classified by Thinking and Feeling, each using its 
own method and its own standard of values. Hence 
the name rational, which is given them by Jung. He 
writes (XXXIV, p. 659) : " Rational means the reason- 
able, or that which corresponds to reason. By reason 
I understand an attitude of mind, the essence of which 
is to shape thought, feeling and action according to 
objective values, These objective values are estab- 
lished by the average experience of facts both of the 
outer world and of the inner life. . . . The rational 
attitude which enables us to recognise the validity of 
these objective values, is not the product of a single 
individual's mind, but of the whole history of mankind. 
Most objective values, and also reason itself, are firmly 
welded complexes of conceptions which have come down 
to us from remote ages, and have gradually been organ- 
ised through countless thousands of years with the 
same inevitableness with which a living organism 
reacts to the average constantly recurring conditions 
of its environment, confronting them with the corre- 
sponding function-complexes, such as the eye which 
completely corresponds with the nature of light. . . . 
Reason therefore is the expression of man's adaptation 
to the average event, and this adaptation has been 
gradually developed into closely-organised complexes 

143 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

of conceptions, which determine the objective 
values." 

Thought and Feeling differ greatly in their ways of 
organising the conscious material. Thought is con- 
cerned with sorting and classifying sensations and 
impulses, so as to form a general survey of both the 
inner and the outer world. It finds it necessary for 
this purpose to restrain spontaneous and immediate 
reactions, and replace them by the psychic process 
of systematising actions and sensations. Feeling, on 
the other hand, organises both sensations and impulses 
under the influence of some psychic attitude, while 
at the same time this psychic attitude is expressed 
and worked out through the organising process. 
Whereas Thought aims at defining and sorting its 
material, and then organising it into one objective 
system, Feeling combines and develops its material 
into a synthesis. Thought consists of surveying 
various possibilities of action, while Feeling leads to 
one complex action, which unites in itself these various 
possibilities. If an unpleasant remark is addressed to 
a thinking type, he will usually, before he answers, 
consider various possible ways of reacting. He 
may either reply with a retort, or he may point 
out the rudeness of the remark, or else he may try, 
by turning the other cheek, to persuade the other that 
he was in the wrong. In a similar case the feeling 
type may react by combining all the above possibilities 
into one expression.* 

* Readers of Jung's book may notice that my views upon 
certain theoretical matters are somewhat different from his. Accord- 
ing to Jung, the function of Feeling is essentially one of valuation. 
This definition seems to me insufficient, since other functions are 
equally capable of assigning values, which may be either accepted 
or rejected by the individual. 

144 



PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES 

These various forms of psychic activity seem to be 
always competing with one another ; they are never 
equally powerful in the same mind. Each of these 
functions is capable of independent growth and develop- 
ment, that is to say they are able to loosen the bonds 
which originally held them together and become 
differentiated. O their functions will be suppressed 
only in so far as they interfere with the leading func- 
tions. I will now describe the nature of these differ- 
entiated functions. 

Sensation is the psychic function that draws the 
perceptions into the conscious mind, both those which 
we obtain from the outer world through our senses, 
and those which arise from our inner physical condition 
or its changes. Sensation is an element in the mental 
image, since it supplies it with the perception of its 
object. Sensation is also an element in Feeling, 
because the quality of Feeling is largely determined 
by the bodily and mental condition. In its original 
form Sensation is always mixed up with images, feel- 
ings and thoughts, and may then be spoken of as 
concrete Sensation. It may also become differentiated 
as pure and abstract Sensation, in which case it will 
control the other psychic functions and suppress those 
that might interfere with it. It may also control 
the conscious will, which may then be said to become 
subject to an aesthetic mental attitude. To the artist 
especially this abstract Sensation is of great importance ; 
and susceptibility to such impressions and emotions 
is one of the most precious possessions of the human 
mind. In those cases where Sensation is overshadowed 
by Intuition, Feeling, or Thought, sensations will 
very often fail to reach the consciousness ; while 

145 K 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

those with whom Sensation is predominant, will 
assimilate into consciousness as many impressions and 
emotions as possible. 

There is a great difference between extravert and 
introvert Sensation, In the extravert type, Sensation 
is dominated chiefly by impressions received through 
the senses, while in the introvert type, it is the inner 
sensations caused by these impressions that are pre- 
dominant. We must be very careful not to confuse 
these inner sensations with feelings They are not 
the feelings themselves, but an original element in 
them. The feelings are a product of conscious activity, 
as we shall see later on, when we treat this question 
more fully. 

To persons who are primarily of an extravert sen- 
sation type, the sensuous impressions of the outer world 
are of predominant importance. It is what can be 
seen, heard or touched that is of value to them, and 
influences their actions. They are easily susceptible 
to pleasure and grief, and they have great power of 
aesthetic discrimination. On the other hand they are 
very dependent on their surroundings, and so their 
activity is chiefly reactive. 

If Sensation is introvert, the mind is chiefly in- 
fluenced by the inner sensations. An instance of this 
type is the artist who approaches his work exclusively 
from the subjective point of view. The more our 
sensations are differentiated, the more clearly shall 
we be able to appreciate what has eternal value for 
humanity. Man possesses a certain inherited need 
of Sensation, and the more he gives his sensations 
free play, the better will he be able to distinguish those 
which respond to his inmost nature. In these cases of 

146 



PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES 

passive receptivity, all that happens is that the inner 
sensations are differentiated and clarified but not 
further developed. This inner mental activity usually 
remains hidden from the outer world, and only those 
impressions which touch the inmost being, can bring 
about a reaction. The value of this function in its 
developed form, may be said to consist in a sensitive- 
ness to what has eternal significance, arising from 
the profound needs of human nature. When this 
type of mind is very pronounced, its onesidedness 
will become evident ; such persons are too passive, 
too much aloof from the world, and find a special 
difficulty in self-expression. In consequence they 
often give the impression of not having found a satis- 
factory way of sublimation or adaptation. 

Intuition is the spontaneous active expression of 
the instincts, and of that part of the unconscious psychic 
life which is most closely related to them.* Intuition 
may mean a certain manner of perceiving or formu- 
lating ideas ; but it may also manifest itself in feeling 
or action. Intuition itself is not actually either 
Thought or Feeling, but it is, as it were, a primitive 
psychic function, which contains elements of Thought 
and Feeling. It presents a complete psychic content, 
the origin of which cannot be derived from other con- 
scious contents. It brings with it its own immediate 
conviction of certainty. In their primitive forms, 
Intuition and Sensation are difficult to distinguish. 
The distinction is one between spontaneous impulse 
as opposed to susceptibility to impressions. But 

* The name is derived from intueri, to contemplate. As names 
for new ideas are generally chosen by men of intellect, it is not 
surprising that the intellectual side of the function is emphasised in 
the word Intuition. 

147 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

impulse is always stimulated by impressions, while sus- 
ceptibility is nearly always combined with a tendency 
to react to these impressions in a certain manner. 
When Intuition is differentiated, it becomes more 
abstract. The psychic life will then grow to be further 
removed from Sensation, while Feeling and Thought 
will be only permitted so long as they do not disturb 
spontaneous expression. The mind then consciously 
attaches great value to spontaneous insight and 
inspiration, and aims at being led by sudden impulses, 
which it is always ready to accept. On the other hand 
susceptibility to impressions is much diminished. 

If Intuition is combined with an extravert attitude, 
then the individual will form intuitive judgments of 
what goes on in the outer world, and will be apt sud- 
denly to discover connections between things, without 
being able to explain them. Such judgments, and the 
actions and expressions of feeling resulting from them, 
are sometimes surprisingly justified later on by events, 
or by a roundabout process of reasoning. While 
Sensation is chiefly concerned with the actuality of 
things, Intuition sees what is of personal importance. 
It is specially gifted in discovering all the various 
possibilities of individual development and activity. 
Even in cases where Intuition is not the leading func- 
tion, it is often capable of finding a solution where 
no other function could succeed. Jung writes (XXXIV, 
p. 527) : " If Intuition predominates, all the ordinary 
circumstances of life seem to be enclosures, out of 
which Intuition must find a way. It is always seeking 
for new paths and new developments of life in an 
outward direction. All circumstances soon appear to 
the intuitive mind as a prison, or as an oppression, 

148 



PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES 

which causes a longing for liberation. Things in the 
outer world seem at times to acquire an exaggerated 
value, when they can be made use of for the purpose 
of a solution, or a liberation, or the discovery of new 
possibilities. But as soon as they have served as a 
bridge or ladder, they seem to have lost all value, and 
are cast aside as unnecessary lumber. A fact is only 
valued in so far as it may contain new potentialities, 
which may outgrow the original fact and serve in turn 
to liberate the individual. Possibilities, that arise 
suddenly, become compelling motives to the intuitive 
mind, and it will sacrifice for them everything else/' 
In contrast with the advantages of this rich variety 
of possible activities, we find the disadvantages of such 
qualities as changeableness, fickleness and lack of 
harmony. 

While extravert Intuition deals with possibilities 
of the outer world, introvert Intuition sums up psychic 
events in images, which have a subjective value and 
significance, and express inner possibilities. These 
images appear as spontaneously as the judgments of 
extravert Intuition, so that sometimes the images and 
convictions are not recognised as having their origin 
in the individual's own mind. This applies not only 
to the hallucinations of the insane, but. also to the 
inspiration of artists, prophets and saints. Nietzsche, 
for example, is said to have felt as if his Zarathustra 
had been dictated to him by someone else. But as 
men's minds are nowadays chiefly directed towards 
the outer world, we usually meet only with inferior 
expressions of this function. The value of such 
inspirations is more likely to be appreciated by artists 
or by persons with deep religious feelings. The fact 

149 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

that our instinctive disposition is made up out of the 
deposit of the experience of innumerable preceding 
generations, makes it seem possible that such products 
of Intuition are of great value. If the intuitive func- 
tion predominates, inspiration will be looked upon as 
the most valuable psychic process. Sometimes this 
inward contemplation is looked upon as an aim in 
itself ; but it can only be called a form of sublimation 
if the object of contemplation has some general or 
personal significance, which will probably be of an 
artistic, moral or religious kind. The disadvantage of 
this intuitive function is the vagueness which it fre- 
quently shows. Its predominance in the individual 
will often lead to muddle-headed mysticism and over- 
confidence in the subjective point of view. 

We have described Feeling as the development of a 
psychic attitude or reaction. This can be applied to 
both the sensational and the intuitive side of Feeling. 
Both in Sensation and Intuition there is a relation 
between subject and object, which can be described 
as an attitude of the individual towards his perceptions. 
This attitude may be shortlived, variable and super- 
ficial ; or else it may be durable, unvarying and 
intense. It is only in the latter case that real Feeling 
arises. All prolonged or intense sensations and intui- 
tions are accompanied by Feeling, although it need not 
necessarily be conscious or clearly marked. If the 
feeling is a durable one, or if it is very intense, the 
contents of the personality are more and more drawn 
into its sphere and assist its development. In intense 
sensations and intuitions we see this effect as emotion. 
The influence is then felt throughout the body and 
mind ; the heart-beat is accelerated, breathing be- 

150 



PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES 

comes irregular, the colour comes and goes, and the 
limbs sometimes relax or contract spasmodically. 
Even memory, thought, judgment and will, in fact the 
whole imaginative life, may thus be influenced. If 
Intuition and Sensation are spread over a long period, 
the result will be a mood This kind of Feeling can 
be described as a grouping together and a becoming con- 
scious of all the various processes of which it is com- 
posed. Thus Feeling in its primitive form is never 
unalloyed. Only where Feeling is the leading function, 
will it become differentiated and pure, and will then 
gradually dominate the whole psychic life. The 
individual will feel an imperative need to have a stock 
of these developed feelings ready to meet all emer- 
gencies, and he will attach an absolute value to these 
feelings. He will tend to link up his experiences into a 
harmonious and synthetic whole, which will be strongly 
coloured by Feeling. He will value and assimilate 
everything that is consistent with his feelings, and 
reject everything else. These feelings, as they become 
independent of Sensation, Intuition and Thought, 
will tend to dominate the whole psychic life, and will 
be spun out to an infinite variety, which may be 
expressed with great subtlety and plasticity. 

In the extravert type, Feeling depends chiefly upon 
the outer world, and the individual will feel a wide 
range of contact between himself and his surroundings. 
His life will be influenced, not so much by overpowering 
emotions and moods, which are the expressions of non- 
differentiated Feeling, but by the desire to bring his 
perceptions, thoughts and actions into satisfactory 
relation with the outer world. He will readily express 
his feelings, and so endeavour to create a harmonious 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

atmosphere of which he stands in urgent need. His 
expression of feeling will arouse similar feelings and 
moods in others, and he will often show great skill in 
this process of suggestion. His own complexity and 
delicacy of feeling will enable him to understand the 
feelings of others, even when they are imperfectly 
expressed. This understanding may not always be 
conscious, but it will appear in his reactions ; and all 
these various qualities will help him to get into touch 
more easily with others. The danger will be, that in 
order to obtain a pleasant relationship, he may unduly 
suppress other valuable sensations and intuitions, 
and sometimes allow the objective truth to be obscured, 
so that his Feeling comes to be satisfied with the 
mere semblance of things. 

The introvert feeling type is more interested in his 
inner harmony. His deep emotions and moods are 
often hidden from the outer world, except in the case 
of an artist, who may reveal himself in delicately 
sensitive expressions and actions. The feeling intro- 
vert, like the sensation introvert, is inclined to shield 
himself from the influences of the outer world, and 
allows only what satisfies his inner needs to act upon his 
mind But his sensations and moods will be much 
more highly organised and developed, than would be 
the case if Sensation alone predominated. His inner 
life will be more individual and coherent. His attitude 
towards the problems of life will determine which 
sensations and impulses he will accept or reject. The 
rich complexity of his feelings will enable him to find 
certain ways of sublimation, but he will adapt himself 
almost exclusively to his inner life. This adaptation 
is of no immediate social use, unless he expresses him- 

152 



PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES 

self in art or in religion. The unhappy fate of being 
misunderstood is often the result of this lack of outward 
expression. 

