Collective unconscious is a term of analytical psychology, and was originally coined by Carl Jung. He distinguished the collective unconscious from the personal unconscious, which is particular to each human being. The collective unconscious refers to that part of a person's unconscious which is common to all human beings. It contains archetypes, which are forms or symbols that are manifested by all people in all cultures. Some say that this borders on metaphysics: the difference in their conceptualization of the unconscious is one of the more conspicuous differences between the psychologies founded by Jung and Freud. Analytical psychology (also known as Depth Psychology or Jungian Analysis) is based upon the movement started by Carl Jung and his followers as distinct from Freudian psychoanalysis. ... Carl Gustav Jung Carl Gustav Jung (July 26, 1875 – June 6, 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and founder of Analytical Psychology. ... The unconscious mind (or subconscious) is the aspect or aspects of the mind of which we are not directly conscious or aware. ... Archetype is defined as the first original model of which all other similar persons, objects, or concepts are merely derivative, copied, patterned, or emulated. ... Metaphysics (Greek words meta = after/beyond and physics = nature) is a branch of philosophy concerned with the study of first principles and being (ontology). ... Carl Gustav Jung Carl Gustav Jung (July 26, 1875 – June 6, 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and founder of the neopsychoanalytic school of psychology. ... Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud (May 6, 1856 - September 23, 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of the psychoanalytic school of psychology, a movement that popularized the theory that unconscious motives control much behavior. ...

In his earlier writings, Jung called this aspect of the psyche the collective unconscious; later, he changed the term to the "objective psyche". The objective psyche may be considered objective for two reasons: it is common to everyone; and it has a better sense of the self ideal than the ego or conscious self does, and thus directs the self, via archetypes, dreams, intuition, and making mistakes on purpose, to self-actualization. According to Maslow, self actualization (usu. ...

Further reading

• The Development of Personality
• "Psychic conflicts in a child.", Jung, C., Collected Works of C. G. Jung, Vol. 17, Princeton University Press, 1970. 235 p. (p. 1-35).
• The Symbolic Quest. Edward C. Whitmont. Princeton University Press, 1969.

See also

• Archetype
• Synchronicity
• Collective consciousness