The ‘self’ in analytical psychology: the function of the ‘central archetype’ within Fordham's model

Abstract

This paper concerns the self as Fordham came to conceive it after a conceptual analysis of Jung's use of the term. Fordham identified a contradiction in Jung's usage, and resolved it by reserving 'self' for a definition of the psychosomatic entirety of the individual, and using a separate term for referring to expressions of the self in human experience (e.g. symbols). Fordham tentatively suggested that the latter be termed the 'central archetype', although this was neither developed nor dropped. I explore the value of this term from a developmental perspective and, more specifically in terms of the deintegration of psyche out of an early psychosomatic unity. This draws upon infant research and an observation of a 14-month old boy. Finally, further developments are briefly described and illustrated, whereby pre-symbolic expressions of the central archetype become symbolic and come to reflect what was for Jung, the 'ultimate', 'Formation, Transformation, Eternal Mind's eternal recreation'.

Delusional development in child autism at the onset of puberty: vicissitudes of psychic dimensionality between disintegration and development

“…The idea of primary self elaborated by Fordham (1976)– which this author applies, in terms of its dynamics, to the autistic situation – has been interpreted in different ways by various authors (Astor, 2009; Colman, 2008; Urban, 2008, 2009). Such differences are inevitable, given that Fordham’s idea is an elaboration of the concept of self in Jung, a concept that itself was not described in any straightforward way (Jung, 1920, 1944, 1955–56, 1959b).…”

Mirror neurons and embodied simulation in the development of archetypes and self‐agency

“…Perhaps the most important idea in this paper is that agency is the ‘glue’ that holds different psychological experiences of self and emotional and psychological space together, just as Gallese and Umilta suggest it does in relation to physical personal space. This extension of the organizing function of agency from physical to the psychic realms offers rich scope for exploration of the similarities and differences with Jungian models of the self, most recently discussed in papers on the self by Colman, Urban, Stein and West in this journal in June 2008.…”

Conjugating the self

“…James Astor has discerned what he considers to be not an actual, but rather an apparent misunderstanding between Warren Colman and myself in our respective papers in the special Journal edition on the self ( Journal of Analytical Psychology , 53, 3, June 2008). The substance of his commentary is that Colman interprets the view of Fordham and myself to be that the primary self has, a priori , ‘a blueprint which sets patterns for development’ (see Astor 2009 in this issue, p. 395).…”