How do you know if what you desire is in accordance with your Self? You provide the most benevolent possible scenario but how to account for people who are mistaken or pathological or even demonically possessed? (Even Jung accounted for cases of demonic possession)
For instance, in your example how does the child know he truly desires to be a dancer? Could it also be that the child desires something *else* but only sees a possible way to manifest that deeper desire as a dancer when it could manifest in a multitude of other ways? It is true that sometimes society can be authoritative, rigid and tyrannical wrongly. But what of the case of society keeping people from degenerating, shrinking, frittering away their time and wasting their potential in unhealthy outlets? This would be the Organism confusing "Self Expression" instead with some degenerate, false desire or pleasure. Religious dogma can sometimes be taken too literally and misapplied of course, but what about the case where morality protects both the individual and group/society?
a) The Organism is amoral. It simply wants what it wants without care for what's good or evil. The desires of the Organism are true, by definition. However, how the Self translates the desire is indeed murky but when we're kids we have much more clarity since we haven't had enough time to be conditioned by external influences.
b) Society imposing certain rules to maintain harmony is true as well. Perhaps needed in most cases. There isn't a scenario where if these two forces, desire/potential of Organism and society, are opposed we'd always have a peaceful reconciliation. Reality is brutal in this way but I wrote this piece for the individual and the interests of the individual first and foremost.
As an aside, we aren't blank slates and as a consequence, society inherits the sum of all individuals' Organisms.
How do you know if what you desire is in accordance with your Self? You provide the most benevolent possible scenario but how to account for people who are mistaken or pathological or even demonically possessed? (Even Jung accounted for cases of demonic possession)
For instance, in your example how does the child know he truly desires to be a dancer? Could it also be that the child desires something *else* but only sees a possible way to manifest that deeper desire as a dancer when it could manifest in a multitude of other ways? It is true that sometimes society can be authoritative, rigid and tyrannical wrongly. But what of the case of society keeping people from degenerating, shrinking, frittering away their time and wasting their potential in unhealthy outlets? This would be the Organism confusing "Self Expression" instead with some degenerate, false desire or pleasure. Religious dogma can sometimes be taken too literally and misapplied of course, but what about the case where morality protects both the individual and group/society?
Thanks for the article. I enjoyed reading.
Thinking in two ways here:
a) The Organism is amoral. It simply wants what it wants without care for what's good or evil. The desires of the Organism are true, by definition. However, how the Self translates the desire is indeed murky but when we're kids we have much more clarity since we haven't had enough time to be conditioned by external influences.
b) Society imposing certain rules to maintain harmony is true as well. Perhaps needed in most cases. There isn't a scenario where if these two forces, desire/potential of Organism and society, are opposed we'd always have a peaceful reconciliation. Reality is brutal in this way but I wrote this piece for the individual and the interests of the individual first and foremost.
As an aside, we aren't blank slates and as a consequence, society inherits the sum of all individuals' Organisms.
Thanks for reading!
Thank you! Also, who made that beautiful illustration with the trees?
Ah unfortunately I don't know. I found it on pinterest.