Thinking aims at rejecting the personal influence, and 
tries to formulate an objective system in which it can 
classify the products of Sensation and Intuition. 
Both Sensation and Intuition contain an element of 
knowing, as well as an element of Feeling. This 
element of knowing is abstracted by Thought, when 
Thinking becomes the leading function : otherwise it 
remains more or less mixed up with the other functions. 
Our knowledge is made comprehensible by being 
grouped into a system of ideas. While Feeling rejects 
or accepts according to its psychic attitude, Thought 
does so in accordance with the facts which it has recog- 
nised and systematised. Undeveloped Thought is 
Thought that is still intimately mixed up with Sensa- 
tion and Intuition. Only gradually does Thought 
become differentiated by rejecting what does not belong 
to pure Thinking. It does not merely deal with facts, 
but also aims at classifying impulses and feelings 
according to their general usefulness, or in obedience to 
an intuitive appreciation of their comparative values. 
It is always endeavouring to formulate a system of 
objective impersonal values. Ethics too is one of its 
main products. 

Although both extra vert and introvert Thinking are 
thus concerned with fixing values, we find that their 
different attitudes will produce very different results. 
The thinking extravert classifies his sensations, accord- 
ing to the opinions and ideas of the outer world, and of 
his social surroundings. He also systematises by 
Thought the life of the impulses, valuating it according 

153 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

to principles borrowed from his surroundings. He 
tends to neglect the claims of his inner disposition for 
the sake of his experiences of the outer world. Material 
facts are what chiefly govern his mind, and when his 
Thought groups these facts into an objective system, 
the result will often be a materialistic view of life. As 
this system is obviously not the direct product of his 
own inner needs, it will usually not be a very living 
one, but of a somewhat formal nature. A man of 
this type unconsciously makes the mistake of trans- 
ferring the immediacy of his external sensations to his 
method of dealing with his experiences. If his extra- 
vert attitude is strongly marked, he will tend to neglect 
more and more the assimilation and development of 
experience, so that the final result will be a confused 
and overwhelming mass of disconnected facts. We 
find striking instances of this in the present state of 
many sciences. It is natural that the thinking extra- 
vert should be in danger of becoming dogmatic, when 
he attempts to group his impulses according to popu- 
larly accepted standards of value. When he is treating 
facts alone, he may attain very valuable results ; 
but when dealing with sensations and impulses, he has 
to assimilate the opinions and principles of many 
different people, in order to attain a sufficiently wide 
point of view of his own. Thought alone can be of 
little help to him here, for he must rely on principles 
borrowed from his surroundings, and thus the only 
valuable result is the systematising of these principles. 
The thinking introvert will deal chiefly with the 
actualities of his inner nature, and try to fix laws and 
principles for his actions. All the same he can deal 
with external sensations, just as th^xtravert thinker 

154 



PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES 

can deal with mental experience obtained by intro- 
spection. But just as in such a case the thinking 
extravert confines his interest in the main to outward 
symptoms and to what he hears from others, so the 
thinking introvert will be more influenced b'y sub- 
jective feelings and convictions when he is dealing with 
external sensations. He will accept the objective 
truth of his perceptions only in so far as they agree 
with his theories and with his system of grouping his 
perceptions. Accordingly his method of dealing with 
external experience has less objective value than the 
method of the thinking extravert. On the other hand 
it has two advantages. Firstly the introvert's system 
of grouping experiences will be more alive and creative, 
because more light is thrown on the subjective element 
by a deeper analysis, and the thinking introvert 
always feels himself at home in abstractions. Secondly, 
for the purpose of establishing objective values, the 
introvert will derive more help from his own intro- 
spection than the extravert, who tends to rely on 
outward symptoms and the information of others. 
All the same there is a danger that the introvert may 
over-estimate the general validity of his own specially 
systematised experience, and so may form wrong 
judgments about the experiences of others, and fail 
to take advantage of their corrective influence. 

When dealing with intuitions, which appear in the 
form of impulses and feelings, the thinking introvert 
will aim at a kind of subjective economy rather than 
at discovering universally valid principles. He is 
more conscious of the subjective nature of his judg- 
ments than a thinking extravert, and will admit almost 
too readily that is judgments have only an individual 

155 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

value. He bases them upon self-knowledge, carefully 
measuring and balancing every impulse and feeling. 
This over-cautious method may sometimes destroy 
his activity and spontaneity. Thus there is a danger 
both of his becoming sterile, and too obstinate and 
theoretic in his opinions, because he spends too 
much thought upon the search for a right line of 
conduct. 



Before I describe the psychological types resulting 
from the predominance of the differentiated functions, 
I must draw attention to their inter-relations. In the 
first place we must remember that there is no clear line 
of demarcation between the several types. These 
functions are all present in every human being, and 
it is often more difficult to distinguish them in imper- 
fectly developed persons, or children, although even 
then a distinct superiority of one function or of another 
is often to be found. We must also remember that 
when one function predominates, all the other func- 
tions are not suppressed to the same degree, because 
they do not all present such a contrast to each other 
as Thought does to Feeling, or as Sensation does to 
Intuition. It usually happens that there is a secondary, 
less developed compensating function, which helps the 
personality to adapt itself in a different direction, so 
that when the predominant function is extravert, the 
secondary function is introvert, and vice versa. But 
as the secondary function is always the weaker, the 
chief function is often made use of, even where it is 
out of place. Certain functions are more useful for 

156 



PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES 

some adaptations than for others. For instance, 
Thought is particularly effective at testing various 
facts and possibilities by means of experience, so that 
theoretical and practical science is the special domain 
of Thought. Feeling is useful in order to establish 
harmonious relations in the outer and the inner world. 
Extravert Feeling, which develops both sympathy 
with others, and the expression of personal feeling, 
is of great value in all human relations, and also in the 
interpretative arts. Introvert Feeling, on the other 
hand, enables men to enjoy the rich variety of their 
inner nature. Intuition plays an important part, 
when mere experience is of no help toward establishing 
sympathetic relations with others. It is the function 
that discovers new ground, as for instance in creative 
art, or in commercial affairs. Sensation is of great 
importance to the artist, and we owe to it the power of 
enjoyment in general. 

It sometimes happens, as I have said above, that the 
success of the leading function tempts us to use it for 
purposes for which it is less appropriate. When this 
proves a failure, we either have recourse to some less 
developed function, or else imitate other people's 
expression of the appropriate function, which usually 
means that we adopt a conventional behaviour. 

A man of the thinking type, whose wife wishes to go 
to a party, to which he does not want to go himself, 
will first try to persuade her by reasoned arguments 
that it is better for her not to go. He may next use 
various conventional expressions of feeling to support 
his case ; and finally he may lose his temper in order to 
convince her. This all happens because he has been 
unable satisfactorily to express his feeling that he 

157 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

wants her to stay with him, in such a way that he can 
influence her feelings. 

A lady of the feeling type falls ill. She refuses to 
send for the doctor, which would have been the obvious 
thing to do, but persuades her husband to stay at home 
and neglect his duties. She then dismisses a servant 
because she has been so unfeeling as to break one of 
the best plates. The next thing that happens is that 
she sends for some medicine which had done so much 
good to the mother of a friend in an illness that was 
rather like her own. Finally, she will perhaps go to a 
quack, in order that he may cure her by the old method 
of laying on of hands. Such behaviour is mistaken, 
because nothing that she chose to do could have led 
to any useful result. Feeling was first called upon 
to effect an adaptation, and when that proved in- 
adequate, recourse was had to primitive or conventional 
behaviour. 

Sensation and Intuition, being less complicated func- 
tions, are not in such marked contrast with each other. 
Neither of them conveys to the mind the elaborately 
developed conviction which is given us by Thought and 
Feeling. If either Sensation or Intuition be the leading 
function, it may happen that a slavish subjection to 
the other less developed function will serve as com- 
pensation. For instance, a merchant, who shows 
extraordinary intuition in conducting his business, and 
understanding the characters of his colleagues and 
assistants, will sometimes become the blind slave of a 
beautiful woman who is entirely unsuited to him. He 
may also throw up some important plan, merely because 
he feels out of sorts for the moment ; and both in his 
business affairs and in his sexual life, he may be scrupu- 

158 



PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES 

lously bound by convention, while completely neglecting 
it in other matters. In this case subjection to certain 
elementary sensations and to conventional ideas acts 
as a compensation. Another instance is the man of 
artistic feeling, who wishes to enjoy life in peace, and 
yet may suddenly give way to an impulse, which will 
force all sorts of unpleasant duties upon him. He 
will feel bound to observe some religious or social 
discipline which will interfere with his enjoyment of 
life ; or he may suddenly disturb the pleasant atmos- 
phere around him by some unexpected impulsive 
outburst. His excessive receptivity will thus be 
disturbed by some conventional idea, or else by an 
intuitive impulse. 

The predominance of one function at the expense of 
the others, may not only hamper development by giving 
rise to primitive or conventional forms of expression, 
but it may also be the cause of more serious symptoms 
such as neurosis. Jung has shown that such neurosis 
often arises when the tension of the predominant 
function becomes too great, because it is being used in a 
case where some other fully developed function could 
alone have brought about a satisfactory solution, 
whereas now this secondary function in an undeveloped 
form is forced to express itself unconsciously, thus 
disturbing the conscious mental activity. This view 
is so far in agreement with that of Freud, who also 
recognises this onesided type of development, though 
his work is more concerned with the problem of what 
factors and processes have interfered with the expres- 
sion of the unsublimated feelings and desires. Jung, 
on the other hand, is more interested in the compen- 
sating activity of this undeveloped part of the person- 

159 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

ality, and tries to trace its attempts at development. 
He considers that not only such manifestations of 
the unconscious as dreams and psychic disturbances, 
but also certain morbid symptoms, are all expressions 
of a desire to get rid of a conscious onesidedness. He 
quotes Nietzsche to prove that nervous symptoms 
can be of great use to a man, because they may force 
him into some kind of life, where he will find fuller 
opportunities for developing what is valuable in him, 
and will not be tempted to waste his powers in unpro- 
ductive by-ways of activity. Jung writes (XXV, 
p. 296) : " There are people the meaning of whose life 
whose real significance lies in the unconscious ; in 
consciousness lies only all that is vain and delusive. 
With others the reverse is the case, and for them the 
neurosis has another significance. An extended reduc- 
tion * is appropriate to the one, but emphatically 
unsuited to the other." For people of this kind, Jung 
advises a synthetic treatment, which aims at bringing 
the meaning of such unconscious processes into con- 
sciousness and so developing their possibilities, rather 
than an analytical treatment, which checks these 
processes by tracing them back to the originating 
desires and circumstances. I shall deal with the 
relation between these conscious and unconscious 
processes in a later chapter. 

I will now describe in somewhat greater detail the 
characteristics of the various types, and will begin with 
their most pronounced forms. 



* i.e. of the morbid symptoms. 

160 



PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES 

A person of the extravert feeling type is dominated 
by feelings, which are aroused by the outer world. 
Probably this type is most pronounced among women. 
The centre of their psychic life lies in their emotional 
relations with other persons. They realise imagin- 
atively their circumstances and feelings, and are able 
to put themselves completely into their place. It was 
this type in fact, which Jung originally regarded as the 
real extravert type. They feel that their emotions 
possess an objective value, and they find support for 
this feeling in the fact that others are affected by 
similar emotions, and that the world generally ascribes 
certain values to them. They experience an over- 
whelming need to test their emotions by those of others, 
and to find agreement if possible. They are very 
unhappy when they are out of touch with their sur- 
roundings, and show great ingenuity in finding new 
ways of getting into touch with them. If they cannot 
find sympathy, they prefer strife to mere indifference, 
They are specially adapted to life in a community, and 
feel at home in any form of society where they can 
find personal contacts and maintain elaborate emo- 
tional relations. Though a difficult situation may 
sometimes make them feel awkward, yet they do not 
suffer from shyness, for they are too sure of being 
able to adapt their emotions to circumstances. Since 
more varied opportunities for such adaptations are 
offered by intercourse with human beings than by 
lifeless nature or animals, they will avoid solitude and 
prefer such enjoyments and sports as can be shared 
with others. 

The feeling extravert has a special gift for expressing 
the most varied shades of emotion, so that others may 

161 L 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

be able to share his feelings. Accordingly we find that 
the most famous preachers and orators, and the most 
talented actors belong to this type. When our atten- 
tion is drawn to a woman of this type, it is not so much 
by the emphasis with which she expresses her feelings, 
as by the delicacy with which the expression is adapted 
to the occasion. She will never say or do anything 
that might disturb a harmonious atmosphere ; on the 
contrary she will help to create and maintain it in all 
sorts of little ways. Feeling extraverts can never 
remain mere spectators when anything happens which 
touches their feelings, but will take part in creating 
the emotional environment by their active sympathy. 
Thus the French, who have developed the expression 
of feeling to such a high degree, translate the verb 
' ' to be present " at a ceremony by " assister " (XXIX, 
p. 141). Persons of this type also show their desire 
to share in the lives of others by continually making 
engagements and seeking new acquaintances. 

They have moreover a gift for expressing their 
thoughts as well as their feelings, and so they often show 
a decided talent for teaching. Some writers have 
maintained that all thinking is done in words ; and 
though I do not believe this to be always true, yet it 
seems to be so in the case of the extravert feeling 
type. They think in a dramatic form, as if they 
were addressing an audience. Their thoughts and 
emotions do not come into existence until they are 
expressed, but arise through and during the process of 
expression, which consequently often seems lengthy 
and clumsy to a rapid abstract thinker. Their thoughts 
well up and flow onwards while they are addressing 
their hearers, a faculty which is of great advantage to 

162 



PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES 

orators and lecturers, since it makes their speech more 
living. But it is difficult for them to be brief and 
businesslike in their communications. The fact that 
Thinking is dominated by Feeling tends to blur their 
thoughts, although they may often be expressed in 
beautiful images and rich oratory, which will appeal 
to the heart and imagination of the audience. The 
thoughts of persons of this type will not carry so much 
conviction as their feelings. Although they suppress 
Thought when it comes into conflict with Feeling, yet 
they cannot be said to be unreasonable people. They 
often show much practical intelligence, because they 
can vividly realise other persons and circumstances, 
and know what they are aiming at themselves. 

