Carl Gustav JUNG and FREUD's sexual and analytical theories.

Carl Gustav JUNG (1875.1961)

Autograph letter signed “Dr Jung  ” to psychoanalyst André Tridon.

Two pages in-8° in English, on paper headed by Dr. med. CG Jung. Küsnacht-Zurich. September 5, 1919. Envelope.

« The neurotic problem cannot be solved by a reduction in sexuality. »

Remarkable letter from the Swiss psychiatrist dissociating himself from the sexual theories developed by Freud, explaining his own understanding of the libido, and specifying his current work on Psychological Types and Symbolics.

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“Dear Sir, You will find my opinions concerning the School of Freud and Adler expressed in my work Collected Papers on analytical Psychology [Essay on Analytical Psychology] p. 299, 336, 367, 55.

I am about to finish a book on the problem of attitude and attitude types [“Psychological Types,” originally published in Germany in 1921] . Thank you for kindly sending me a copy of your book. I consider that the work currently being done in America, as well as in Europe, as indicated above, is based on too narrow an assumption. The neurotic problem cannot be solved by a reduction in sexuality. This can only suit a certain type of mentality.

This is a scathing argument against the Sexual Theory [of Sigmund Freud, developed in 1905 in his work “Three Essays on the Sexual Theory”], so that Freud's first student, Adler, had to invent a theory absolutely different, which suits many people much better than Freud's vision, as the results prove. 

I try to reconcile all these conflicting views through attitude theory and a different appreciation of symbolism. This latter point of view was also taken up by [Herbert] Silberer, as you know. Believe me, dear Sir, yours very sincerely, Dr. Jung. »

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We know that Jung was one of the first disciples of Sigmund Freud. However, from the writing, in 1909, of his Metamorphoses and Symbols of the Libido (work published in 1912), Jung knew that this initiative would mark the rupture of his friendship with the father of psychoanalysis. Indeed, the latter, wounded, immediately considered Jung's work as a desire to "desexualize" the libido and a clear attempt to "kill the father."

The deterioration of their relationship really began in 1911, during the Weimar Congress, Freud suspecting Jung (unavailable to the International Psychoanalytic Association of which he was then President) of wanting to create his own psychoanalytic movement. The break between the two men quickly proved definitive and was confirmed by Jung's theories on the collective unconscious and the publication of his work, in 1912, Metamorphoses of the Soul and its Symbols . Freud denounces a heresy, and now considers Jung as a dissident, like Alfred Adler (founder of Individual Psychology, mentioned in our letter) at the beginning of the psychoanalytic movement.

In August 1913, as if to formalize this break, Jung succinctly presented at the XVII International Congress of Medicine organized in London, his new approach which he called Analytical Psychology , distinguishing it from Freud's psychoanalysis. Jung suggests freeing psychoanalytic theory from its “ exclusively sexual point of view .” This conference deals a fatal blow to the relationship between the two men. Freud, in his letter of October 27, 1913 – the last between the two men – confirmed the break: “ Your allegation that I would treat my followers like patients is obviously false (…) Consequently, I propose that we abandon our personal relationships completely. »

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Original version :

“Dear Sir, You find my views concerning Freud's and Adler's School expressed in my Collected Papers on analytical Psychology , p. 299,336, 367, 55. I am about to finish a book about the problem of attitude and the types of attitude. I thank you for kindly sending me a copy of your book. I consider the work actually done in America as well as in Europe along the lines mentioned above, as based upon too narrow an hypothesis. The neurotic problem cannot be solved through reduction to sexuality. It only suits a certain kind of mentality. It is a striking argument against the Sex-hypothesis , that Freud's first pupil, Adler had to invent a different theory, that suits many people absolutely much better than Freud's view, as the effect shows. I try to reconcile the contradictory views through a theory of attitude and a different appreciation of symbolism. The latter viewpoint has been taken up by Silberer too, as you know. Believe me, dear Sir, yours very truly Dr Jung. »