The plight of the individual in society

The only Jung that I have read previously are his "Seven Sermons to the Dead" in "The Gnostic Jung and the Seven Sermons to the Dead" by Stephan Hoeller. Recently in a bookshop my eyes were drawn to his "The Undiscovered Self" a small book that looked eminently readable. I have now gotten around to reading it and here is my summary of what Jung has to say on "The plight of the individual in society" (chapter1).

The individual is at risk of psychic infection as a result of limited self-knowledge and subject to levelling down as a result of scientific rationalism.

Psychic Infection
An intelligent, mentally stable stratum of the population stops the spread of extreme ideas. This stratum is dependent upon national temperament and education and is influenced by political and economic factors. But "Rational arguement can be conducted with some prospect of success only so long as the emotionality of a given situation does not exceed a certain critical degree. If the affective temperature rises above this level, the possibility of reason's having any effect ceases and its place is taken by slogans and chimerical wish-fantasies. That is to say, a sort of collective possession results which rapidly develops into a psychic epidemic." (page 2) This happens because in most of us self-knowledge is limited to knowledge of the ego, that is to knowledge of the conscious. The unconcious is not known. As a result of limited self-knowledge an individual can easily be swayed by fanatic outside influences and what Jung calls psychic infections. In the state of "collective possession" the ideas of fanatics and extreminsts appeal to the collective irrationality. "The mass crushes out the insight and reflection that are still possible with the individual." (page 2)

Levelling Down
Any theory based on experience is statistical and formulates an ideal average which does not necessarily exist. Reality consists of exceptions to the rule. It is the unique which characterises the individual so there can be no statistical based theory to self-knowledge. Understanding an individual requires a free and open mind and putting aside all knowledge of mankind in general, knowledge of which is based on statistics.

"The positive advantages of knowledge, work specifically to the disadvantage of understanding." (page 6)

With a statistical world view everything is levelled to a conceptual average displacing the individual and replacing his moral responsibility with the policy of the state. As a result the individual becomes uncertain of her own judgement and delegates responsibility to the collective.

"The individual is increasingly deprived of the moral decision as to how he should live his own life, and instead is ruled, fed, clothed and educated as a social unit, accommodated in the appropriate housing unit, and amused in accordance with the standards that give pleasure and satisfaction to the masses." (page 8).