CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION TO THE
TRANSCENDENT FUNCTION

DEVELOPMENT OF THE EGO IN WESTERN CONSCIOUSNESS

The last three millennia have witnessed the development of the logical, thinking
human being. Beginning with the ancient Greeks, Western civilization has
marched inexorably toward the elusive goal of the autonomous, rational human. Through the emergence of Christianity, the awakening of the Middle
Ages, the Renaissance and Reformation, the Scientic Revolution of
Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton, the Philosophical Revolution of
Bacon and Descartes, and into the Industrial Revolution and the modern age,
Western consciousness has moved seemingly single-mindedly toward what
may best be expressed in the Cartesian cogitoI think, therefore I am.
Many have argued that this rational, empirical, scientic thrust was necessary
for the evolution of the human intellect so that we may comprehend the
physical laws of matter, the order of the cosmos, and the processes of nature.
Whatever its cause, this procession has led to a focus on the importance of
the thinkers self-awareness.
In psychological terms, the march represents the development, indeed
many would say an ination, of the individual ego1 that could apprehend
separateness from the gods, from other humans, and from the surrounding
world. With ego development came the ideas of self-determination, personal
freedom, individual uniqueness, self-awareness, indeed the self as it is used in
many areas of psychology today. Many would say (see, e.g. Romanyshyn,
1989), however, that these benets came at a cost: a disunion with the undifferentiated consciousness that previously connected people; an amnesia
regarding participation mystique2 with the natural world; a repudiation of the
anima mundi, the soul of the world, that created the fabric of community; and
a devaluation of unprovable and unscientic concepts like intuition, unknowing,

The Transcendent Function

fantasy, symbol, imagination, dreams, and emotions. Largely incompatible with

the developing, rational ego, these disowned but necessary parts of human
consciousness were relegated to the hidden terrain of the unconscious, where
they must inevitably be reclaimed.

EMERGENCE OF DEPTH PSYCHOLOGY AND

EMPHASIS ON THE UNCONSCIOUS
In hindsight it came as no surprise, then, that at the beginning of the twentieth century, when the scientic paradigm, the Industrial Revolution, and
Cartesian dualism were moving ahead at full throttle, Sigmund Freud and
Carl Jung gave birth to the eld of depth psychology, that branch of psychology that gives primacy to the unconscious. Though the unconscious had a
long history in areas outside of psychology, Freud and Jung were the rst to
give it close clinical scrutiny. Yet almost one hundred years later, we have
merely begun to apprehend the signicance, scope, and impact of the unconscious. It still sits beneath, before, and around usor more accurately, we are
immersed in itas a profound mystery, the boundaries, effects, and implications of which we have only begun to fathom. With roots in the earliest
efforts to understand consciousness itself, depth psychology seeks to go yet
further and nd what is beneath it.
Depth psychology, the modern eld whose interest is in the unconscious levels of the psychethat is, the deeper meanings of soul
is itself no modern term. Depth reverberates with a signicance
echoing one of the rst philosophers of antiquity. All depth psychology has been summed up by this fragment of Heraclitus: You could
not discover the limits of soul (psyche), even if you traveled every
road to do so; such is the depth (batun) of its meaning (logos).
(Hillman, 1975, p. xvii)
Depth psychology yearns to apprehend, indeed to integrate, what is beyond
our conscious grasp, the deeper meanings of soul as expressed in dreams,
images, and metaphors of the unconscious.
Freud felt that the unconscious was limited to contents rejected or repressed from consciousness. In his view, the unconscious was a kind of backwater carrying the stagnant refuse repudiated as too painful or intolerable to
the conscious mind. In contrast, Jung believed the unconscious to be not only
the territory of repression but also a mysterious landscape of autonomous,
teleological intelligence that compensates for, supplements, even opposes consciousness. First articulated in his 1913 paper On Psychic Energy (1928/
1960), Jungs idea was that the unconscious guides us in a purposeful way.

