Secret Ways of the Mind
- Author:
Kranefeldt. With an introduction by C. G. Jung. Translated from the German with preface by Ralph M. Eaton. New York: Henry Holt and Company.
1932. xl 188 pp. $1.60. A review of this book must include reference, first, to the translator’s preface, then, to the introduction by Jung, and finally to the book itself by Kranefeldt.
In his preface the translator undertakes to show the significance of psychoanalysis in modern psychology. When psychology was elevated to the dignity of a science during the latter half of the 19th century, ho says, it became so anxious to imitate the quantitative methods of the other sciences, particularly the physical sciences, that the real subject matter of psychology was lost, and the new science failed in achieving its purpose. To quote: “The layman who c i dishlj believes that he will learn something from the ordinary books on psychology about human nature as he sees it in the sufferings, deceptions, joys, am i ions, loves, and aversions of everyday life, will be bitterly disappointed . ?WS throu?h I)a?es on sensation, perception, and representation, the cs of learning curves and intelligence tests, the hypothetical physiology of nerve impulses and brain structure.’’
Into this sterile situation Freudian psychology came and provided a return to those matters which should always have been the concern of psychology. It is curious how Freud’s theories at the same time shocked all respectable people and also became the subject of drawing room conversation everywhere. It was dissatisfaction with the rigorous observational methods of experimental psychology and the belief that these methods were not directed toward the really important problems of human nature that caused the widespread influence of Freud. However, Freud himself was too scientific to rid psychology of the incubus. He was dominated in his orientation by the materialistic science of the 19th century. He was not enough of a mystic to sense the implications of the theory which he announced and to develop that theory completely. It remained for Jung to carry to completion the element of mysticism inherent in the psychoanalytic theory, and so necessary to the development of ~0th century psychology. We might say that those who have read Jung’s work will probably admit that whatever it may lack it is not mysticism. The argument advanced by Mr. Eaton, it seems to this reviewer, misses the point. The 19th century showed an amazing progress in the field of physical science, and this progress was made possible by the rejection of the methods of mysticism. Certainly the introduction of mysticism into psychology or any other branch of inquiry can hardly be called an innovation. Mysticism has had its chance. It will be admitted that the progress made by the scientific method in psychology has not equaled the progress of that method in other fields. This is not a criticism of the method nor a reason why it should be discarded. Many persons will also admit that the problems which have been attacked by the scientific method in psychology have often been insignificant if not picayune. This also is not a criticism of the method itself. May it not be that the application of the scientific method to the significant problems of psychology is more difficult than it is in some other sciences, and that for this reason it should be prosecuted with the greater vigor and courage? To take any other attitude is to fall back into the Middle Ages. The service of psychoanalysis has not been to substitute mysticism for science, but to attempt to extend the scientific method in psychology. It is only the imitators of Freud who have failed to see this fact.
Jung, in his introduction, shows that psychoanalysis is really the result of a movement that goes back to the time of the Reformation. This movement began with the obscure alchemists, came through mesmerism and the philosophies of Schopenhauer and Hartmann, and finally reached Freud by way of the French hypnotists. It is this stream of thought which is responsible for the extreme vogue of everything bearing the name of psychology today, Christian Science, Theosopliy, and an unlimited variety of occultisms. The^novement has been accompanied, moreover, by a breakdown of religion. Reli gions,” says Jung, “are systematic cures for the ills of the soul.” With the decline of religion there have developed a great many neuroses which in the days when religion possessed therapeutic potency might have been cured easily enough. Nowadays the existence of these neuroses makes psychoanalysis at tho same time a possibility and a necessity. Jung claims that his own contribution to psychology, as contrasted with that of Freud and Adler, is that he has called attention to the complexity of the soul. The psychologies of I reud and Adler are monistic; the psychology of Jung is dualistic, if not pluralistic. This introduction by Jung is to be highly recommended to any one who wishes to understand the position of psychoanalysis in modern thought. It might, if we may say so, be called “the psychoanalysis of psychoanalysis.” The book itself, by Kranefeldt, it turns out, will receive the least amount of attention in this discussion. The author lays the historical background of psychoanalysis somewhat as indicated above. He considers the work of Freud and Breuer in establishing the trauma hypothesis and the method of catharsis. There is a full discussion of Freudian psychology, a briefer discussion of the individual psychology of Alfred Adler, and finally an extensive consideration of the analytic psychology of Jung.
The author does not introduce much material which will be new to those who are acquainted with the literature of psychoanalysis, but the relation between the different schools of analytic thought is very well indicated. This book, it seems to us, is best adapted to that reader who has some knowledge of psychoanalysis, for the discussion will be somewhat brief and cryptic for the beginner. The discussion is critical as well as historical and, as far as the different personalities are concerned, sympathetic and impartial. The title, we cannot help feeling, is a bit unfortunate. Miles Murpiiy
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