ABSTRACT

In this chapter Robert Langan connects C.G. Jung’s theory of individuation with the theory of knowledge put forth by Baruch Spinoza. Jung’s relative indifference towards Spinoza throughout his Collected Works will be touched upon before noting the obvious influences Spinoza had on key thinkers who had influenced Jung—specifically, Spinoza’s prominence among a lineage of philosophers who attempted to conceive God in immanent, pantheistic terms will be noted, as Jung is clearly indebted to these ideas for the conception of his dual-aspect monism. A full consideration of Spinoza’s ontology allows us to envision archetypes as ideas conceived by what Spinoza calls God’s infinite intellect, which in turn allows us to refine our conception of archetypes and the collective unconscious. This opening up of the unconscious into an immanent, univocal God allows us to redefine the Self as a metaphor for the end goal of Spinoza’s entire philosophical project: a love of things as they are in God, or Blessedness. In turn, Jungian psychology allows us to further describe Spinoza’s lesser forms of knowledge, enabling both thinkers to complement and strengthen the other.