Psychic Multiplicity and Individuation: Reexamining the Part–Whole Relationship

Abstract

Using a hermeneutic methodology, this study reorients psychic multiplicity and individuation toward a more fluid model of consciousness without an ego complex for the field of Jungian depth psychology. It asserts the argument that the psyche is a multiple consciousness via the concept of subpersonalities. Contrastingly, in his analytical psychology, C.G. Jung posited the ego complex as the center of consciousness. Given that single center, psychic multiplicity, manifested in Jung’s complexes and archetypes, traditionally dwells within a distinct unconscious psyche. Instead, this study suggests subpersonalities operate independently within human consciousness and metacognition. This assertion makes the Jungian ego complex unnecessary and facilitates new perspectives on Jungian individuation. Viewing subpersonalities as a multiple consciousness reinvigorates theoretical questions about Jungian individuation. The study includes forms of reasoning intended to reconcile subpersonalities as a multiple consciousness with individuation. The study concludes with the ontological suggestion of a psychic multiplicity that branches out of the reality of the soul. Casting the soul as its own agency suggests it may have the capacity to engage with the multiplicity of the human psyche to foster individuation. Spanning perspectives from depth psychology, cognitive psychology, humanistic psychology, neuroscience, evolutionary psychology, evolutionary biology, behavioral genetics, quantum physics, and phenomenology, this dissertation provides a multidisciplinary approach through its interpretive framework and offers generative insights or opportunities for further research on consciousness, psychic multiplicity, and individuation in the fields of Jungian and post-Jungian depth psychology.