Introduction to the Transcendent Function

This theoretical leap required Jung to enunciate a psychic mechanism through

which such guidance takes place. He called the core of that mechanism the
transcendent function, a dialogue between the unconscious and consciousness through which a new direction emerges. The concept of the purposive
unconscious operating through the transcendent function became the hub
of Jungs psychology and represented an irreparable break from Freud. Jung
eventually came to believe that one cannot individuate, that is, cannot become the person he or she is truly meant to be, without conversing with and
coming to terms with the unconscious. The transcendent function is the
primary means through which that reconciliation is accomplished. Conceived and explored quite early in the development of Jungs psychology, the
transcendent function is implicated in many of his other key concepts (e.g.,
the role of symbol and fantasy, individuation, the archetypes, the Self3),
indeed may be the wellspring from whence they ow.

PRIMER ON THE TRANSCENDENT FUNCTION

In the essay bearing its name written in 1916 but not published until 1957,
the transcendent function is described by Jung as arising from the union of
conscious and unconscious contents (1957/1960, p. 69). The paper describes
a synthetic or constructive method (p. 73) through which unconscious
components can be united with conscious perceptions to produce a wholly
new perspective. Indeed, the word transcendent was used by Jung to signify
the transition from one attitude to another (p. 73). Explaining how such
unconscious contents could be elicited and brought into a dialogue with
consciousness, Jung stated, It is exactly as if a dialogue were taking place
between two human beings with equal rights (p. 89). He summarized the
transcendent function that emerges as follows:
The shuttling to and fro of arguments and affects represents the
transcendent function of opposites. The confrontation of the two
positions generates a tension charged with energy and creates a living, third thingnot a logical stillbirth in accordance with the principle tertium non datur but a movement out of the suspension between
the opposites, a living birth that leads to a new level of being, a new
situation. (p. 90)
Simply put, the transcendent function is crucial to the central mission of
depth psychology, which is to access, explore, and integrate the unconscious,
and thereby apprehend the deeper meanings of soul. As Jung wrote in his
1958 prefatory note to The Transcendent Function prepared for the Collected Works:

T h e Tr a n s c e n d e n t F u n c t i o n

As its [the essays] basic argument is still valid today, it may stimulate
the reader to a broader and deeper understanding of the problem. This
problem is identical with the universal question: How does one come
to terms in practice with the unconscious? (1957/1960, p. 67)
Jung believed that the conscious and unconscious contain opposite, compensatory, or complementary material and that psyches natural tendency is to
strive to bring the conscious and unconscious positions together for the purpose of integrating them. Fundamental to his theory is the idea that conscious and unconscious opposites can be bridged by the emergence of a symbol
from the fantasy-producing activity of psyche. The symbol, in turn, produces
something that is not merely an amalgam of or compromise between the two
opposites but rather a living, third thing . . . a living birth that leads to a new
level of being, a new situation (p. 90). Thus, the essence of the transcendent
function is a confrontation of opposites, one from consciousness and one
from the unconscious, from which emerges some new position or perspective:
Standing in a compensatory relationship to both, the transcendent
function enables thesis and antithesis to encounter one another on
equal terms. That which is capable of uniting these two is a metaphorical statement (the symbol) which itself transcends time and
conict, neither adhering to nor partaking of one side or the other
but somehow common to both and offering the possibility of a new
synthesis. The word transcendent is expressive of the presence of a
capacity to transcend the destructive tendency to pull (or be pulled)
to one side or the other. (Samuels, Shorter, and Plaut, 1986, p. 151)
At the heart of the transcendent function is transformation, a shift in
consciousness. Expressing itself by way of the symbol, [the transcendent
function] facilitates a transition from one psychological attitude or condition
to another (Samuels, Shorter, and Plaut, 1986, p. 150). Indeed, Jung considered the transcendent function to be the most signicant factor in psychological process (p. 150). Though its full implications are beyond the scope of
this introduction, sufce it to say that Jung posited the transcendent function
to be of central importance, particularly in the self-regulating functions of the
psyche and in the individuation process:
The transcendent function, which plays the role of an autonomous
regulator, emerges and gradually begins to work as the process of
individuation begins to unfold. For Jung, it is in the activation of
the transcendent function that true maturity lies. (Humbert, 1988,
p. 125)

