We celebrate individualism, or we think we do. We may even worry that we celebrate it too much, wondering whether our culture is too individualistic. Actually, C.G. Jung says, we are terrified of the idea of being an individual. The first thing he says about “The Development of Personality” in a 1934 essay of that title is that “the development of a personality from the germ-state to full consciousness is at once a charisma and a curse, because its first fruit is the conscious and unavoidable segregation of the single individual from the undifferentiated and unconscious herd. This means isolation, and there is no more comforting word for it. Neither family nor society nor position can save him from this fate, nor yet the most successful adaptation to his environment, however smoothly he fits in” (173). He goes on to say bluntly that “To develop one’s own personality is indeed an unpopular undertaking, a deviation that is uncongenial to the herd” (174). The central concept of Jung’s psychology is the “process of individuation,” but he warns that if you choose to embark upon that process, you can expect to be alone: “the vast majority of mankind do not choose their own way, but convention, and consequently develop not themselves but a method and a collective mode of life at the cost of their own wholeness” (174).
Alas, the message in a bottle indeed landed upon a local shyster, particularly struggling with his own individuality at an age and in a time when individuality seems both futile and onerous (in some ways). I appreciated your incorporation of Foucault and the “subject”; I’ve turned to translations of his words for solace recently. This edition of your newsletter not only gives me much comfort and spiritual rest, it also mattered. Deeply.
Alas, the message in a bottle indeed landed upon a local shyster, particularly struggling with his own individuality at an age and in a time when individuality seems both futile and onerous (in some ways). I appreciated your incorporation of Foucault and the “subject”; I’ve turned to translations of his words for solace recently. This edition of your newsletter not only gives me much comfort and spiritual rest, it also mattered. Deeply.
Cheers,
Cole