The concept of the objective psyche

Reprint from 'British Journal of Medical Psychology', Vol. XXIV, Part 4, p221-231, 1951.

'...And now to turn to my subject: the term 'objective psyche' was first introduced by Jung (1940) some years ago in order to cover the field of research which he had previously defined as the collective unconscious. The term 'objective psyche' has, however, the advantage for our present purpose in that it includes the individualiity which the word 'collective' excludes. Moreover, the term 'objective' states the quality of experience in a more rich and definite way than the term 'collective unconscious'. The conception refers to those psychic contents which cannot be seen as part of oneself as a known subject. They always have been and still are only seen objectively, i.e. they are separate from oneself (the subject) and are different in nature from the whole idea one has, or indeed, can have or could have of oneself as an ego. In consequence they have usually been experienced as cosmic. The objective psyche was and is conceived and experienced as different in nature from the ego as a conscious or unconscious function....' --p. 221

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