Their activities also are much influenced by Feeling. 
Their outward appearance will often reveal the nature 
of the feelings that dominate them, as may be seen in a 
well-bred lady or a clergyman, as well as in demi- 
mondaines and degenerate aristocrats of this type. 
Their actions become more and more influenced by 
their predominant feelings, which they have a growing 
desire that other people should share. They wish to 
prove to everyone that their feelings are the right ones, 
all the more if there is some doubt as to whether general 
opinion is on their side. When driven by powerful 
feeling, they are able to exercise a great influence on 
their environment, especially if they meet with sym- 
pathy and support among those around them. But 
usually their feelings are not so much expressed in 
striking actions, as in the creation of a harmonious 
emotional atmosphere. 

They see themselves and their own lives only as they 
are reflected in their relations with others, and in the 

163 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

opinions of others about themselves ; and so they are 
very sensitive to praise and criticism. Encouragement 
will greatly strengthen and develop their emotional 
reactions, while contradiction, or criticism that is 
difficult to answer, often has a most depressing effect 
upon them. Owing to their extra vert tendency, they 
possess no inner certainty and conviction. Super- 
ficially they often give the impression of only caring for 
outward appearances. But we must remember that 
they have no other means of knowing or of changing 
themselves, than by observing the attitude of their 
neighbours and trying to harmonise their own desires 
with their environment. Thus it is through an out- 
ward harmony that they will find the way to an inner 
harmony. But there is a danger that they may 
cleverly manage to bring about this outward harmony, 
without really changing themselves as much as ought 
to be necessary for the purpose. It is quite possible 
for a feeling extravert to be an extreme socialist or 
communist, and yet at the same time to be living in 
idleness and luxury. 

While the characteristics of this type may be of great 
value in practical life, this is sometimes counterbalanced 
in pronounced cases by certain disadvantages. For 
instance they find it difficult to form businesslike judg- 
ments, a failing which is usually considered to be 
characteristic of the female sex. The personal side 
of their emotions is very important, all the more that 
they are not conscious of their subjective attitude, 
but are convinced that their judgment is objective 
and of general value. As this personal side is uncon- 
scious it may lead to all kinds of conflicts which are 
quite incomprehensible to them, and make them look 

164 



PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES 

for the cause in other people instead of in their own 
character. Another set of difficulties is caused by 
the various feelings becoming markedly differentiated, 
so that they may feel drawn in various directions. 
They are always living on their outer selves, on their 
points of contact with other people ; and they fail to 
concentrate on their inner selves, where they might 
compare and readjust their divergent feelings. Morbid 
symptoms may arise, especially where the conflict 
between acts and feelings is in strong contrast with the 
desire for harmony. Here they will unconsciously 
try to satisfy this desire for harmony by ignoring 
their spiritual needs ; and the thoughts, sensations 
and feelings, which were suppressed in order to pre- 
serve harmony, will find a disguised outlet in morbid 
symptoms. Hysterical patients, such as those de- 
scribed in the first chapter, belong mostly to this type. 
I agree with Freud that these expressions of the 
unconscious contain everything that was thrust away 
as useless from childhood upwards. But we should 
also admit Jung's view that the impulse of the un- 
conscious towards expression and consciousness indi- 
cates an incipient desire for compensation. This 
means that the feeling function, which tried to repress 
everything for the sake of harmony, is thwarted so as 
to make room, though very imperfectly, for some other 
function. Inner harmony may be found by Thought ; 
and Jung interprets some of the dreams of hysterical 
patients, and their desire for solitude, as an incipient 
attempt to find a solution by means of a hitherto 
unused function. In order to find such a compensat- 
ing function, a systematic introspection, which aims at 
making everything conscious, will be of the greatest use. 

165 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 



Persons of the introvert feeling type find support 
and direction in life by developing the subjective side of 
their feelings. This type also is chiefly found among 
women. They resemble the other introvert types by 
the fact that their outward appearance and conduct 
reveal very little of their inner life, so that introvert 
types are much more difficult to distinguish than 
extravert. The way in which they resist outside 
influences is often more characteristic than their 
positive expressions. The mask behind which they 
hide, is a simple, gentle attitude, childlike or sometimes 
melancholy, which may give the impression of coldness 
or indifference. Superficially, one would never con- 
sider these people to belong to the feeling type ; for 
when moved by feeling they become quiet and absorbed, 
and if ever they express themselves, they do so only 
after they have worked out their emotion within them- 
selves. Thus they are very often misunderstood by 
their neighbours. They carefully hide their emo- 
tional life from others, and only express it by secret 
piety, or else in poetry, which they are very unwilling 
that anyone should see. Usually they feel a secret 
desire that some day the Tightness and excellence of 
their own feelings should be acknowledged by others. 
In some cases they tend unduly to assert their own 
feelings by indirect means, not so much by communi- 
cating and suggesting them to others, as by obstinately 
resisting anything that might interfere with them. 
They may be justified in this resistance, because it 
is founded on a delicate emotional motive ; but their 

166 



PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES 

manner of expressing it is not adapted to the outside 
world, and for this reason proves unsatisfactory. 

In the lives of such persons we constantly meet 
with this inconsistency between motives and their 
expression. Thus when they express their feeling in a 
poem, they will weigh their words very carefully ; on 
the other hand they will often neglect the ordinary 
forms of politeness, which have no meaning for them, 
or else they will hide behind some simple conventional 
form of expression. Sometimes indeed their delicate 
feelings will appear, and create an impression of 
intimate contact, which however may be suddenly 
broken off. 

The feeling introvert is not affected by the opinions 
of others about himself ; he judges and values his 
feelings according to a subjective standard of intuitive 
convictions. The warmth and confidence, which the 
extravert feeling type can impart to everyone around 
him, remains enclosed in the inner mind of the intro- 
vert, providing him with a refuge in case of difficult 
or unpleasant experiences. Such persons seldom give 
the impression of great activity ; for circumstances will 
not often offer them the right opportunity for actual- 
ising their inwardly elaborated feelings, and they hardly 
ever succeed in creating circumstances for themselves 
They accept the fact that they must remain misunder- 
stood. 

They do not see the world as it really is. The 
feeling extravert adopts only a certain part of the 
outer world, and disregards all the rest : but the 
attention of the feeling introvert is concentrated on 
whatever comes into contact with his inner emotional 
needs ; and as he is acutely conscious of this conflict, 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

he seldom ventures to show his feelings, which he 
imagines no one could ever appreciate. A feeling 
extravert, when he is lacking in adaptation in any 
direction, is never conscious of it ; whereas a feeling 
introvert will be very much aware of the fact that his 
own feelings often do not correspond with their expres- 
sion. Yet although he takes a sufficiently critical 
view of himself and others, the result will not be a 
better adaptation, but rather the undermining of his 
self-confidence. He will assume that others are as 
critical as himself, and he may grow to regard the outer 
world as malignantly hostile ; while the consciousness 
that his life is passing by joylessly, may lead to fear and 
melancholy. Both in this case and in the case of the 
thinking introvert, close acquaintance will bring to 
light the curious contrast between inner assurance and 
a hesitating and somewhat suspicious attitude towards 
the outer world. 



A person of the extravert thinking type directs his 
life according to the facts of the outer world, and to the 
principles of the community in which he lives. This 
type is most often found among men. It will make 
a great difference whether, in addition to their think- 
ing function, persons of this type make most use of 
Sensation or of Intuition, that is to say, whether their 
Thinking is chiefly occupied with sorting perceptions 
or impulses. In the first case, their Thinking will be 
of a businesslike character. Among the scientific men 
of our day we find many instances of the valuable 
work performed by this function in discovering and 

168 



PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES 

grouping new facts. But if it is Intuition that comes 
second in importance, Thinking will occupy itself 
more with sorting the potential ideas and motives of 
conduct which are or have been current in the life of 
the community. We find an instance in those philo- 
sophers whose work is chiefly concerned with the history 
of philosophy, and with co-ordinating the views of 
various thinkers, a process in which creative work 
may to some extent be achieved. 

If the thinking function is of a less remarkable 
quality, and lacks such creative power, the disadvantage 
of its being the predominant function will be more 
apparent. The businesslike quality may often degen- 
erate into dry dullness : the generally accepted prin- 
ciples and systems may become mere strait- jackets, 
and so be a hindrance to many valuable possibilities 
of development. The feelings especially will be 
repressed, so that expression will lack all liveliness and 
individuality. Nor will expression occur immediately ; 
for the first impulse or reaction is held back until it 
has been tested by the systematised experience. Good 
and evil, right and wrong are judged according to 
whether they fit into this system, which has an absolute 
validity in the eyes of the thinking type. For them 
it is the purest expression of the laws of the universe. 
This applies to their scientific systems as well as to 
their ethics. Whatever does not fit into them, they 
regard as untrue, or as an exceptional chance. They 
are convinced that after due consideration, such facts 
can be made to agree with their system ; and if they 
find something in their own nature, which cannot be 
reconciled with their ethics, they regard it as a chance 
imperfection, which they are sure some day to get rid 

169 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

of. They are also ready to reject as abnormal or 
morbid everything that does not fit in with their 
ideas. Yet if their point of view is wide enough, such 
persons often have a purifying and co-ordinating 
influence on contemporary thought. But if they 
have a narrow personality, they are apt to become 
niggling cranks. Their activity is most fruitful in an 
outward direction, and when they are giving shape to 
new material. Their systematising will then produce 
new ideas and clearness of vision. But if, on the other 
hand, they find everything already fixed into a system, 
they will aim merely at maintaining the status quo, 
and resist every innovation in the most conservative 
manner. They often cause all spontaneity to dry up 
both in their own domestic circle and in their inner 
nature. 

If they do not entirely suppress their feelings, 
they allow only a small amount to be expressed through 
carefully regulated channels and according to definite 
principles. As these principles depend a great deal 
upon the outer world, it is evident that their emotions 
will often appear very conventional. But sometimes 
suppressed feelings may suddenly and unexpectedly 
arise out of the unconscious, and their expression 
will then seem quite inconsistent with conventional 
principles and emotions. Such inconsistency will 
appear in a sudden fit of violent temper, or in a case 
where altruism, founded upon principles, is perverted 
or destroyed by selfish motives. It may also happen 
that they are driven by their feelings to use means to 
attain their object which are not in accordance with 
their principles. There is yet another inconsistency be- 
tween their involuntary feelings and their conscious 

170 



PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES 

attitude. This conscious attitude is more or less 
impersonal, and sets aside personal interests if they 
clash with propriety and convention ; whereas the 
unconscious feelings are very sensitive on the personal 
side, and if they find that someone does not agree with 
them, they are apt to be annoyed, and this annoyance 
may sometimes take the form of exaggerated sen- 
sitiveness, or be expressed by involuntary insults. 
Thus scientific discussions may easily become un- 
necessarily heated. In daily life too, we often see that 
quarrels about matters of principle give rise to anti- 
pathy. Though the thinking extravert lacks the 
conscious desire of the feeling type to bring together 
all shades of opinion into one harmonious whole, this 
desire may all the same be active in his unconscious 
mind. He will then feel compelled to group together 
a variety of experiences and co-ordinate them into one 
theory or principle, which he will apply and defend on 
all occasions with the enthusiasm of a fanatic. In- 
stances of this are the Darwinian, who because of his 
improved version of the story of the Creation, considers 
that there is no value whatever in the Bible, and the 
enthusiastic Freudian, who when he has realised the 
powerful influence of infantile sexuality, relates all, 
or nearly all, later psychic activity to this early in- 
fluence. They both fall victims to their tendency to 
stretch too far a theory which is only valid up to a 
certain point. 

The activities of thinking extraverts are directed 
towards the outer world, from which they receive their 
chief impulses and motives. But their contact with 
others is not so extensive and intimate as in the case 
of the extravert feeling type. The systematised 

171 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

experience by which they test everything, interferes 
with their relations with the world, and so they give 
the impression of being cold and impersonal. Their 
facial expression will at once reveal this to anyone of the 
feeling type. Their emotional relationships often 
present difficulties, because conventional expressions 
prove inadequate, and unconscious feelings may cause 
disturbances. Yet these thinking extraverts are usu- 
ally well adapted to their surroundings, especially in 
practical matters. Here they are continually stimu- 
lated by their environment, and owing to their adapt- 
ability they are usually successful in their activities, 
which are often regular and on a large scale. Thought, 
because it hinders impulsive actions, is an obstacle to 
the development of great energy. But on the other 
hand thinkers usually have their will-power well 
developed. I agree with Jung that the will is the 
expression of the consciously organised desires, 
although, especially in the intuitive type, energy may 
arise from an unconscious impulse, independently of 
will-power. 

Thought also tends to make activity of a permanent 
character, so that persons of this type usually possess 
great persistence. They are particularly suited to 
scientific investigation, and to all the professions 
which demand in the first place a sense of order, 
accuracy and thoroughness. They are often better 
able to deal with material things than with human 
beings, for they are apt to be hampered by strait-laced 
opinions and forms of expression. As belonging to 
the thinking type, they lack the personal touch ; 
and as extraverts, they lack understanding of the sub- 
jective side. As we have already said, their uncon- 

172 



PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES 

scious feelings may sometimes have a disturbing 
influence, which may give rise to morbid symptoms, 
such as doubt, suspicion and fear. In this case too the 
treatment required for restoring a better balance will 
consist in drawing the unconscious emotions into the 
consciousness and developing them. 



