ABSTRACT
Considering the history and the possible communalities between the theory of archetypal psychology and object relations theory requires us to consider two basic philosophical dispositions that have permeated Western culture since the nineteenth century, and thus inevitably our own thinking as analytical psychologists. These are Hegel's dialectical vision concerning the processes of change, and the notion of deep structures, particularly psychological deep structures. The dialectical vision offers a view of the world and of reality as organized according to basic positions that are in dynamic relation to each other. Hegel argued that the same dialectical logic could be applied to any system, thus by inference including psychological and interpersonal systems. Archetypes are variously thought of as unconscious universal structures, inherited blueprints, or templates, which organize psychic energy along certain repeatable and recognizable lines. In the 1930s, object relations became the major focus for the school of psychoanalysis developed particularly in London.
