Plural Psyche

In The Plural Psyche Andrew Samuels eloquently proposes the case for pluralism in approaching key issues in depth psychology. Emphasizing the role of metaphor in elucidating psychological processes, he sets out a pluralistc model of personality development. Through a discussion of the meanings of parental imagery brought to analysis, this leads to a focus on the father's role in the formation of gender identity, seen as crucial to the evolution of psychological pluralism in individual and culture alike. In the concluding chapters, the author returns to the larger subject to discuss the hidden pluralism of moral process and the political resonances of depth psychology. The theme of pluralism was implicit in Andrew Samuels' widely praised book, Jung and the Post-Jungians . Here he develops the potential of that theme in an original and thought-provoking manner at the three different levels of personal experience, psychological theory and the dynamics of depth psychology itself.