People of the introvert thinking type are also guided 
by their systematised experience ; but in their case it 
is chiefly the experience of their inner life. Their 
system is based upon facts collected by introspection, 
rather than by the senses, and is built up out of im- 
pressions and impulses. Although their system is a 
product of their own creative thought, they also make 
use of the thoughts and ideas of others, if they are 
suitable. They use their sensuous experiences as a 
test for their opinions ; but these experiences have 
not such a decisive influence as with the extravert 
thinking type : they serve more as illustrations of 
laws which Thought has already been forced to accept 
on the ground of other experiences. Thus the dis- 
advantage, as compared with the extravert thinking 
type, is that the point of view of the thinking introvert 
is not so exclusively -based on facts. Yet this dis- 
advantage seems to be compensated by a more delicate 
power of abstract thought and a deeper introspective 
insight. Such persons have a great deal of self- 
knowledge. The moral principles according to which 
they sort and classify their impulses, are at the same 
time an attempt at balancing their contradictory 
intuitions ; but they usually do not consider these 

173 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

principles to be general laws applicable to everyone. 
They assume that other people also are subject to some 
inner moral law ; but they are not so ready as the 
thinking extra vert to take an objective interest in its 
content. 

Thinking introverts also are chiefly to be found 
among the male sex. We have seen that Thought 
tends in any case to interpose its system of sensations 
and reactions between the individual and his sur- 
roundings ; and the thinking introvert will be at an 
even greater distance from the outer world than the 
thinking extravert. Originally Jung considered this 
type to be the true introvert type. Like all other 
introverts, they strike one, even in their youth, by a 
certain reserve. A child of an introvert type is apt 
to be shy, quiet and timid, as though it did not feel 
at home in the world. Chance expressions and un- 
expected original remarks will from time to time show 
that the child observes and reflects a great deal. 
Introverts in general present a very different appear- 
ance among strangers from what they do among inti- 
mates, but even among intimates only a small part 
of their inner life will be revealed. Thus thinking 
introverts will always most carefully consider and 
select their forms of expression. It is only under 
violent emotion that their reasoned self-control is 
broken through, and reactions appear which do not 
seem to fit in at all with their usual attitude of reserve. 
When they are pronouncing an opinion, they strike 
one as somewhat cold, obstinate and arbitrary. One 
feels as if they thought : " that is my opinion, which 
shall not be altered, whether you agree with it or not." 
No doubt they avoid conflict as much as possible, for 

174 



PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES 

every introvert intensely dislikes being forced to 
expose himself to the outside world ; they will there- 
fore maintain a certain distance by means of a stiff 
or polite attitude or even of apparent friendliness. 
But in most cases this attitude is not very convincing : 
it is easily felt to be a mask ; and one is aware that 
they do not believe in it themselves, as thinking extra- 
verts, for instance, believe in their conventional atti- 
tude. Thinking introverts are thus likely to be 
unsuccessful in their conventions (usually much to 
their regret, for they would be only too glad to mask 
themselves skilfully), and so their original emotions 
come to light sooner than in the case of the extravert 
thinking type. In their own small circle they may 
be looked upon as witty and original, though some- 
times also as difficult and hot-tempered. Sometimes 
again a stiff and reserved person may show a very 
gentle and sensitive side to his immediate neighbours. 
Or else they may combine all these various qualities ; 
for their emotional side is undeveloped, and contains a 
mass of unsolved contradictions. In questions of 
feeling, they are often very helpless and dependent 
upon others, and so are easily exploited. 

Great freedom of growth and many delicate shades 
exist in the inner domain of their ideas and principles. 
But their special difficulty is that they do not know 
how or where to adapt their ideas to the world. They 
find it incomprehensible that what seems so clear to 
them is not always clear to others. So they take but 
little pains to express themselves lucidly. Jung 
writes about them (XXVI, p. 551) : " Even if they get 
so far as to give their thoughts to the world, they do 
not deal with them as a careful mother does with her 

175 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

children, but expose them as foundlings, though they 
will be much annoyed if their ideas fail to make their 
way/' A thinking extravert will be hampered in 
literary work by his wish to include in it the views of 
other writers by means of endless quotations and notes ; 
whereas the thinking introvert will be held up by all 
kinds of reflections, limitations and additions, which 
make his progress slow and his work clumsy and 
unreadable. Kant is a good instance of the introvert, 
and Darwin of the extravert type. 

The lack of assurance in persons of the introvert 
thinking type is shown by their attitude towards their 
surroundings and by their manners, which are often 
very awkward, being either exaggeratedly correct, or 
childishly negligent. Since all emotional problems 
present them with insoluble difficulties, they will 
avoid them if possible ; but if they are unavoidable, 
they will try to find salvation either by clinging on 
principle to conventional forms, or else, equally on 
principle, by venting their feelings in undifferentiated 
forms of expression. Thus there is in reality a close 
connection between the idealists, who talk enthu- 
siastically about pure love, and condemn and loathe 
all sexuality, and those who defend general lawlessness, 
because they think that no restraint should be put 
upon nature. A man of this kind, when he is in love, 
will always feel awkward, uncertain and ridiculous. 
He will try to escape from his difficulty of expression 
by attempting to persuade himself that it is merely 
a transient affection, or that the girl is not so attractive 
after all. If he does not succeed in this, he will try 
to express himself, and then it is often remarkable 
what exaggerated importance he attaches to minutiae 

176 



PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES 

of expression. His emotions will urge him to hold 
forth at length about unimportant details, in order to 
persuade himself that the state of things is such as 
he would like it to be in reality. This tendency may 
also be present in the unconscious, when the emotions 
have been entirely repressed, and will then be some- 
times revealed in an unpleasant manner. My experi- 
ence with patients makes me think it probable that 
most of those suffering from persecution mania belong 
to this type. 

Most thinking introverts are painfully conscious of 
their lack of adaptability, and this often causes them to 
feel inferior. They may hide this from the outer world 
by pride or apparent conceit ; but inwardly they will 
always feel themselves to be in the wrong. This 
sense of inferiority is also connected with the way they 
classify and organise their impulses. They build up 
an ideal about themselves, to which their desires and 
actions are meant to correspond. This happens with 
introverts of other kinds ; but in the case of the think- 
ing introvert, his ideal is formed in accordance with his 
thought-system. As the feelings and desires which 
this system deals with, are not restrained by the natural 
limitations of reality, the ideal will often be affected 
and unnatural in character, and quite unlike what would 
be possible in reality. For the feeling introvert, such 
an ideal is a practical matter, in so far as he desires 
to see himself idealised in the opinions of other people 
whose judgment he respects, or wishes to imitate some- 
one who embodies this ideal for him. But the ideal 
of the thinking introvert is far more a product of his 
fantasy. The further it is removed from reality, the 
more will he feel himself to be inferior. Such an ideal 

177 M 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

may be connected with ambitions or erotic fantasies, 
which have almost no basis ; and the fact that, al- 
though they cannot be realised, they yet provide a 
large amount of facile satisfaction, may sometimes 
create a deep and dangerous chasm between his real 
and his phantasy life. 

I will use as an illustration the dream of a patient 
who began to grow conscious of this condition during 
treatment. He had been absorbed for a long time in 
ambitious fantasies, in one of which he figured as a 
general. He now dreamt that he was in command 
of a besieged fortress. First of all he saw the outside 
of the castle, and was struck by its curious shape. 
Its foundations sloped inwards towards the bottom, so 
that it seemed as if it rested on a relatively small 
base. He immediately reflected that the fortress 
would be difficult to defend, as that point might be 
easily sawn through. After that he found himself 
inside the castle, which then appeared to be a house in 
which he had formerly lived. He was walking round, 
dressed as a knight and holding -a sword in his hand, 
giving orders to retreat into one part of the fortress, 
as it could not be defended any longer. He was going 
along a passage, when suddenly he found himself in 
one of the main streets of Amsterdam, and felt some- 
what awkward to be walking among ordinary people 
dressed as a knight with a naked sword in his hand. 
At first he could not at all understand the meaning of 
this dream ; and yet there may be found in it a re- 
markably plastic image of his mental condition. 
The castle which is built on too small a foundation 
and is therefore indefensible, represents the world 
of his ambitious fantasies, which the treatment was 



PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES 

dealing with. And when he becomes aware of the 
impossibility of realising these fantasies, he sees him- 
self in the ordinary world, dressed up as if for the 
stage, with a sword in his hand, which even in the 
dream strikes him as strange and ridiculous. 

The plasticity of such a dream seems almost too 
obvious to be probable, and is a rare occurrence. It 
shows clearly the tendency of the introvert to with- 
draw from life into a fortified position. If this tendency 
is not so strongly marked, it may lead him to think 
out all his plans beforehand in the greatest detail, 
so as to be prepared for every eventuality. The 
thinking introvert who has been able to overcome his 
weakness and fear of action, may develop into an 
energetic and enterprising leader, who is not easily 
turned aside from his purpose. But if the type is 
markedly narrow, then he is in some danger of losing 
himself in theories which recede further and further 
from the facts of life, and of seeking satisfaction for 
his emotional needs in fantasies. Contact with other 
people may help to restore the balance. 



The extravert intuitive type is more difficult to describe 
than the feeling or thinking types, because one of its 
chief characteristics is its instability and its great power 
of adapting itself. The unconscious mental processes 
of persons of this type make them aware of special 
possibilities, which will then influence all their actions, 
feelings and thoughts. Peaceful, well-balanced rela- 
tions with their surroundings give them a sense of 
discomfort. They express themselves more immedi- 

179 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

ately than the other types both in actions and in words, 
without taking thought beforehand, and without 
necessarily expressing much of their personality. 
They are always striving to realise the fulness of 
life by realising their own being in its various mani- 
festations. At one moment they will attach enormous 
importance to certain human beings or problems, 
which will be forgotten or thrust aside as soon as they 
have served their purpose. Jung writes (XXXVI, 
p. 528) : " They give the impression, which they seem 
to share themselves, that they have just reached the 
most definite crisis in their lives, and that henceforward 
they will be incapable of acting or thinking in any 
different way. . . . And yet the day will come when 
this same condition, which now appears to them as a 
deliverance, will seem to them to be a prison, and they 
will feel compelled to act accordingly, notwithstanding 
all possible arguments to the contrary, and although 
it would be much more reasonable and practical not 
to upset the balance/' 

These intuitive people are apt to have lively, keen 
minds, and to express themselves easily and abun- 
dantly. They are less in contact with their fellow- 
beings than the extravert feeling type, because they 
are less able to elaborate their expression, and adapt 
it to others. They have also less inner unity than the 
thinking types, and their various forms of expression 
are less co-ordinated. They only consider others to 
be of importance in so far as they can assist or prevent 
the realisation of their own potentialities of develop- 
ment, as revealed to them by intuition ; and they are 
apt to judge thoughts and principles, and the ethical 
significance of their impulses, according to this one 

180 



PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES 

practical point of view, and not according to generally 
accepted standards. The only law which they re- 
cognise is the inner power which is urging them 
forward. Persons of a different type are often aston- 
ished at the assurance of the intuitions by which they 
are guided ; but if their self-confidence forsakes them 
for a moment, they are completely at a loss. This 
dependence upon impulses is apt to make them some- 
what fickle. A dream of a markedly intuitive patient 
gave me an interesting instance of this. He saw in 
his dream a large motor-lorry, which had just broken 
down, and he heard the bystanders protesting loudly 
against the wild way the chauffeur had been driving 
He defended him on the ground that such chauffeurs 
were constantly obliged to drive different cars, so 
that they never had a chance of growing familiar 
with one type of machine. The analysis showed that 
this dream symbolised an apology for his own mis- 
takes caused by impetuosity. He had great diffi- 
culty in controlling himself, as he was continually 
being swayed by new impulses and emotions. 

Such intuitive persons are often very active, because 
they involuntarily tend to apply all their energy to 
whatever may arise at the moment ; but they are 
usually impatient for results, and have a great need of 
variety. They display more impulsive energy than 
concentrated will-power. They are especially at home 
in those circumstances, where quick decision and ready 
action are required, as in business, in surgery, or in 
difficult military operations : but they often lack the 
capacity to carry on the work systematically, and 
bring it to a successful conclusion. This type is 
probably found as often among women as among men ; 

181 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

but women tend to use their intuition more in social 
life, and for the purpose of attaining some definite 
object If their personality is not too narrow, in- 
tuitive extraverts may be of great use in the world as 
discoverers and propagators of new ideas. Their 
judgments are founded on immediate conviction, 
rather than on elaborate thought ; and they often 
provide a ready solution to some problem, while reason 
lags behind, entangled in long arguments. Of course 
their intuition may sometimes be wrong, and then 
they will make profound mistakes, because they have 
no means of controlling themselves. But if they 
become aware of their mistakes, they usually know 
how to hide or disguise them with great skill. The 
difficulties that other people have to struggle with, 
seem to leave them unaffected, for they are extremely 
clever at escaping from tight corners. In spite of 
their usual spontaneity and cheerful energy, they are 
subject to moods of depression and uncertainty, 
which they will always try to hide as much as possible. 
Intuition strongly influences- both feelings and 
thoughts in this type, with the result that they are 
lively and often original, yet at the same time self- 
centred. They express their feelings even more than 
the feeling type ; and though the form of their expres- 
sion is less elaborated, it is always spontaneous and 
often very original. Many wits and artists belong to 
this type. Their feelings are rarely permanent, and 
they do not feel the need of arousing similar feelings 
in others. They only seek to satisfy their own need of 
expression. It therefore often happens that such 
people can carry on long conversations without paying 
any attention to the answers and remarks of the person 

182 



PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES 

they are talking to. When they try to arouse a reaction 
in other people, it is only with a special object, and not 
because they wish to get into closer contact with 
them. Indeed they rather fight shy of this, as they 
are anxious not to lose their freedom of intuitive 
action. They frequently have a great number of 
acquaintances and friendly relations with people, but 
no really intimate friends. Their contact with others 
is very restricted, and as though limited almost to 
a single point ; but as this is a very mobile point, 
it seems much greater than it is, and its mobility 
prevents adhesion or intimacy. This tendency to keep 
people at a distance depends upon a hardly conscious 
inner feeling of uncertainty, which is disguised by their 
apparent decisiveness. As long as they can deal 
with immediate events, their intuition will give them 
assurance ; but when they have to meet the assurance 
of others, especially if it is based on sound arguments 
and fully developed thoughts and feelings, the implied 
criticism of their own assurance is so painful to them 
that they try to avoid it. They usually dislike de- 
fining their thoughts or feelings too precisely, because 
this would deprive them of spontaneity, which they 
value above everything else. 

