James Hillman & Archetypal Psychology I: Sources and Influences

James Hillman was a Jungian psychologist. Although he departed in important ways from what became orthodoxy within the Jungian community, his work can't be fully understood without grounding in Jung's vast writings. As Sonu Shamdasani has eloquently demonstrated, Jung himself is best seen in the context of his time. So our reading of Hillman will begin with a consideration of the broad sweep of 19th-century European intellectual history, particularly Romanticism in its contrast with Enlightenment rationalism. This will allow us to see the contrasts between Jung and his mentor Sigmund Freud in a way that throws light on Hillman's ideas.

The other person that Hillman himself regarded as nearly equally important for his own development was Henry Corbin. Known to many as a scholar of Islam, he was far more than that. He has been called "the last of the German Romantics" and understanding his work too in that cultural context will allow us to see Jung and Hillman as radically creative forerunners charting the course of new cosmologies for the 21st century.

The approach we will take is premised on the idea that the nature of Creative Imagination is the primary issue for all of the people whose work we discuss. The scope and importance of this question in its historical context can only be suggested in this course, but even a brief sketch can be enlightening and even radically reorienting.

Our initial readings will include Shamdasani's introduction to Jung's Red Book, Rothenberg and Robinson's Introduction to Poems for the Millennium - Volume 3, Romantic and PostRomantic Poetry, and selections from Kaja Silverman's Flesh of My Flesh. The first two, illustrated lectures will be devoted to establishing a basic understanding of the fundamental assumptions underlying the dominant contemporary technological worldview as they apply to psychology and outlining some of the most relevant alternatives.

From there we'll engage with selections from Hillman's Archetypal Psychology: A Brief Account, and a close reading his 1969 Eranos Lecture. "The Thought of the Heart."