Introduction to the Transcendent Function

Moreover, Jung held that the transcendent function was crucial to the process
of individuation and the drive toward wholeness by the Self. As Hall and
Nordby (1973) state:
The rst step toward integration is, as we have just seen, individuation
of all aspects of the personality. The second stage is controlled by what
Jung calls the transcendent function. This function is endowed with the
capability of uniting all of the opposing trends in the personality and
of working toward the goal of wholeness. The aim of the transcendent
function, Jung writes, is the realization, in all of its aspects, of the
personality originally hidden away in the embryonic germplasm; the
production and unfolding of the original potential wholeness. The
transcendent function is the means by which the unity or self archetype is
realized [italics added]. Like the process of individuation, the transcendent function is inherent in the person. (p. 84)
The transcendent function has to do with opening a dialogue between
the conscious and unconscious to allow a living, third thing to emerge that
is neither a combination of nor a rejection of the two. It has a central role in
the self-regulating nature of the psyche, individuation, and the Self s drive
toward wholeness.
Beyond its importance to Jungian psychology, the transcendent function
is a subject that has broader signicance to depth psychology. The transcendent function is an archetypal process that implicates other archetypal processes that can be found in the theories and writings of other depth
psychologists. The concepts of a psychic struggle between polarized segments
of consciousness, mechanisms that mediate such antitheses, transformation
through the liminal spaces between such opposing forces, and the third
emerging from the struggle of the two are all ideas that recur in the eld
of depth psychology. Indeed, the transcendent function may be an expression
of a larger human urge to reconcile ontological quandaries such as spirit and
matter, subject and object, inner and outer, idea and thing, form and substance, thought and feeling. Viewed in this way, the transcendent function
can be thought of as an archetypal phenomenon,4 ubiquitous to and inherent
in human experience, that implicates liminality, initiation, transformation,
and transcendence.
Depth psychology is intimately involved in all these enterprises. The
depth psychological perspective beholds all phenomena with the exhortations,
I dont know and Something is happening here that I cannot see. It seeks
the unseen and liminal, that which is buried beneath or lies between the
layers of what is perceptible. Jung and Freud initiated the movement beneath
and between and that course is being followed by adherents in both schools.

The Transcendent Function

One contemporary expression of these ideas can be found in archetypal psychology, an offshoot of Jungian psychology,5 which identies soul as that
which seeks deeper meaning and provides the connective tissue between the
seen and the hidden. As Hillman, a powerful contemporary advocate of depth
psychologys message, states:
By soul I mean, rst of all, a perspective rather than a substance, a
viewpoint toward things rather than a thing itself. This perspective
is reective; it mediates events and make differences between ourselves and everything that happens. Between us and events, between
the doer and the deed, there is a reective momentand soulmaking means differentiating the middle ground. (1975, p. xvi)
There is a conuence between the soul-making aspiration of depth psychology
and the telos of the transcendent function: a mediation of conscious and unconscious, a seeking of the reective vantage point between ourselves and the events
we perceive, a striving to have revealed that which remains hidden. Having
accepted as its destiny the recovery and integration of the unconscious from
domination by logical, rational consciousness, depth psychology struggles with
ways in which to accomplish its charge. The transcendent function is fundamental to both the substance of that vocation and methods of pursuing it.

SCOPE AND ORGANIZATION OF THE WORK

This book is a theoretical and analytical examination of the transcendent function and the concepts it implicates. The exploration begins in chapter 2 with
a detailed review and analysis of The Transcendent Function, one of three
important essays that Jung wrote in 1916, soon after his break with Freud and
during his struggles with the images of the unconscious. That chapter reviews
and compares the 1916 version and the revised version prepared by Jung in
1958 for inclusion in the Collected Works. It investigates Jungs thinking on the
key topics that emerge from the essay and refers to Appendix A, which contains
a comparison of the two, showing every addition to and deletion from the 1916
version that Jung made in creating the 1958 version.
Chapter 3 traces Jungs thinking about the transcendent function by way
of the dozens of references he made to it in eight other written works, ve
public seminars, and four published letters. It addresses such questions as:
How exactly does the transcendent function work? Does the transcendent
function operate on its own or can it be prompted in some way? How does
the transcendent function interact with other key Jungian concepts such as
individuation, the Self, and the archetypes? Reference is made to relevant
excerpts from each of the written works, seminars, and letters. Appendix B