We must regard their ego-centric quality rather as a 
peculiar psychic form of reaction, than as an expression 
of egoism. Both Thinking and Feeling aim at the 
discovery of some common human ground as a basis 
for adaptation. With the feeling type, this basis 
will be found in the elaborated feelings that are common 
to everyone : with the thinking type it will consist 
in some common system of thought : while in the 
intuitive type adaptation will be based upon the indi- 

183 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

vidual expression of the instincts. Now surrounding 
influences may very easily confuse and disturb this 
expression, so it is an absolute necessity to the intuitive 
extravert not to allow these influences to affect him 
too much. Of course, there may be real egoists among 
this type : but they are also found among the feeling 
and thinking types ; and it is just as likely that im- 
pulsive actions may be under the influence of non- 
egoistic intuitions. All the same we may assume that 
the development of the feeling and thinking type, 
especially of extraverts, usually leads away from the 
self towards more common human ground, while the 
development of the extravert intuitive type is ego- 
centric and aims rather at the realisation of the self. 
Therefore the danger of egoism is greater with them 
than with other extraverts, and it will chiefly depend 
upon the nature of their aims whether their expressions 
are of value to the community, or only to themselves. 
There are fewer conflicts in the emotional life of the 
intuitive than of the feeling type. It is true their 
feelings are more full of contradictions ; but these do 
not have such a disturbing effect, because the feelings 
are less developed, and contact with the outer world is 
more mobile and varied. Their ego-centric tendency 
is shown by the fact that usually they only display 
enthusiasm for a cause when they are able to play an 
important part in it themselves ; and the rare occasions 
when they show enthusiasm for other people depend 
upon the amount of appreciation which they receive 
from them. A person of the feeling type is equally 
sensitive to the opinions of others about himself ; but 
his reaction is more elaborated : he will weigh the 
criticism very seriously and may even worry for days 

184 



PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES 

about some unpleasant critical remark ; whereas the 
intuitive type will show his childish vanity by trying to 
avoid any criticism, or by assuming a hostile attitude 
towards it. 

In intellectual matters, persons of the intuitive type 
show the same lively originality, combined with an ego- 
centric tendency. They can argue with great intelli- 
gence and are often considered authorities on various 
questions. They use their thought exclusively in 
order to obtain some definite result, never as an end in 
itself, as with the thinking type. At school, these 
types are often the despair of their teachers, because 
though obviously intelligent, they refuse to exert and 
develop their mental powers, unless they clearly see 
some immediate advantage in doing so. Since they 
do not rely upon Thought as the most important 
function, they often do without it, and the result is 
that their knowledge is often somewhat fragmentary 
and their theories may be quite illogical. Thus in- 
tellectually they resemble the feeling type ; yet they 
may be of value to science, because their mental energy 
will lead to discussion and research. In matters of 
the intellect as well as of feeling, the intuitive will 
avoid being too closely bound by fixed formulas and 
laws, and he will try to avoid joining any special party, 
either in science or in politics. He seldom expresses 
his thoughts in a very definite form, and always seems 
to keep some of them in reserve. This may give an 
impression of insincerity or even of dishonesty ; but 
the true reason is his desire for freedom of intuition. 
The many-sidedness and versatility of intuitive extra- 
verts will often make them excellent go-betweens. 
But in spite of their apparent freedom of mind, they 

185 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

are often bound by conventional opinions and ideas 
borrowed from other people, and thus satisfy their 
need to find a counterpoise to their own instability. 
The great variety and fruitfulness of an intuitive 
extra vert may be so exaggerated as to lead to sterility. 
Other persons who are patient and persistent enough 
to work out his ideas, may then reap the benefit of 
them, and the superficiality of the originator's mind 
will thus become evident. In such a case peculiar 
reactions from the unconscious may come to the 
surface in the form of pathological symptoms, the 
effect of which is to prevent him from living intui- 
tively. It is evident that the treatment here necessary 
should aim at developing the compensating functions. 



Introvert Intuition values inspiration above every- 
thing else, because it opens the way to new possibilities 
of development, which may not have much practical 
value, yet may be of great artistic, moral or religious 
value to humanity. The significance of such inspira- 
tion is often at first difficult to understand, because it 
is so vaguely expressed. This type includes mystical 
dreamers, prophets, and persons of fantastic imagina- 
tion. William Blake seems to me a good example 
of an artist of this type. When such persons are not 
able to express their originality in art, they appear to 
be " possessed." As Jung says, they are suitable 
characters for psychological novels. They are always 
discovering in themselves wonderful thoughts and 
feelings, images and impulses, to which they often 
sacrifice their outward adaptation, and so may become 
extremely wayward in their behaviour. If they 

186 



PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES 

attempt to turn their intuition onto moral problems, 
they will aim at making their own life a realisation of 
their intuitive point of view, and will tend to find 
symbolic meanings in everything. As prophets they 
do not meet with much recognition, since their expres- 
sion is so little adapted to their surroundings. 
Though their beautiful, somewhat vague theories and 
visions seem to lift them above ordinary human beings, 
yet, to the critical observer, they often appear to be 
unconsciously bound by various material concerns. 
This, according to Jung, is the compensating extravert 
sensation function, which, in its unconscious and unde- 
veloped state, binds them to simple, instinctive impulses 
and sensations. If too little attention is paid to this 
compensating tendency, neurosis may result. 



Persons of the extravert sensation type are governed 
by their impressions, to which they react under the 
influence of their instinctive desires, Facts, as per- 
ceived by the senses, are to them the only reality. They 
do not concern themselves with speculation or prin- 
ciples : they are realists to an extreme degree. They 
do not feel the need of formulating their experiences 
into a system, but their reactions are continually 
urging them forward from one sensation to another. 
Their attitude is not entirely passive, for they show a 
certain degree of psychic activity in the way they are 
affected by external impressions. But this activity 
is chiefly unconscious, and much less marked than in 
the intuitive type. It would not be true to say that 
they are entirely without principle, or that their life 
is unrestrained. Sensual pleasure is their chief object 

187 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

in life ; but they require restraint, discipline, and a 
certain amount of self-sacrifice and public spirit in 
order to get the most out of life, just as much as do the 
other types when developing their special functions 
to the highest degree. Thus their life is not without 
order, which is based, not on personal principles or 
feelings, but on traditions and customs, upon which 
humanity has relied throughout the ages. We must 
be careful not to underestimate the importance of such 
tradition, since the whole organisation and stability of 
human society depends upon it. Persons of the extra- 
vert sensation type, more than any others, will find how 
dangerous it is to forsake the old paths which have 
stood the test of time. 

A great many so-called ordinary people belong to this 
class. Their only striking quality may be that they are 
masters in the art of living. They are pleasant people, 
good comrades and gay companions. They often have 
great powers of observation, and so make excellent 
doctors and engineers. Their tendency to collect and 
classify large numbers of facts, is akin to the love they 
sometimes show of collecting objects of aesthetic or 
scientific interest. Persons with good taste and an 
aesthetic appreciation of the higher pleasures in life, 
belong to this type, although they would often regard 
themselves as belonging to the feeling type because of 
their great sensitiveness. They are often clever at 
arguing about the problems and theories of life, but 
they do so more for the sake of conversation than of 
the problems themselves. In order to experience 
certain sensations, they will launch forth into all 
kinds of subjects to which they are usually quite 
indifferent. They seek strong and special sensations, 

188 



PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES 

not merely pleasant ones. They try to bring the out- 
ward appearance of their life into harmony with their 
ideals. They dress well, live in comfortable sur- 
roundings, and have good manners and the necessary 
variety in their conversation and way of living. They 
often have a great knowledge and love of nature, but 
are very little concerned with the inner side of their 
life. Any expression of this inner life which might 
upset their happiness, is thrust aside as morbid. They 
are apt to make the mistake of considering the feelings 
and thoughts of others as akin to their own sensations. 
Their activity chiefly lies in reacting, and in making 
the necessary effort in order to obtain their sensations. 
In some cases, such as coarse, sensual natures, or 
selfish aesthetes, the search for sensations is very 
strained. The other functions will then appear as 
the expressions of the unconscious : but I have no 
space here fully to describe the nature of such pheno- 
mena, because I should then have to deal at some length 
with primitive psychology and pathological questions. 
The treatment of persons of this type is always very 
difficult, as they do not find it easy to get to know 
themselves, or to develop their undeveloped functions 
into useful mental instruments. They often obstin- 
ately persist in ascribing their symptoms solely to 
physical causes, and find great support for this view in 
contemporary medical science. 



Persons of the introvert sensation type are governed 
by their inner sensations, and like the other types that 
are governed by irrational or empirical functions, they 

189 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

are dependent upon the chance event. What is 
important to them is not the cause or objective strength 
of any given sensation, but the degree of their sus- 
ceptibility to it, which might be called the subjective 
side of sensation. Such sensitiveness to sensation 
may on occasions predominate in everyone ; but in 
this type it is the outcome of the inherited disposition 
and early experiences combined, and so predominates 
over all other functions, and the whole mental life is 
adapted to it. If outward circumstances have no 
disturbing influence, this adaptation may satisfy 
all inner needs. As in most cases this inner satisfac- 
tion does not reveal itself to the outer world, such 
persons often appear to be very unhappy and will 
receive much undeserved sympathy. They usually 
give the impression of being reserved, quiet and passive. 
The special quality of their sensations only appears in 
exceptional cases, for instance if they are artists : 
otherwise any original characteristics they may possess 
will remain almost completely hidden, though the 
outsider may be vaguely aware that there is something 
remarkable about them. This habit of keeping their 
inner life entirely to themselves without taking any 
pains to express it, may be attractive to some people, 
but is likely to be irritating to most. 

Persons of this type generally suppress the spon- 
taneous and impulsive side of their nature, because it 
would interfere with their receptivity. As their 
reserve prevents them from receiving much outside 
stimulus, they are not usually very active. Their 
lives lack a conscious direction and they have little 
concentration of will-power. Their outward circum- 
stances are often out of harmony with their desires, 

190 



PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES 

and they may react to this in two different 
ways. 

a. They may try to adapt themselves to the claims of 
the outer world, and will tend to regard their own 
sensations as morbid when they differ from those of 
others. Consequently they will suffer from a sense of 
inferiority. 

b. They may turn away still further from the outer 
world, and withdraw entirely into themselves. Any 
adaptation to others will seem to them mere hypocrisy ; 
and they sometimes show great cleverness in belittling 
other people's motives and ideals. All this is an in- 
ferior outlet for repressed intuition ; and when such 
intuition becomes obsessive, a more serious conflict 
will arise. The lack of inner satisfaction will then 
cause a state of apathy and depression, with occasional 
unexpected intuitive outbursts in the form of over- 
excitement or aggressiveness. 

It is of great importance that such persons .should 
counteract their passiveness and dependence upon 
chance events by regular work and discipline ; also that 
Thinking and Feeling should help them to find some sort 
of contact with the rest of the world. They will then 
gradually discover new and valuable forms of self- 
expression, and they will avoid the disturbing influence 
of their unconscious impulses. 



To conclude this resume, I will call attention to a 
few points which I have not yet dealt with. It should 
be understood that there are no clear lines of demarca- 
tion between these types. They are all developed out 

191 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

of a more primitive type of man, in whom these func- 
tions, guided by instinctive needs, co-operated in a 
more unconscious way. Any onesidedness in the 
development of these functions will in the long run 
give rise to some compensation ; and if this way of 
development is understood and followed, the various 
divergent types will be gradually brought nearer to 
each other. One function rarely predominates to 
such an extreme degree as to exclude all others ; as a 
rule other functions are used as well, so that there is a 
continuous gradation from one type to another. 
Accordingly this classification, like all classifications of 
character, may well appear to be somewhat arbitrary. 
Jung himself does not deny that other methods of 
classification are possible, or that other fundamental 
functions might be discovered. Nevertheless it seems 
to me that Jung's method of differentiating the types 
by means of their various forms of adaptation is one 
of his most fruitful ideas, and that the way he applies 
it to his practical work is as important as the insight 
which Freud has given us into the origin of various 
psychic products. 

Jung's book on this subject deals with many points 
which I have only been able to treat in a summary way. 
It includes a comparison between other methods of 
classification and his own, showing that they are often 
very similar, though they do not cover so much ground. 
He also gives numerous details of the history of human- 
ity, dealing with them from the point of view of con- 
trasted types, and tracing various efforts that have 
been made to solve these contrasts. He proposes to 
deal in a future volume with the technique of his treat- 
ment. Jung's theory about types is only the beginning 

192 



PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES 

of the work that will have to be done upon this subject, 
and a vast amount of material will have to be tested 
and worked over, before we can attain to any scientific 
certainty. Freud and his followers have been able to 
collect a larger amount of material in support of their 
theories than Jung has yet done for his ; and more 
time is required before their validity can be finally 
tested. 

I cannot agree with the opinion of many of Freud's 
followers that Jung's theories are superficial and un- 
important as compared with Psycho-analysis proper, 
or that he has contributed very little that is of value. 
The followers of Freud, thrilled by the new possi- 
bilities of understanding their patients, which their 
discovery of the unconscious has given them, have 
directed their minds chiefly to that side of psychology, 
and emphasised the contrast between the conscious 
and the unconscious. It seems to me that Jung has 
made an important advance by drawing attention 
to the possibilities of co-operation between the con- 
scious and the unconscious, and by maintaining that the 
conscious psyche is the organised and sublimated part 
of the mind. In my opinion this in no way detracts 
from the genius of Freud, but it makes psychology a 
more complicated and difficult subject. 

