ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the development of the concept of the collective unconscious and archetypal theory from its intellectual origin. It explores the underpinnings of these concepts from the perspective of complex systems theory. The British analytical psychologist Ann Addison (2009) has noted embarking on his psychiatric training, Jung had been markedly influenced by the vitalist movement, which presupposes there is only one source of energy that animates the body and the soul, that is a belief that opposes Cartesian dualism with its sharp distinction between matter and psyche. In light of the profound bearing the question of the nature of psychic energy had on the historic development of psychoanalysis on the one hand and of Analytical Psychology on the other, it is essential to dwell. Given that the postulates put forward by Jung were quite different from those proposed by Freud, their theoretical constructs represent quite divergent epistemologies.
