ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses Jung’s rejection of the accusation that his work is metaphysical, describes what he meant by the term “metaphysical,” and discusses the use of this word in the larger literature. The chapter shows that Jung had a range of implicit philosophical attitudes and claims. The chapter discusses various authors who are critical of the philosophical and scientific foundations of Jung’s psychology. Jung’s claims that there is a spiritual or transpersonal dimension to the psyche, and his notion of the Self, are discussed. The chapter describes Jung’s psyche-based ontology and epistemology, his teleological view of the psyche, his idealism, the claim that he espouses dual-aspect monism, and his notion of the reality and primacy of the psyche. The chapter discusses the controversies that have arisen around Jung’s discovery of the archetypes and the idea of the psychoid dimension and the unus mundus. The chapter discusses the implications of Jung’s work for spirituality and religion and some of the metaphysical claims made in his Answer to Job. The chapter describes Jung’s views on synchronicity and the possibility of finding connections between quantum mechanics and depth psychology, as a prelude to a more detailed discussion of this issue in the next chapter.
