{"id":15435,"date":"2025-04-22T10:06:46","date_gmt":"2025-04-22T00:06:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rationalemagazine.com\/?p=15435"},"modified":"2025-04-22T10:20:46","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T00:20:46","slug":"pauli-freud-and-jung","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rationalemagazine.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/22\/pauli-freud-and-jung\/","title":{"rendered":"Pauli, Freud and Jung: A revolution in the world of psychology"},"content":{"rendered":"

By the end of 1930, Austrian-born theoretical physicist <\/span>Wolfgang Pauli<\/span><\/a> was experiencing a cascade of troubles that had begun almost three years earlier. His “crisis\u201d was marked by his mother’s suicide in reaction to his father\u2019s infidelity, and the end of his brief but troubled\u00a0marriage to cabaret dancer K\u00e4the Deppner. Pauli, a future Nobel laureate, turned to seeking psychiatric help and respite.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He turned to the famous Swiss analytical psychiatrist and psychoanalyst <\/span>Carl Jung<\/span><\/a>. He and his therapist would come to collaborate in a significant intellectual exchange exploring the relationship between the psyche and the physical world for some 25 years.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the time, Jung was finalising his <\/span>Liber Novus<\/span><\/i>, the \u2018<\/span>Red Book<\/span><\/a>\u2019. He had commenced writing it in 1909 after losing his father to a heart condition.<\/span><\/p>\n

The book followed his painful professional break with colleague and mentor <\/span>Sigmund Freud<\/span><\/a>. It was, in essence, a record of his personal journey into his unconscious, documenting, as he put it, <\/span>“assaults of visions and fantasies<\/span><\/a>.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is the brief story of the revolution that took place in the world of psychology and its intersection with physics in the early 20th century.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The roaring twenties<\/b><\/h3>\n

The roaring twenties was characterised by economic prosperity, rapid social and cultural change in Europe and the United States, with a mood of exuberant optimism often associated with jazz, <\/span>flappers<\/span><\/a>, and <\/span>speakeasies<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The fields of psychiatry and physics were equally emboldened. Pioneering psychoanalyst Freud and successful psychoanalyst Jung were at the center of a revolution taking place in the world of psychology.<\/span><\/p>\n

But, in the same vein as physicist and patient Pauli, Jung felt he had lost touch with his inner soul and his connection with his inner spirit. His fling with \u201cassaults of visions\u201d and with the realms of the occult and alchemy had actually taken hold when, as a solitary child, he imagined that he, like his mother, had two personas \u2013 that of a schoolboy of his time and that of an authority from the past.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Whether Jung necessarily believed in the occult and\/or alchemy as literal truths is a contentious question, he did nevertheless author <\/span>Psychology and Alchemy<\/span><\/i><\/a> in 1944, in which <\/span>he emphasised the importance of alchemy in relating to us the transcendent nature of the <\/span>psyche<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is clear is that Jung treated the human psyche in its relation to a broader, species-typical, transindividual repository of ancestral history and memory, containing <\/span>archetypes<\/span><\/a>, or universal inherited ideas and images. It is what he called the <\/span>collective unconscious<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

In physics, the beginning of the twentieth century saw the smug self-satisfaction of many physicists \u2013 who thought \u201c<\/span>there is nothing to be discovered in physics now<\/span><\/a>\u201d \u2013 quickly gave way to a staggering set of advances that marked a break from classical physics with the emergence of <\/span>quantum mechanics<\/span><\/a>, a science regarded as bizarre beyond our everyday intuition.<\/span><\/p>\n

The theory of the quantum started unsuspectingly enough with<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>German Nobel laureate <\/span>Max Planck’s<\/span><\/a> 1900 discovery that energy is emitted or absorbed not continuously but in discrete packets called \u201c<\/span>quanta<\/span><\/a>\u201d. It soon toppled, one after another, many of the notions held most near and dear by classical physicists.<\/span><\/p>\n