Introduction to the Transcendent Function

gives a complete list of all those references together with the pages surrounding each reference that the author believes give the reader the material necessary for the reference to be fully understood. The research that led to this
chapter yielded an important realization: that the references to the transcendent function implicate just about every core Jungian concept. The references
are addressed thematically in the framework of key topics in Jungs paradigm.
Chapter 4 springs from the analysis in chapter 3 and posits that the
transcendent function is centrally located in the complex web of Jungian
concepts. Indeed, it makes the proposition that the transcendent function is
Jungs root metaphor for psyche itself or for becoming psychological and is
the wellspring from whence owed much of the rest of Jungs imaginal, depth
psychology. It then makes an attempt to set forth and analyze, both in words
and images, the core components of the transcendent function. The chapter
concludes by posing questions that ow from the idea of the transcendent
function as a root metaphor: Does it nd expression in the theories of others?
Is the transcendent function reective of deeper, even archetypal, expressions
of psyche?
Chapter 5, working from the premise that the transcendent function may
be seen as a metaphor for becoming psychological or for psychological transformation, compares and contrasts the transcendent function with the theories of others. Notwithstanding the uniqueness of Jungs thinking on the
transcendent function (i.e., the dynamic opposition of the psyche, the role of
fantasy and symbol in mediating such antitheses, the emergence of something
larger than the ego that is purposeful, even numinous and holy, and the
potentiating of a transformative result), many schools of psychology struggle
with the relationships between self/other, me/not-me, known/unknown. Here
the book engages in a lively dialogue about whether there is any relationship
between the transcendent function and transitional/mediatory phenomena
hypothesized by others.
Chapter 6 shifts to an exploration of the deeper roots or archetypal basis
of the transcendent function. Viewed through this lens, the transcendent
function is conceptualized as ubiquitous to psychological experience, a way
that the psyche seeks connections between disparate elements in order to
continually evolve and grow. It implicates deeper patterns in the psyche,
including the binary oppositions inherent in consciousness, the chasm between subject and object, archetypal patterns of liminality and initiation, the
archetypal energies of Hermes (the god of boundaries and connections between realms), the deeper foundations of three (the number embodied by the
transcendent function, i.e. the emergence of the third from the polarity of
two), and the search for a connection with the Divine. Through an examination of these patterns, chapter 6 posits that the transcendent function is an
archetypal process that represents what the chapter calls the neither/nor
and autochthonous urges of the psyche. Though somewhat abstract, this

T h e Tr a n s c e n d e n t F u n c t i o n

discussion of the deeper patterns of psyche is the natural analytic destination

of any comprehensive discussion of the transcendent function.
The book concludes in chapter 7 by turning to more practical concerns:
How can we better recognize and apply the transcendent function in our
lives? Here the transcendent function is used as a tool for everyday living, to
prompt a conversation between that which is known/conscious/acknowledged
and that which is unknown/unconscious/hidden, a dialogue through which
something new emerges. It uses analogies to alchemy to emphasize that the
essence of the transcendent function is to allow something new to emerge
from things that are in seemingly irreconcilable conict. Through these concepts, the transcendent function is then applied to relationships, social and
cultural issues (e.g., race relations, gun control, abortion, gender differences,
democratic discourse), and day-to-day living. Chapter 7 proposes a model for
deepening relationships and for revisioning the deep rifts we see in social and
cultural issues. Finally, it shifts the focus to everyday living, showing how the
transcendent function allows us to see all the world as a way of embodying,
relating to, and integrating the unconscious.
It is important to note here that this book does not venture into the
related and important area of the clinical application of the transcendent
function. In the essay that bears its name, Jung introduced the method of
active imagination as a way to prompt the occurrence of the transcendent
function in analysis. That is the proper topic for a separate work and is
reserved for a future volume. It is also a subject that has received treatment
by others. Readers who wish to add a clinical dimension to the theories and
analysis offered herein would be well served to consult the work of Chodorow
(1997), Hannah (1953), von Franz (1980), Dallett (1982), and Johnson
(1986). In addition, Appendix C provides a literature review of sources that
discuss the transcendent function in ways that are less central to the focus
of this book.