Freud's teaching has given us information about 
certain characteristic disturbances and difficulties ; 
while in addition we have learnt from Jung the solu- 
tion of these difficulties, and the various typical possi- 
bilities of development. Whereas Freud's psychology 
shows us clearly the faults and failures of others, 
Jung's theory of types helps us to appreciate their 
different ways of adaptation, and to understand their 

193 N 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

success. It will also throw light on the contrasts and 
misunderstandings between the types, which are such 
frequent obstacles to co-operation and sympathy 
among human beings. I will now give a short descrip- 
tion of these contrasts. 

It would seem that the widest contrast is that be- 
tween extreme cases of extra vert and introvert. The 
extravert impresses the introvert as superficial and 
satisfied with mere appearances. The introvert finds 
it difficult to distinguish between his own conventional 
adaptation and the extravert's personal adaptation. 
On the other hand, the extravert looks upon the intro- 
vert as a self-satisfied, eccentric and incalculable human 
being, because he believes him to be entirely dominated 
by the same strange impulses which he himself has 
experienced on rare occasions. 

The difference between rational and empirical persons 
is no less marked. Any event can be regarded either as 
dependent upon law or upon chance ; that is to say 
we regard it as dependent upon law if it fits in with our 
systematised thoughts or feelings, and upon chance if 
it does not do so. In so far as an event depends upon 
law, reason can deal with it. The empirical types do 
not rely on these systems ; at any rate they do so 
much less than the rational types ; and thus it is that 
they accept the element of chance much more readily 
than the thinking and feeling types. They are not so 
much irrational as empirical. Their rational side is a 
secondary function, and their dependence upon chance 
events makes them seem to the rational types to be 
opportunists and deficient in character. Conversely, 
the empirical mind finds it very difficult to conceive 
that anyone can value rational principles and ideals 

194 



PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES 

above the realities of life. If he imagines at all what 
they are like, he looks upon them as unpractical or 
theoretical fanatics, who would be more suitable for 
the profession of clergymen or university dons than for 
ordinary practical life. 

The contrast between the thinking and feeling types 
is again quite different. Here too we see that one indi- 
vidual can judge another only by comparing him with 
himself. The result will be that a narrow thinking 
type will consider the feelings of the opposite type 
to be just as undeveloped, inferior and conventional 
as his own ; while the feeling type will not take into 
account the thoughts and principles of the thinking 
type, because he expects them to be of as little value 
as he feels his own to be. Again, from the point of 
view of the thinking type with its fixed laws, the feeling 
type will seem to be as variable and fickle as the sen- 
sational or the intuitive type. But to the feeling type, 
the thinking type will appear to be always making use 
of circumstances in a cold, hard and calculating manner. 
This is somewhat the same impression as is produced 
upon him by the businesslike adaptation of the in- 
tuitive or the sensation type. 

The sensation and the intuitive types are also 
opposed. The quiet adaptation to facts and to emo- 
tional needs, and the desire not to depart from historical 
tradition, which characterise the sensation type are 
very different from the active, restless search for possi- 
bilities and change which we find in the intuitive type. 
Here again each type will judge the predominating 
function of the other by comparing it to his own 
undeveloped function. The intuitions of the sensation 
type disturb the enjoyment he is seeking ; but if the 

195 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

contrast between his functions is not too great, these 
intuitions will provide him with agreeable and varied 
experiences. Thus he will regard the intuitive in one 
way as a fickle and restless being, who fails to enjoy 
life because of sudden impulses and fancies, while in 
another way he will look upon the originality of the 
intuitive as a valuable addition to the sensations to be 
got out of life. Again, the freedom of the intuitive is 
sometimes unpleasantly restricted by sensations arising 
from the unconscious, and he will infer that similar 
restrictions exist in the sensation type, although the 
latter may give an impression of calm assurance. 

All these contrasts may be still further complicated 
in various ways. Thus a thinking introvert will find 
it very difficult to understand a feeling extravert, and 
in a different way he will feel at a loss with an intuitive 
or sensational extravert. When we consider all these 
opportunities for misunderstanding, we may well 
wonder that human beings have all the same discovered 
so many useful forms of contact. But in the first 
place we must remember that such misunderstandings 
are the cause not only of unjustified contempt and 
repulsion, but also of unexpected appreciation and 
attraction. Thus it may happen that someone, who 
is aware of his own shortcomings, may for that very 
reason appreciate in others the special adaptations 
which he himself lacks. This appreciation is some- 
times exaggerated at moments of psychic crisis. 
Introverts in particular often suffer from such exag- 
geration : and this gives them a sense of inferiority. 
Conscious agreement in their judgments may cause an 
involuntary bond between the thinking and feeling 
types, just as a common experience of chance events 

196 



PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES 

may be a bond between the empirical types. But such 
relations may also be due to unconscious causes. We 
often find that strongly opposed types, who do not in 
the least understand each other, nevertheless attract 
one another as if by magic. We can partly explain 
this by the fact that for practical purposes they com- 
plete each other, as often happens in marriage or in 
business associations. But this does not explain the 
process by which they discovered one another. More- 
over these relations often exist without any practical 
object or result. We must therefore assume that some 
unconscious undeveloped function is urging one of 
them to discover in the other that more developed 
form of the same function, of which he is in such need 
for his own development. Although in some cases 
part of this process may be conscious, yet such relations 
do not really admit of a conscious examination, for 
then the contrasts would be brought to light and 
would cause mutual disparagement, because what is 
of most value in one mind is just what is inferior in the 
other. 

This attraction between contrasted types is certainly 
not the only, nor the chief bond in which the uncon- 
scious plays an important part. The undeveloped, 
unconscious function of one person may be attracted 
by a similar undeveloped but conscious function in 
another, as when a girl, who has been very strictly 
brought up, is fascinated by a libertine and rejects 
all parental advice, or as when an honest business man 
feels bound, against his better judgment, to place 
himself in the power of a man of bad reputation. 
Freud has given many illustrations of similar uncon- 
scious attractions in his psychological writings. 

197 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

Thus we see that sympathy, as well as antipathy, 
may give rise to numerous misunderstandings. Hence 
there is great need of a psychology which may help us 
to understand the differences between the various 
types. Such a psychology should also throw light on 
the contrasts between nationalities. It is of course 
absurd to judge a whole nation as if it were a single 
individual ; yet we see that a nation will cling to certain 
definite ideals, which are those of its average indi- 
vidual, and will impose them through the medium of 
education. Hence the culture of one nationality 
often shows the characteristics of a special type. It 
is much easier to explain the contrast between French 
and German mentality, if we realise the importance of 
Feeling to the Frenchman, and the predominance of 
Thinking in the German ; and a similar method should 
help us to understand the impulsive intuitive American, 
and the Englishman with his differentiated sensations 
and his respect for tradition. 



198 



CHAPTER VI 

THE RELATION BETWEEN THE CONSCIOUS 
AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

INVESTIGATIONS into the unconscious processes have 
very largely modified and extended our conception of 
the unconscious mind. Formerly only certain strictly 
limited psychic processes were conceived of as uncon- 
scious, and it was thought that these could at times be 
made conscious, though not without difficulty. These 
unconscious processes suggested a hypothetical explana- 
tion of many mysterious symptoms. This view is held 
by Freud in regard to a great part of these processes. 
He also considers that extensive introspection, helped 
by the study of dreams and fantasies, can bring to light 
many unconscious processes. But besides these, he 
assumes the existence of active unconscious processes 
which cannot be made conscious, and whose existence 
can only be proved by observing their influence on the 
conscious mind. Here also the unconscious is the 
hypothetical explanation of various conscious distur- 
bances ; but it is more difficult to produce immediate 
proofs to support it. However such hypotheses are 
always allowed in science, on condition that they are 
continually being tested by facts. We find numerous 
instances in natural science (XVIII, p. 29) such as 
the theory of atoms and molecules, which no one 
has ever directly perceived, yet to which we ascribe 

199 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

powerful energies. We could extend this comparison 
by saying that just as all material events are based upon 
atoms and molecules, so all perceivable psychic events 
are based on unconscious psychic processes. Freud 
gradually reached this conclusion through the theory 
that instinctive desires are the basis of the entire psychic 
life. This theory has really carried him beyond psy- 
chology, the task of which consists in tracing the laws 
of the psychic life without troubling to discover upon 
what it is based. Freud is aware of this, and therefore 
talks of meta-psychological theories (XIV, p. 200) on 
the analogy of metaphysics, which aim at discovering 
the basis of physical phenomena. But in so far as 
certain definite unconscious processes are examined 
from the point of view of their relation to some con- 
sciously experienced result, this study should certainly 
form part of pure psychology. 

Freud has drawn special attention to the fact that 
repression may be the cause why a desire, with all its 
related feelings and images, fails to rise into conscious- 
ness. Thus the unconscious would consist of the 
repressed or useless part of the mind. But this seems 
to me a somewhat narrow view, even according to 
Freud's own theories ; for if we agree with him that 
conscious life is based on these unconscious forces, 
we should also admit the possibility that there may be 
some part of the unconscious which owing to various 
causes, quite apart from repression, has not been 
developed into consciousness.* Jung and Maeder 
have extended Freud's theories, by suggesting that 
this unconscious part of the mind is its undeveloped 

* This would be called the " Primary Unconscious " according 
to Tansley (See Note, p. 113). 

200 



CONSCIOUS AND UNCONSCIOUS 

rather than its repressed side. They therefore look 
upon the unconscious as a source of development, 
instances of which we saw in dreams and in the in- 
spirations of artists and inventors, as I described in a 
former chapter. We also saw that these expressions 
of the unconscious are sometimes the compensations 
of a one-sided development. We occasionally find 
entirely new material among these expressions, as in 
the remarkable experiences of telepathy and dreams, 
which the Society of Psychical Research has collected. 
Some forms of insanity also present us with quite new 
expressions of the unconscious. We often find delu- 
sions which cannot be traced back to the early life of the 
patients, and show a remarkable resemblance to the con- 
tents of the mind of primitive man. I may also mention 
the experiences of mystics, who hear voices or see 
visions when they are in a special state of mind. All 
these mental products depend upon the unconscious ; 
and it is probable that, besides many regressive ele- 
ments, they also contain some new creative elements. 

It is difficult to base a comprehensive understanding 
of the unconscious upon the above theories alone. 
Freud's theory, which emphasises repression, seems 
unsatisfactory, because he does not sufficiently take 
into account the development of new possibilities out 
of unconscious impulses. Jung, on the other hand, 
regards the unconscious more as the inherited dis- 
position, and he sees a remarkable connection between 
expressions of insanity, certain dreams, forms of art 
or scientific views on the one hand, and the forms of 
expression of our primitive ancestors on the other. 
He gives the name of " the collective unconscious " 
to that part of the mind which in the course of ages 

201 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

has been determined by the inherited form of brain- 
structure, and which we find expressed in the disposi- 
tion common to all mankind. The various psychic 
products which we find in the history of human culture 
throughout the ages, such as ancient religions, mytho- 
logies and superstitions, often reveal striking similari- 
ties. These have convinced some scientists that the 
various ancient races must have had some means of 
contact, of which there is no record ; but Jung ascribes 
the similarity to a common psychical structure of the 
unconscious mind. If we accept this theory, we shall 
find that these psychical products of the race are an 
excellent means by which to investigate the structure 
of the collective unconscious. The curious ideas 
which primitive man connects with natural phenomena, 
must then be regarded as the projected content of his 
own unconscious psyche. Freud and some of his 
pupils have also to some extent accepted this view 
(XVI), but they trace the origin of these psychic 
phenomena to the influence of environment, while Jung 
tries to discover in them a -tentative and groping 
process of evolution Here again it seems to me that 
these two theories do not so much oppose as complete 
and correct one another. 

The followers of both schools however agree that the 
various influences of the unconscious form a connecting 
link between the conscious life of modern man and 
the impulses, thoughts and feelings of another lower 
mental sphere, which bears some resemblance to the 
spiritual life of our primitive ancestors. But Freud, 
as we have seen, emphasises the importance of the 
experiences of early childhood in their influence upon 
development, whereas Jung tends to lay more stress 

202 



CONSCIOUS AND UNCONSCIOUS 

on inherited disposition, which he explains by his 
theory of the collective unconscious. 

Anyone who undertakes a serious study of the ex- 
pressions of his unconscious psyche, will experience a 
considerable extension of his conscious personality, 
since he will not only penetrate into earlier stages of his 
development and perceive the threads which bind his 
present life to his past, but he will also discover powers 
of a vague and remote nature which link him to the 
experiences and potentialities of his race. This exten- 
sion of his inner experience is not without danger, 
because the conscious content of his mind is apt to grow 
vague and chaotic, and so may seriously threaten his 
organised spiritual life and lead to insanity. It is 
therefore desirable that the investigation of the uncon- 
scious should be made under the systematic guidance of 
an experienced doctor, in order that the newly dis- 
covered material may be immediately organised. It is 
most inadvisable to treat Psycho-analysis as an amusing 
game or pastime Self-analysis should only be under- 
taken by those who are aware of its serious character 
and of its dangers, and who are in real need of it. This 
may explain and justify the objections which many 
healthy people entertain against this stirring up of the 
unconscious. They usually feel completely remote 
from such things and are content to remain so. 

So far, the synthetic method of introspection has 
been used to advantage chiefly in the case of patients 
who wished to get rid of disturbing symptoms. But it 
may very well prove that a general application of this 
method will be of great assistance to the development 
both of the normal man and of the human race in 
general. It is clear that persons who are not much 

203 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

troubled by symptoms arising from the unconscious, 
will derive more benefit from a synthetic than from 
an analytic treatment ; their aim will be to collect 
material for their further development, rather than 
to get rid of troublesome mental products Hence a 
genuine Freudian psycho-analysis rarely finds in 
healthy people any urgent motive for penetrating into 
their repressed spheres. Even where there are slight 
morbid symptoms with no particularly disturbing 
results, there does not seem to be sufficient reason for 
the analytic method. But the synthetic method, 
which aims at discovering all possibilities of develop- 
ment, by means of the expression of the unconscious, 
resembles much more closely the conscious strivings of 
many human beings ; and this resemblance will help 
to overcome the resistance, which may occur in the 
course of introspection. Thus synthetic analysis is in 
close connection with conscious self-knowledge. Freud 
would probably regard this method merely as the 
process of bringing the pre-conscious into full con- 
sciousness ; but this seems to me too simple an ex- 
planation. 