French physicist\u00a0<\/span>Louis de Broglie<\/span><\/a> soon proposed that all matter (including ourselves) can behave as both a wave and a particle. He was awarded the 1929 Nobel Prize in physics.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Then, in the late 1920s, came two of the most jaw-dropping aspects of quantum mechanics,\u00a0<\/span>quantum superposition<\/span><\/a> (where a particle can exist in multiple states simultaneously until it is observed) and <\/span>quantum entanglement<\/span><\/a> (where two particles become linked in such a way that they share the same fate), no matter how far apart they are.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1924, Pauli was 24 years old and completing his <\/span>habilitation<\/span><\/a> (postdoctoral degree) when he made his breakthrough discovery \u2013 a formulation now known as the <\/span>Pauli exclusion principle<\/span><\/a>. The principle underpins the structure of atoms, the periodic table, chemical bonding, star formation, and even why we can’t walk through walls.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the founders of quantum mechanics, Neils Bohr, despite being described\u00a0 as an <\/span>entity realist<\/span><\/a> is <\/span>quoted<\/span><\/a> saying\u00a0 \u201ceverything we call real is made of things that cannot be regarded as real.\u201d This 1934 remark highlights the paradoxical nature of reality as understood through the lens of quantum mechanics \u2013 a remark, undoubtedly for Jung, a gift from \u2018physics manna\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t long before philosophers and thinkers \u2013 notably <\/span>Fritjof Capra<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Gary Zukav<\/span><\/a>, and <\/span>Carlo Rovelli<\/span><\/a> \u2013 studied connections between <\/span>Zen Buddhism<\/span><\/a> and quantum physics, highlighting perceived parallels in their views on reality and the nature of existence.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jung was fascinated by the revolutionary ideas of the new physics, especially, for example, <\/span>the<\/span> Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics,<\/span><\/a> which emphasised <\/span>the role of the conscious observer in shaping quantum reality.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the same time, Pauli’s physics and his largely <\/span>platonistic<\/span><\/a> variety of philosophy were beginning to be intertwined \u2013 much more so with his affiliation with Jung, forming an integral part of his scientific and personal conviction and persuasion.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jung validated Pauli\u2019s psycho-philosophical beliefs. In so doing, he helped shift Pauli\u2019s early attempts to ground theoretical physics in a <\/span>positivist<\/span><\/a> framework toward a kind of an <\/span>interpretivism<\/span><\/a> in which intuitive visualisations of entities formed his underlying reality to the sensible physical world.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jung and Freud<\/b><\/h3>\n

The revolution taking place in the world of psychology<\/span> in the 1920s was based on Freud\u2019s radical concept of the unconscious. People were said to be driven by repressed urges, often stemming from sexual or aggressive urges, or painful childhood memories.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ironically, this was at a time when Victorian society prided itself on being highly rational, individual and civilised. Initially, Jung was one of the few who had embraced Freud\u2019s provocative ideas. The two quickly became partners in promoting psychoanalysis and slowly gained the respect of the mainstream medical community.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although he found in Freud an important professional teacher and a father figure, Jung carried lingering uncertainties about some of his mentor\u2019s theories, as Freud was \u201c<\/span>too closed, too narrow<\/span><\/a>.\u201d In a 1959 BBC interview, Jung said:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI liked him very much. But I soon discovered that, when he had thoughts on things, then it was settled while I was doubting all along the line.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Freud\u2019s \u201c<\/span>it\u2019s sex or nothing<\/span><\/a>\u201d deportment caused the rupture between them. Things came to a head in 1913 when Jung published the first of the \u2018<\/span>Black Books<\/span><\/a>\u2019 directly contradicting Freud\u2019s ideas.<\/span><\/p>\n

Desperate to find his way personally and professionally, Jung began a process of a prolonged and deep self-analysis.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf I can\u2019t continue to practice psychoanalysis using Freud\u2019s terms and methods, I have to create a system of my own.”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jung had studied many of the world\u2019s cultures and religions. He observed that even the most dissimilar people shared common ideas, ideals, and behavior patterns. For example, he found that native American Indians had certain stories and rituals in common with tribes in Africa and other cultures.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese things are in common and these people don\u2019t know anything about each other. They have no way to communicate with each other. How is it, why is it, that they are all telling a very similar if not the exact same version of this same story?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In a <\/span>1936 lecture<\/span><\/a>, Jung formulated one of his most comprehensive and final definitions of the concept of the collective unconscious:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe collective unconscious is a part of the psyche which can be negatively distinguished from the personal unconscious by the fact that it does not, like the latter, owe its existence to personal experience and consequently is not a personal acquisition.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Jung sought to demonstrate, with questionable success, the emergence of national-socialism within German culture in the 1930s as a manifestation of the collective unconscious through the influence of <\/span>Wotan<\/span><\/a>, the teutonic god of storms and war.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the 20 years to 1930, and particularly after his split with Freud, Jung started to explore the concept of universal patterns in the psyche \u2013 a concept intrinsically linked to his theory of the collective unconscious, and later termed \u2018archetypes\u2019.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEvery culture has certain classical, typical behavior modalities, like the hero. <\/span>You can go from east to west, north to south, you can recognize a hero<\/span><\/a>. Or the father as the great, good figure who dispenses all knowledge and all wisdom, an unforgiving, disapproving mother.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Pauli and Jung<\/b><\/h3>\n

