A review by erinstewart
Man and His Symbols by C.G. Jung

1.0

Jung's contribution to the book is cogent and interesting, but the other parts border on New Age, sexism, and racism. The most disappointing thing is that the authors clearly hadn't attended to contemporary developments in psychology, anthropology, and other disciplines which directly related to their conclusions. For instance, there's one essay which argues that the number 4 is a universal symbol for psychic cohesion (which in itself barely makes sense), but not all cultures actually have a counting system in this way. It's highly speculative, and leaves open many unanswered questions on the nature and functions of dreams. I would have liked to see some exploration of alternative theories of dreams, even if it were to dispel them.

It's like this book exists in the world separate from its own time, and not in a cool, universality, symbolic way, but in the arrogance of claiming knowledge without having done the scrupulous work of earning it.