Jung’s Alchemical Philosophy : Psyche and the Mercurial Play of Image and Idea

Traditionally, alchemy has been understood as a precursor to the science of chemistry but from the vantage point of the human spirit, it is also a discipline that illuminates the human soul. This book explores the goal of alchemy from Jungian, psychological, and philosophical perspectives. __Jung's Alchemical Philosophy: Psyche and the Mercurial Play of Image and Idea__ is a reflection on Jung's alchemical work and the importance of philosophy as a way of understanding alchemy and its contributions to Jung's psychology. By engaging these disciplines, Marlan opens new vistas on alchemy and the circular and ouroboric play of images and ideas, shedding light on the alchemical opus and the transformative processes of Jungian psychology. Divides in the history of alchemy and in the alchemical imagination are addressed as Marlan deepens the process by turning to a number of interpretations that illuminate both the enigma of the Philosophers' Stone and the ferment in the Jungian tradition. This book will be of interest to Jungian analysts and those who wish to explore the intersection of philosophy and psychology as it relates to alchemy. Traditionally, alchemy has been understood as a precursor to the science of chemistry but from the vantage point of the human spirit, it is also a discipline that illuminates the human soul. This book explores the goal of alchemy from Jungian, psychological, and philosophical perspectives. Jung’s Alchemical Philosophy: Psyche and the Mercurial Play of Image and Idea is a reflection on Jung’s alchemical work and the importance of philosophy as a way of understanding alchemy and its contributions to Jung’s psychology. By engaging these disciplines, Marlan opens new vistas on alchemy and the circular and ouroboric play of images and ideas, shedding light on the alchemical opus and the transformative processes of Jungian psychology. Divides in the history of alchemy and in the alchemical imagination are addressed as Marlan deepens the process by turning to a number of interpretations that illuminate both the enigma of the Philosophers’ Stone and the ferment in the Jungian tradition. This book will be of interest to Jungian analysts and those who wish to explore the intersection of philosophy and psychology as it relates to alchemy. Cover 1 Half Title 4 Series 5 Title 6 Copyright 7 Dedication 10 Contents 12 List of figures 15 List of tables 17 Acknowledgments 18 Preface 19 Introduction 22 1 Philosophical tensions in the historiography of alchemy: the history of science and the history of the human spirit 29 Jung and the study of alchemy 33 Criticisms of Jung and Eliade (Principe and Newman) 34 Limitations of Principe’s and Newman’s Criticisms (Tilton, Caliăn, Hanegraaff, Cheak) 36 2 The eye of the winged serpent: Mercurius and overcoming the split in the alchemical imagination 53 Mercurius duplex 56 The pre-alchemy Jung: initiation and the descent into the unconscious 61 The Rosarium philosophorum 67 3 Benign and monstrous conjunctions 83 The hermaphrodite 85 Abraxas 87 Mercurius 90 Mysterium Coniunctionis 98 4 Classical development of Jung’s ideas of alchemy and the Philosophers’ Stone in Von Franz and Edinger 105 Marie-Louise von Franz 105 Edward F. Edinger 107 5 Innovations, criticisms, and developments: James Hillman and Wolfgang Giegerich: James Hillman and archetypal psychology: imagination is the cornerstone 115 Hillman’s alchemical psychology 119 Wolfgang Giegerich and the soul’s logical life 127 Giegerich’s alchemy 132 6 James Hillman and Wolfgang Giegerich: unification and divergence in their psychological and philosophical perspectives 137 7 Exposition and criticism of Giegerich’s philosophical view of psychology proper and the human-all-too-human 146 8 The problem of the remainder: the unassimilable remnant – what is at stake? 157 Facing the darkness: imbibing philosophical vinegar 161 9 The alchemical stove: continuing reflections on Hillman’s and Giegerich’s views of alchemy and the Philosophers’ Stone 166 Resistance of the remainder 172 Sparks of reiteration 177 Mystical death 178 Turning to stone 180 Must we turn to stone? The stone that is not a stone 183 10 The philosophical basis of the remnant in Kant’s thing-in-itself and in Hegel’s move to surpass it 190 Phenomenon and noumenon: the unresolved tension of limit and transcendence in the thought of Kant and Jung 194 Hegel’s introduction to the Phenomenology of Spirit: from clouds of error to the heaven of truth 205 Hegel’s alchemy: splendid isolation or fullness of soul 211 11 A reflection on the black sun and Jung’s notion of self 226 Self and no self 227 Depth psychology and the negated self: the strategy of “sous rature” 231 The entrance problem 234 The absolute 238 12 Spirit and soul 254 Tarrying with the negative 255 13 The self, the absolute, the stone 268 Self and absolute knowing 272 The Philosophers’ Stone as chaosmos and the dilemma of diversity 276 Mercurius the mediator 278 Conclusion 283 Epilogue 286 Bibliography 288 Index 297 Jung;,Alchemy;,Philosophy;,Psychology;,Philosopher's,Stone Jung,Alchemy,Philosophy,Psychology,Philosopher's Stone