Pauli\u2019s story offers a unique opportunity to study the intersection of rationalism and non-rationalism, more specifically the intersection of science and mysticism. <\/span>Pauli was widely known for his acerbic personality. He is less well known for his wide-ranging intellectual interests.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is no doubt Pauli was among the most brilliant physicists of the 20th century, known for his rigorous and critical approach to scientific theories, often dismissing those he deemed lacking or untestable. This earned him the nickname “<\/span>the conscience of physics<\/span><\/a>.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When Pauli first contacted Jung in 1932, he expected to be treated by the founder of analytical psychology himself. Instead, Jung assigned Pauli to his young assistant, <\/span>Erna Rosenbaum<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jung explained that, given Pauli\u2019s issues with women, he might best be analysed at first by a female therapist. Her role was to write down Pauli\u2019s dreams until he was confident enough to jot them down himself. Interestingly, modern studies suggest that the association between patient or therapist gender and treatment outcome is weak.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After about five months, Jung started treating Pauli directly. The patient would open up about his emotional turmoil, erratic behavior, alcohol dependency, and issues dealing with women \u2013 in other words, the perfect \u2018subject\u2019. Here was an extraordinary find: a prominent physicist who had complex dreams he could remember with ease.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, it wasn\u2019t just a research project. Jung genuinely wanted to help Pauli become more aware of his stifled feelings. The gist of Jung\u2019s treatment was to show Pauli how his emotional self, symbolised by the <\/span>anima archetype<\/span><\/a> (feminine aspect within a man’s unconscious), was repressed in favor of pure intellect.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the remarkable aspects of the <\/span>Pauli\u2013Jung collaboration <\/span>was how their rhetoric converged. Jung became adept in quantum physics, including the key role of observers. Pauli became immersed in the studies of mysticism, numerology, and ancient symbolism.<\/span><\/p>\n

Einstein\u2019s discovery of <\/span>space-time<\/span><\/a> in 1905 and his general <\/span>theory of relativity<\/span><\/a> in 1915 changed everything people thought they knew about the universe.\u00a0Suddenly, we lived in a world of relativity. Einstein discovered that much of our understanding of physics is relative \u2013 that reality is true for particular frames of reference and is not absolute.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the hands of a psychoanalyst, it wasn\u2019t hard to draw new meaning from this physics. What if our thoughts are also all relative? And what about the \u2018thoughts\u2019 of our perceptions, like sensations and feelings?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

French-born American writer <\/span>Ana\u00efs Nin<\/span><\/a> wrote in 1941: “We don’t see things as they are; we see them as we are\u201d. It is a quote that can be loosely linked with the <\/span>Talmudic idea about dream analysis<\/span><\/a> \u2013 that people can only dream about things they have encountered or thought about.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the new physics, Jung sought, however tenable, the possibility that awareness itself may be an aspect of quantum mechanics and relativity theory, thus linking awareness to the fundamental fabric of the universe.<\/span><\/p>\n

I certainly think the philosopher <\/span>Immanuel Kant\u2019s<\/span><\/a> considerations of the\u00a0<\/span>noumenon<\/span><\/a> (the thing in itself) and the\u00a0phenomenon (the thing we can \u2018know\u2019) have their place here.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jung’s interest in space-time\u00a0stemmed from his exploration of synchronicity \u2013 a concept suggesting meaningful coincidences that transcend causal relationships and the limitations of space and time.<\/span><\/p>\n

The emergence of synchronicity<\/b><\/h3>\n

Jung\u2019s developing notion of synchronicity based on dynamic Einsteinian notions of space and time could certainly benefit from a physicist\u2019s voice.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the 1930s, Jung began to hone his notion of synchronicity in preparation for developing a treatise on the subject. With Pauli\u2019s help, he hoped to shape it into a key principle that would be acknowledged by the psychological community.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As part of that goal, he aspired to develop his own emblem \u2014 a \u2018quaternio\u2019 \u2014 as shorthand for how nature is connected.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jung scheduled a two-part series of talks on the subject in 1950. He theorised that things could be connected without a causal link, without a \u201cthis action leads to that\u201d. Synchronicities, rather than happening linearly, happen laterally across space and time.<\/span><\/p>\n

After all, quantum mechanics had already <\/span>demonstrated<\/span><\/a> a phenomenon where two particles become linked in such a way that they share the same fate, regardless of the distance separating them.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In preparation for the talks, Jung sent Pauli a letter that included a <\/span>quaternio<\/span><\/a> diagram (a convenient mathematical notation for representing spatial orientations) that juxtaposed causality with <\/span>correspondentia<\/span><\/a> (a term referring to acausal connections) and space with time.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pauli responded with a technical critique about Jung\u2019s division of space and time. Einstein\u2019s revolution, Pauli pointed out, merged space and time into a single entity. He suggested a modified diagram, which Jung accepted enthusiastically.<\/span><\/p>\n

While the psychoanalysis of Jung and Freud is <\/span>not used in its original form today<\/span><\/a>, psychodynamic therapy, drawing heavily from Jungian and Freudian principles, is a more modern and widely practiced approach.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Also, we understand synchronicity to be\u00a0the occurrence of meaningful coincidences that seem to have no cause. The underlying idea is that there is unity in diversity. It’s important to note that synchronicity is not a <\/span>universally accepted or practiced approach<\/span><\/a> in therapy, and its use can vary significantly among therapists.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Published 22 April 2025.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

If you wish to republish this original article, please attribute to\u00a0<\/i><\/b>Rationale<\/b><\/a>.\u00a0<\/i><\/b>Click here<\/i><\/b><\/a>\u00a0to find out more about republishing under Creative Commons.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Images: Wikimedia creative commons (here<\/a> and here<\/a>).<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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