Hypocrisy - Jung On The General Hypocrisy of Man

Jung On The General Hypocrisy of Man

C. G. Jung a few times referred to the hypocrisy of people who are not aware of the dark or shadow-side of their nature.

Every individual needs revolution, inner division, overthrow of the existing order, and renewal, but not by forcing them upon his neighbors under the hypocritical cloak of Christian love or the sense of social responsibility or any of the other beautiful euphemisms for unconscious urges to personal power (Jung, 1966:5).

It is under all circumstances an advantage to be in full possession of one's personality, otherwise the repressed elements will only crop up as a hindrance elsewhere, not just at some unimportant point, but at the very spot where we are most sensitive. If people can be educated to see the shadow-side of their nature clearly, it may be hoped that they will also learn to understand and love their fellow men better. A little less hypocrisy and a little more self-knowledge can only have good results in respect for our neighbor; for we are all too prone to transfer to our fellows the injustice and violence we inflict upon our own natures (Jung, 1966:par. 28).

In New Paths in Psychology (1916) Jung pointedly referred to the "hypocritical pretenses of man".

Dream-analysis above all else mercilessly uncovers the lying morality and hypocritical pretences of man, showing him, for once, the other side of his character in the most vivid light (Jung, 1966:par. 437).

Jung omitted this characterization from his later essay On the Psychology of the Unconscious (1943), which developed out of the former.

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