ABSTRACT
Sigmund Freud laid his reputation on the line with the publication of ‘The interpretation of dreams’. Freud and C. G. Jung were both concerned that they might be considered academically or scientifically unsound, because of their belief in the existence of the unconscious psyche. Jung was triumphant that he had provided scientific evidence for Freud’s hypothesis that there was an unconscious aspect to the psyche – though later he also remembered that he had been reluctant to associate himself with someone who was persona non grata in academic circles. Central to Jung’s understanding of the psyche is his concept of the collective unconscious. Freud also writes of the unconscious psyche as ‘alive and capable of development’. His more usual emphasis, however, a phylogenetic heritage’, primarily inherited memories of our ancestors’ experiences, and he was, of course, particularly interested in the sexual elements.
