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Topological Approach of Jungian Psychology

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Abstract

In this work, we compare two global approaches which are usually considered as completely unconnected one with the other. The former is Thom’s topology and the latter is Jung’s psychology. More precisely, it seemed to us interesting to adapt some morphologies of Thom’s catastrophe theory to some Jung’s notions. Thus, we showed that the swallowtail, which is one of these morphologies, was able to describe geometrically the structural organisation of the psyche according to Jung, with its collective unconscious, personal unconscious and conscious. Moreover, we have correlated this morphology with Jung’s evolutive processes like individualisation and individuation. These comparisons incited us to think that some morphologies of Thom’s catastrophe theory are the geometrical dealing of Jung’s archetypes.

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  1. Laboratoire TIMC, équipe PRETA Université J. Fourier, 38700, Grenoble, France

    Jacques Viret

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  1. Jacques Viret
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Correspondence to Jacques Viret.

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Viret, J. Topological Approach of Jungian Psychology. Acta Biotheor 58, 233–245 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10441-010-9106-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10441-010-9106-9

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