, We must now consider a question which is occupying 
the minds of many psychologists of our day : what is 
the relative importance of conscious and of unconscious 
strivings in the development of the mind ; and will 
a systematised investigation of the unconscious always 
lead to greater clearness and harmony in the individual's 
psychic development ? We must first explain more 
exactly what we mean by psychic development. All 
living organisms develop through the interaction of 
outer circumstances and inner disposition, so that they 
are continually finding ever better adaptations to the 

204 



CONSCIOUS AND UNCONSCIOUS 

demands of both. The growth of a tree adapts itself 
to the quality of the soil and the prevalent winds, while 
.at the same time it realises more and more completely 
the inborn nature of the tree. Psychic development 
also contains these two aspects. The influence of the 
outer world is too evident to need explanation. Freud 
has increased our knowledge of it in many respects. 
But two opinions are possible as to the importance of 
the inborn disposition. We may either regard the 
conscious personality as being the genuine expression 
of the disposition, and attach little importance to 
the unconscious processes ; or else we may consider 
that the inborn disposition is manifested chiefly in the 
unconscious processes, whereas the consciously organ- 
ised part of the mind represents a more or less arbitrary 
expression of the disposition. Our opinion as to the 
value of introspection will depend upon which of these 
two views we hold. 

If we turn our attention to the psychic event in 
ourselves, we find that this event is both complex and 
simple at the same time. For everything that we 
experience is experienced by our Ego, and is, as it 
were, assimilated by it. The fact that it is I, who have 
heard or seen, thought, felt or done something, creates 
a link between these various activities, and unifies them 
in our experience. When once we have become con- 
scious of our Ego, we never again lose this con- 
sciousness ; and yet we are never able to form a 
definite conception of our Ego. It is the power in 
us that thinks and acts and feels, and that compre- 
hends the whole psychic activity (XXX, p. 225). 
We cannot perceive the Ego, any more than we can 
stand behind ourselves and watch our actions. We can 

205 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

come nearest to a conception of it in its aspect as a 
unity. It is a point without dimension ; and if we 
were to attempt to extend this point, we should come 
to certain conditions or functions of the Ego, such as 
feelings or thoughts. But this is no longer the Ego ; 
it is the Self or personality. The Ego is an entity 
enthroned above the Self, the contents of which it 
surveys. It is necessary to distinguish clearly between 
these two. 

We seldom succeed in concentrating our attention 
upon the entity of our Ego, and we are just as seldom 
conscious of the fact that our present life is based on 
the whole of our past life, and that all our experiences 
may influence the present. This influence of the past 
usually works in our unconscious, and we are uncon- 
scious of the fact that past and present experiences 
become unified in our mind. We can however con- 
sciously differentiate between the two by means of 
introspection. If we turn our attention to the past, 
we shall see that our psychic life is much more complex 
than we had first thought ; what seemed to us a simple 
impulse, then proves to be the product of an uncon- 
scious assimilation of a former experience. A feeling 
of sympathy can thus be explained as the result of old 
remembrances, which were called forth by a superficial 
likeness to someone we were fond of in our youth. 
The more conscious we become of this complicated 
process, the more clearly shall we perceive that all our 
experience constantly accompanies us and remains 
active. At the same time, we shall realise that we can 
never obtain a comprehensive view of those influences 
of the past in their entirety. This is partly the result of 
repression, as Freud has made clear, and partly because 

206 



CONSCIOUS AND UNCONSCIOUS 

the complexity is too great for our consciousness to 
grasp it as a whole. 

I should like to use, in a modified form, an image 
borrowed from Bergson (III, p. 165), and illustrate by 
a diagram the influence exerted on our psychic life by 
these two poles, the ego and the unconscious experience. 
He uses the image of a cone which contains the whole 
psychic event. 



Consciou: 
personality 




\,; Unconscious content 

InsTmclTvte disposition 



The apex represents the active Ego, while the basis 
contains the whole of the past experiences. Both 
poles together govern all psychic activity. If we also 
take into account Freud's theories, we must add that a 
part of this past experience is less immediately influ- 
ential, because of the repressing activity of the censor. 
Under the influence of the conscious Ego, the con- 
stantly recurring contents of the mind are organised 
into selected groups of psychic experiences, which are 
of greater importance to us than any others. It is 
this organised Self that affects repression. This may 
explain what is meant by saying that " we were not 
quite ourselves." We mean that we went outside 

207 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

the narrow region which constitutes the Self, and our 
expressions were unlike those which we are accustomed 
to, and which are in harmony with our conscious 
organisation. 

It is not my intention to go further into the philo- 
sophical side of these problems I only wished to 
point out that psychic events and qualities are not all 
related in the same degree to the conscious self or per- 
sonality. The repressed unconscious processes are 
those that are furthest removed ; but other unconscious 
or preconscious processes can also be reckoned as 
belonging to the outer region of the Self. The inter- 
action between the Ego and the preconscious and 
unconscious processes is quite constant and con- 
tinuous. There is less interaction between the Ego 
and the repressed part of the unconscious, but even 
there it is never entirely absent. The unconscious 
gives variety to the psychic event, the Ego gives 
stability and harmony to it. By bringing the uncon- 
scious part of the psychic event into consciousness, we 
shall discover the desires which underlie the psychic 
event, and be able to analyse the psyche into its 
various elements. On the other hand a synthesis of 
the psyche may be arrived at by grouping together 
the various thoughts, feelings, sensations and intuitions 
under the control of the Ego. Consciousness is most 
intense where contradictions and difficulties are being 
solved by means of a unifying synthesis ; whereas 
one-sidedness, automatism and disconnectedness are 
characteristic of the unconscious. When unconscious 
desires and feelings are drawn into the consciousness, 
they tend to enrich and develop the psyche, while 
the activity of the conscious mind is directed towards 

208 



CONSCIOUS AND UNCONSCIOUS 

grouping and organising its material.* Thus though 
the unconscious may be helpful in enriching and com- 
pleting the mind, it is not suited to be the governing 
force because of its instability. 

We have now arrived somewhat nearer to the answer 
to our question, which we can reformulate thus : 
which is of more importance to the development of the 
psyche, the organised unity provided by the conscious- 
ness, or the variety of possibilities arising from the 
unconscious ? Evidently both are necessary to de- 
velopment, and we begin to perceive that their relative 
importance depends chiefly upon individual circum- 
stances. Let us take as instances the extreme con- 
trasts of A, whose mind is stiffened and stereotyped 
by his conscious principles, and B, who constantly 
lets himself go in answer to any chance sensation or 
inspiration. For A, the way to a new and richer life 
will be opened by raising to the conscious plane the 
unconscious, insufficiently organised side of his per- 
sonality ; while in B's case this same process would 
either increase the chaos or leave it untouched. A 
will quite naturally set about bringing the newly 
discovered facts into harmony with the rest of his 
personality ; while this harmonising process is one 
which B will have to learn with an effort. The differ- 
ence between A's point of view and B's, is much the 
same as the difference between Jung's rational and 
irrational types. 

* In cases of psychic disturbance the unconscious is organised 
to a certain extent ; and next to the nucleus of the personality we 
find what might be called a contranucleus. In obsessional neuroses 
this organisation is not very marked, but it appears clearly in cases of 
automatic writing or of dual personality in hysteria (p. 8-9), and 
it may also be observed in mediums or in the insane. 

209 o 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

In the last chapter I attempted to describe the 
various ways in which the conscious Self may develop, 
and its various relations to the unconscious ; but this 
very variety made it difficult to explain what qualities 
these developing processes have in common. William 
James has treated this question extensively in his 
Varieties of Religious Experience (XX). He re- 
stricts the problem to a certain kind of change in the 
Self, namely to religious conversion ; but this makes 
it all the easier to obtain a clear view of the matter, 
for religious development is closely connected with the 
general development of character. James describes 
conversion as a change in the nucleus of the personality, 
or as a new synthesis. He shows by a great many 
examples that this change may be brought about 
in a variety of ways. In cases of one kind, the process 
is chiefly conscious, though powerfully influenced by 
unconscious desires which are the cause of conflict and 
unrest. But there are other cases of an opposite kind, 
where the new nucleus arises and develops in the uncon- 
scious, so that the conversion takes place as a complete 
and sudden revolution. In such cases it would seem as 
though at the critical moment two beings were 
struggling to gain possession of the soul. This kind 
of conversion mostly occurs in people whose conscious 
mind is but little developed, and such striking regener- 
ative changes often suggest the symbol of re-birth. 
If the change is more gradual, the conscious life will 
play a greater part in it, and it will merely appear to 
be a crisis in the psychic development. But in both 
cases the result will be a widening and unification of 
the personality. We have seen that this takes place 
in all psychic development ; but the difference is 

210 



CONSCIOUS AND UNCONSCIOUS 

that in a conversion, the contrast between the old 
and the 'new condition is much more marked than in 
a process which develops gradually. Sometimes, 
especially in intuitive persons, a less important change 
of the Self may suddenly arise out of the unconscious. 
But this kind of synthesis may simply be the revela- 
tion of a new undiscovered part of the disposition, 
and cannot be interpreted as a general reorganisation 
of the psyche. 

In my opinion the word re-birth, if it is to be used 
at all in psychology, ought to be confined to those 
cases in which the new synthesis is a truer image of the 
disposition than the earlier one, and in which the 
nucleus of the Self has become more central after the 
change than it was before. It is only in those cases 
that the change will lead to a decrease of inner con- 
flict, and an increase of strength and assurance, which 
will enable the individual to develop more in accord- 
ance with his inmost nature. We may illustrate this 
process by slightly altering our former diagram. 



Old Self 




\ 



InsTTncfiVc disposition 

Some special circumstances in a person's life may some- 
times awaken a new part (x-y) of the instinctive dis- 
position. This may give rise to new unconscious 
processes, which may in part succeed in passing the 

211 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

censor, and may thus grow into a more or less inde- 
pendently organised group of psychic processes, which 
with its own apex A will be found in opposition to the 
conscious organisation. This will lead to an in- 
creasingly conscious solution, and to a more compre- 
hensive standpoint of the Ego, which, from the apex 
B, will then embrace a new and wider organisation. 
It is evident that the extension of the organisation may 
be produced either by the growth of A or of the Ego. 

Although this is only an incomplete description of 
the process of re-birth, it is sufficient to show the 
similarity between re-birth and the development at 
which psychological treatment aims Here also the 
relative importance of the part played by conscious 
and unconscious processes may be very different. 
One person will look upon his unconscious as the source 
of all creative power ; while another, whose gradual 
development is governed by conscious tendencies, 
will look upon his conscious ideals as the guiding 
force in his life. Each of them mistakenly identifies 
his own method of obtaining unity and harmony 
with the resulting development itself, and this may give 
rise to considerable misunderstanding. 

Psychic development can only be really understood 
by those who have first experienced it, and afterwards 
studied it introspectively. To them it appears as a 
process which is regulated by its own laws and prin- 
ciples, and which gives them an inner conviction and 
assurance. Religious experience moreover gives rise 
to the conviction that this special form of development 
not only takes place in the individual, but is common 
to the whole of humanity as a creative principle. Thus 
the idea of religious re-birth will gain a metaphysical 

212 



CONSCIOUS AND UNCONSCIOUS 

significance, in so far as it is held to imply a unifica- 
tion of ourselves with that deepest basis of our being 
which contains some of the cosmic energy operating 
in the universe outside the individual. 

Whatever may be the religious or metaphysical 
opinions of the psychological practitioner, he must be 
careful to distinguish them from his views on psy- 
chology, and psychological treatment, otherwise psy- 
chology will become the battlefield of beliefs of every 
kind, instead of a science based on experience, and the 
psychological basis of the unconscious will become 
confused with a metaphysical conception of the 
unconscious, such as von Hartmann considers to be 
the basis of all psychic and material events. Accord- 
ing to that view the creative energy which is found in 
all vital processes, would only belong to the uncon- 
scious ; whereas in point of fact it is also found in 
conscious processes and in organic life. 

It may be useful to restate clearly what constitutes 
the similarity and the difference between a psycho- 
logical treatment and a religious development. They 
are similar in so far as both deal with an inner conflict 
that arises when new regions and qualities of the 
psyche, opposed to the former unity of the conscious 
personality, begin to show themselves. In both cases 
the solution of this conflict is found in a new synthesis, 
which is at the same time a widening and a unification 
of the mind. In psychological treatment the success 
of the synthesis is measured by the patient's symptoms, 
which will reveal whether the inner conflict is solved. 
It is of secondary importance how far unity of organisa- 
tion has been obtained, or the consciousness of an inner 
creative principle, which may lead to religious experi- 

213 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

ence. But in a conversion or religious development, 
what is first aimed at is this consciousness of unity 
with the divine spirit ; and this may subsequently 
lead to a solution of the inner conflict, and bring about 
a synthesis. Thus the ideal which is aimed at is very 
similar in both cases, but the road by which it is reached 
may be very different. As religions usually aim at a 
special kind of synthesis, it would be dangerous if 
psychology were to fall under their influence, for it 
might then lose some of its scientific objectivity. I 
hope that I have now shown that the latest psychology 
does not regard religion as a relic of primitive ages, 
which may be of historic interest, but can be of no use 
to a modern human being. Jung and Maeder especially 
have laid stress on the importance to mankind in general 
of this desire for harmony, both within the Self and in 
relation to the universe, which has been expressed by 
all religions throughout the ages ; and with this 
opinion I am in complete agreement. It also seems 
to me that psychology can be of great help to us in 
deepening our understanding of religious processes, so 
long as it strictly confines itself to its own point of 
view. 

We will now try to answer the practical question, 
whether systematic introspection leading to a dis- 
covery of the unconscious, is useful and desirable for 
the development of a human being. In the first place 
we must remember that the vital principle which 
organises the inner and outer experiences of the mind, 
does not work exclusively either in the conscious or in 
the unconscious. In most cases the development 
will proceed most satisfactorily when there is inter- 
action between conscious and unconscious processes. 

