PhD Students (completed)

Although Jung did not articulate a specific theory about time, as such, this thesis endeavours to articulate, as coherently as possible, a Jungian theory of time and temporal experience. Thus, two central hypotheses are explored: (a) That it is possible to identify, delineate and develop a relatively coherent theory of time from the works of C. G. Jung, and that (b) The ‘Jungian theory of time’ is of relevance to current debates in the psychology of time and in the wider history of ideas. With the purpose of examining the relationship between C. G. Jung’s psychology and current approaches to human temporal experience the author studies various models and theories that have been developed thus far regarding the nature of time across fields (such as theology, philosophy and physics). Furthermore a historical review of the field of time psychology has been compiled. So as to investigate the birth of a temporal theory in the field of psychoanalysis the author devotes a chapter to the development of Freudian and post-Freudian temporal approaches. Afterwards the work of Carl Jung, as well as Post-Jungian theories that have dealt with time and the temporal experience are introduced and critically discussed. In the final chapter the Jungian theory of time is compared and contrasted with the current theoretical approaches to time and the human temporal experience. This comparison is used to develop suggestions about possible cross-fertilisation between these two approaches, i.e. how can Jungian theories contribute to the field of time psychology at large and, vice versa, how can time psychology enrich the field of modern analytical psychology.