Remarks on the Meaning of “Irrational” in Jung

Jung's conception of “reason”—and thus of what is “rational” and “irrational”—is decisive in its consequences to psychology, both theoretically and practically. No matter how one much one protests against the misappropriation of Jung by magical and superstitious currents in the panoply of contemporaneous ideologies, one must concede that Jung himself could be charged with being responsible for this use of his thought. In this paper, I examine briefly the meaning of “irrational” in Jung, so that the nature of the “irrationalism” stemming from his position can be contrasted with the “irrationalism” of the common magical appropriations of his thought.