214 



CONSCIOUS AND UNCONSCIOUS 

We shall usually find that in normal persons this 
interaction occurs naturally, without any special 
effort. The greatest men of all ages, when looking 
backwards on their lives, have often felt as though they 
had been urged forward in their development by some 
unknown power outside their own conscious will, and 
as though their surrender to this power had helped 
them more than any strained effort of will-power could 
have done. Thus it seems to me that a systematic 
hunting for products of the unconscious is by no means 
a necessity for development, and should certainly 
not be put forward as an ideal. In a normal develop- 
ment the necessary factors will naturally come forward 
when they are required. 

If we consider someone in a state of moral or reli- 
gious conflict, we find that his attention is continually 
being drawn to certain thoughts and feelings arising 
from the unconscious, and that a conscious assimila- 
tion of these may help towards a solution. Although 
a similar predominance of products of the unconscious 
occurs in cases of mental illness, no unaided conscious 
assimilation is there possible ; but psycho-analysis 
may bring a solution by providing insight into these 
unconscious processes by a method which only differs 
from the natural unaided solution of such conflicts by 
being more technical. In these morbid cases, a system- 
atic assimilation of the products of the unconscious will 
help towards a solution, because in such mental dis- 
turbances the natural co-operation between the con- 
scious and the unconscious is lacking. 

It may also happen that the natural process of 
development has been disturbed, although there is no 
definite conflict between conscious and unconscious 

215 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

processes. The consciously organised mind may have 
grown so rigid that it is no longer capable of receiving 
new impulses and impressions. If in these cases we 
succeed in drawing the attention to the unconscious, 
the whole mental life may be intensified. This is also 
true of the life of the community, where the desire to 
escape from old rigid forms is shown by the appearance 
of various new forms of religion, art and politics, and 
also by a general interest in the more remarkable 
products of the unconscious. But where the develop- 
ment, both in the case of individuals and of com- 
munities, is not so much a natural growth arising from 
inner needs, as a conscious effort directed by the desire 
for development, there will be a danger that a condi- 
tion of barbaric one-sidedness and discord will result. 
It therefore seems to me most important that, in spite 
of the excellent results of conscious treatment, we 
should never lose sight of the ideal development, 
which takes place according to its own natural laws 
and rhythm. A systematic method, which does not 
keep step with that inner rhythm, may do more harm 
than good. Freud has given excellent advice to 
practitioners on that subject, and has recommended 
certain precautions against arbitrary interference, 
which we should do well to follow in any treatment of 
the unconscious. 

The increased understanding of the origin and 
solution of psychic conflicts will also be of special 
value to those persons who are consciously aiming at 
self-development, unaided by any treatment. By 
gaining insight into their problems, they will 
acquire the necessary patience and perseverance 
to allow the natural development to take its 

216 



CONSCIOUS AND UNCONSCIOUS 

course, without disturbing it by strained efforts and 
experiments. 

If a doctor is to guide a process of development, he 
must in the first place respect the law of development 
peculiar to his patient. He will only be capable of 
doing this, if he accepts and follows such a principle in 
his own life. Even then his task will be anything but 
easy, because this principle of development manifests 
itself in so many various ways, and because it is always 
extremely difficult to penetrate thoroughly into the 
psychology of others. 

I venture to think that synthetic psychology will 
be of great help to human development in the future. 
It will lead to a greater respect for the freedom of 
individual growth, and it will also remove many sources 
of misunderstanding. We shall come to realise that 
our conflicts about ideas and principles are often no 
more than disguised attempts to domineer and to 
suppress the opinions of others, who after all have as 
much right to their own ideas as we have. This point 
of view may shock those people who consider their 
own judgments to be the only right ones. But we 
hope that they may console themselves by the thought 
that the objective recognition of various possible 
theories will lead naturally to a new and more com- 
prehensive point of view in psychology. 

The future of this new psychology seems so vast and 
so fiill of possibilities, that it may well appear to some 
people as a mere speculative fantasy. In my opinion 
we are only at the beginning of this development, and 
it will require the efforts of many scientists through 
several generations to bring the work to perfection. 
In this book I have only been able to give the main 

217 



CHARACTER AND THE UNCONSCIOUS 

outline of the new psychology, which attracts so many 
people who had sought in vain for help and enlighten- 
ment in the old academic psychology. Instead of 
looking upon the human mind as an engine, which we 
examine by taking it to pieces wheel by wheel, we now 
realise the unity of the psychic organism, and try to 
understand it in its coherent activity. In the course 
of this study we shall constantly meet with impene- 
trable mysteries, but the new psychology teaches us to 
recognise our shortcomings, and frankly to confess our 
ignorance. All our knowledge ends in realising that 
the basis of our life is mystery. A science which leads 
us to face this truth, brings us into contact with the 
deepest problems of our being. 



218 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



I. ALFR. ADLER, Ueber den nervftsen Character. 1912. 
II. W. F. HENRI BERGSON, L evolution cr&atrice. 146 dd. 

III. Matiere et memoir e. ice ^d. 

IV. E. BLEULER, Affectivitiit^ Suggestibilitdt^ Paranoia. 

1906. 

V. M. K. BRAD BY, Psycho-analysis and its place in life. 
1919. 

VI. Jos. BREUER und Sigm. Freud, Studien iiber Hysteric. 
2e Aufl. 

VII. HANS DRIESCH, Das Problem der Freiheit. 2e Aufl. 

VIII. SIGM. FREUD, Zur Psychopathologie des Alltagslebens. 
3e Aufl, 

IX. Die Traumdeutung. 3e Aufl. 

X. Sammlung kleiner Schriften zur Neuro- 

senlehre. 2e Folge. 

XL Drei Abhandlungen zur Sexualtheorie. 

3e Aufl. 

XII. FormulierungenuberdiezweiPrinzipien 

des psychischen Geschehens. Jahrb. f. 
Ps.An.F. 6.3. H. i. 

XIII. Zur Einfuhrung des Narcismus. Jahrb. 

f.Ps.An.F. B.6. 

XIV. Das Unbewuszte. Intern. Zeitschr. F. 

Ps. An. 3e Jahrg. 

XV. Vorlesungen zur Einfuhrung in die 

Psychoanalyse. 1916. 

XVI. Totem und Tabu. 1913. 

XVII. Jenseits des Lustprinzips. 2 e Aufl. 

XVIII. J. H. VAN DER HOOP, Ueber die kausalen und verstdnd- 
lichen Zusammenhdnge nach Jaspers. 
Zeitschr. / d. ges. Neur. u. Ps. 
B. 68. 

XIX. HERMINE HUG HELLMUTH, Vom "mittleren" Kinde. 
Imago. B. 7. H. i. 

XX. WILLIAM JAMES, The Varieties of Religious Experience. 
28th impr. 
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BIBLIOGRAPHY 

XXI. PIERRE JANET, Letat mental des hysteriques. 2e &L 
XXII. ERNEST JONES, Papers on Psycho- Analysis. 1918. 

XXIII. C. G. JUNG, Ueber Konflikte der kindlichen Seele. 2e 
Aufl. 

XXIV. Wandlungen und Symbols der Libido. 

XXV. Collected Papers on Analytical Psychology 

(transl. C. E. Long). 

XXVI. Psychologische Typen. 1921. 

XXVII. ALPHONSE MAEDER, Ueber das Traumproblem. Jahrb. 
f. Ps. An. F. B. 5. 

XXVIII. Heilung und Entwicklung im Seel- 

enleben. 

XXIX. MAURICE NICOLL, Dream Psychology. 1917. 

XXX. KONSTANTIN OESTERREICH, Die Phcinomenologie des 
Ich. 1910. 

XXXI. HERBERT SILBERER, Ueber die Symbolbildung Jahrb. 
f. Ps. An. F. B. 3. H. 2. 

XXXII. Probleme der Mystik und ihrer 

Symbolik. 1914. 

XXXIII. A. G. TANSLEY, The New Psychology and its Relation 

to Life. 6th impr. 



2 2O 



INDEX 



Adler, 56-57 

Analytic method, 114-115, 131, 204 
Association method in dream interpre- 
tation, 37-38, 42, 47, 106, 121, 
128 

,, -psychology, 9, 18 
Auto-erotic period, 85 



Bed -wetting, 63, 65, 86 

Belief in omnipotence of thought, 83 

Bergson, 103, 105, 207 

Birth, phantasies about, 74'?6 

'Bradby, Miss M. K., 52 

Breuer, 9-11 



Censor, 41, 207, 211 

Charcot, 2-5, 8, 28 

Childhood, curiosity in, 76, 93-94 

,, education, 132-136 

,, growing independence, 89, 92 

,, hysteria in, 20-21 

,, infancy, 61-62 

influence of death on, 81-83 

,, influence of illness on, 84 

influence of, on later life, 61, 80 

periods of, 65-66, 85-88, 93-94 

puberty, 88, 90, 94 

,, repression in, 54 

,, sexual emotions in, 88 
Child's relation to parents, 70, 77 

,, during puberty, 



. 

to brothers and sisters, 73 

to the family, 77-79 



Conversion, 13 



Darwin, 102, 176 
Dependence on doctor, 25 
Determinist theory, 104 
Disturbances, forgetting, 35, 107 

misreading, 33 

,, slight, due to unconscious, 32-36 

slips of the pen, 33-35 

tongue, 33 



Dreams, analysis of, 36-49, 106-107, 
112-113, 116, 120-122, 124, 
126-131 

instances of, 36, 38-40, 43-45, 
108-109, 122, 125, 178 

,, latent content in, 45 

,, manifest content in, 45 

symbolism in, 48-49, 118, 120-122 

,, various kinds of, 39-4!) 108-109 



Education, 93-94, 132-136 

Ego, child's concentration on, 66-67 

,, discovery of, 85-86 

-ideal, 56-58 

,, its relation to outer world, 67-68, 

,, theory about, 205-208, 21 1-21 2 
Emotions, conflict of, 16-17, ! 9 
, , connected with excretory acts, 63 
,, contradictory, 73 
,, co-ordination of, 85, 87 
,, development of, by movement, 

65-66 

,, growth of expression of, 61, 66 
,, homosexual, 92 
,, influence of early, 80-8 1 
,, of anger, 66, 68 
,, over tension, 21, 24 
,, sexual, in childhood, 88 
,, in puberty, 88-90 
Excretory functions, connection with 

character, 62-63 

,, ,, connection with sexual 
organs, 65 76 

Fixation, 86, 93 

Freud, 9, 81, 83, 88, 93-94 

,, analysis of dreams, 41, 43-46, 
112-113, Ii6 

,, contrasted with Jung, 105-106, 
114-116, 121, 130, 135, 159, 
165, I93> 200-202, 204 

,, development of emotions, 60-64 

,, fixation, 86 

,, Oedipus-complex, 70-72 

221 



INDEX 



Freud, opposition to, 97-99 
,, periods of childhood, 85, 87 
,, repression, 49, 56-57, 200-201 
,, sublimation, 99, 100 
,, symbolism in dreams, 46-47, 118, 

120-121, 127 
,, theories about dreams, 37-38, 

40-41 

,, ,, about evolution, 101 
,, ,, about heredity, 61 
,, ,, about hysteria, 11-13, *5- 

20, 28-30, 50 

about sex, 51, 54-55, 97 
,, ,, about unconscious, 29, 31, 

50-51, 199-202 

Functions, adaptation of, 157-158 
feeling, 150-153, 195 
,, four primary, 141 
,, intuition, 147-150, 196 
,, leading and compensating, 156- 

160 
,, rational and irrational, 143-144, 

194 
,, relations between four primary, 

141-145 

,, sensation, i45- r 47, 195 
thinking, 153-156, 195 



Homosexuality, 92 

Hypnosis used by Charcot and others, 

4-8 
Hysteria caused by disposition, 18, 20, 

22 

,, caused by repression, 12, 15, 16 
,, caused by shock, 24 
,, connected with sex, 19-20, 22 
,, psycho-analytic treatment of, 25- 

26, 29 
,, studied by Charcot, Janet, Freud 

and Breuer, 3-13, 28 
,, various kinds of, 20-24 



Introspection, 51 
,, in treatment, 26, 29 



James, William, 210 
Janet, 5, 8, 9, 11, 18 

{ones, Ernest, 117 
ung, 73, I05 113, 121, 136, 138, 139, 
143, 144, 159, 160, 175, 180, 192, 
193, 200-202, 214 



Latency-period, 87 



Maeder, 105, 112, 116, 121, 200, 214 
Masturbation, 90 



Narcissistic period, 85 



Oedipus-complex, 7o-7 2 9 2 



Personality, double, 6-7 
Perversities, 80, 93 
Phantasy about birth, 74-76 

,, in children, 69, 88 
Pre-conscious, 30-31, 113 
Psychic development, 204-205, 209, 

212-218 
Psychical Research, Society of, 107, 

201 

Psycho-analysis and dream interpreta- 
tion, 41-42 

co-operation of patients in, 27-28 
dangers of, 203 
not always necessary, 59 
of hysterical patients, 24-26 
opposition to theories of, 97-99 
Puberty, 87-90, 94 



Regression, 23-24, 86-87 

,, in children, 82 

Religious development, 210, 213-214 
Repression, 12-16, 19-20, 22-25, 27-28, 

41,49-50, 54-56, 58, H7, 200 
Resistance, 13, 15, 29 
Retardation, 86 
Rosegger, dreams of, 110-112, 115 



Self, changes in the, 210-212 

,, theory about the, 206-208 
Sex, curiosity in children, 76, 93-94 
emotions, 19 

,, in children, 88 
impulses, 51-52, 54, 115 

,, repression of, 54-56 
in hysteria, 22, 29 
Silberer, 116 
Sublimation, 23-24, 99-100, 102-103, 

105-106, 138 
Suggestion, 5, 7, 8, 131 

auto-, 5 
Symbols, general, 48 
,, in art, 115, 119 
,, individual, 48 

,, in dreams, 46-49, 113, 118, 123, 
129 



222 



INDEX