This lecture will place Jung’s thinking in the context of some of the major philosophical commitments that underpin contemporary theories of psychology and psychotherapy. Rather than compare Jung with other schools of thought on the basis of differences in clinical theory and technique, this lecture will describe Jung’s assumptions about the psyche, about human nature, and even about reality that underpin his theory and distinguish it from other approaches. 

Lionel Corbett trained in medicine and psychiatry in England and as a Jungian Analyst at the C.G. Jung Institute of Chicago. Dr. Corbett is a professor of depth psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute, in Santa Barbara, California. His primary interests are: the religious function of the psyche, especially the way in which personal religious experience is relevant to individual psychology; the development of psychotherapy as a spiritual practice; and the interface of Jungian psychology and contemporary psychoanalytic thought.