ABSTRACT
In this chapter Mark Saban attempts a re-visioning of C.G. Jung’s psychological concept of individuation in light of Gilbert Simondon’s philosophy. Jung’s ideas on wholeness and specifically on the ‘whole man’ are intimately bound up with what he calls the process of individuation. However, problematic questions cluster around this concept: Do we all individuate or only an elite few? Is it possible to become fully individuated (i.e. fully whole)? Do groups or even cultures individuate? Is individuation an inner process that eventually enables us to relate healthily to the collective, or must it be relational from the start?
Simondon’s ideas about individuation were influenced by Jung’s, but the range, complexity, and rigour of his thought offer the possibility of a deepening critical understanding of the limitations and contradictions found in Jung’s ideas. Saban pays particular attention to a) the crucial importance for Simondon of the relational and the affective/emotional, b) his emphasis on participation in the collective, and c) the problem-solving aspect of individuation. A creative re-visioning in the light of these ideas has the capacity to provide a philosophical grounding for a concept that is central to Jung’s psychology and for clinical practice.
