"honesty" In Confucianism And Its Significance In Psychology And Psychoanalysis

As of this writing, there exist few academic studies which carefullyconsider the relationship between the psychological ideas of Carl GustavJung and the analytical psychology, and the philosophical teachings ofthe Chinese Confucian tradition. Other works which focus on Jung andAsian thought do so from a Chinese Daoist perspective, or on Jung'scommentaries on Asian spiritual works. Of the academic studies whichlook at Jung and Confucianism, none seriously consider thepsychological contributions of Confucian teachings found in the ancienttext, the Zhōngyōng,中庸. In English, this text is commonly known asthe Doctrine of the Mean. This work seeks to contribute to this untappedarea. By ruminating upon a central concept, chéng,诚(誠 in traditionalcharacters), translated into English by various writers with no less thanthirty-three homological concepts, this work will demonstrate theimportance of sincerity, integrity, truthfulness, etc. for psychologicaldevelopment and psychotherapeutic clinical practice.Since I am considering Complex Psychology as a human science, Iwill discuss his hypotheses that go into making the theories of AnalyticalPsychology, the applied dimension. Since I am availing myself ofChinese texts and historical biographies of Chinese thinkers, I willconsider these retrospectively, that is analytically, and constructively tosee how these ideas on chéng are relevant for a psychology that considerswhere they may lead the modern individual.In the spirit of Chinese culture, where a person can wear a Daoistrobe, a Confucian hat, and Buddhist sandals with great facility andease—symbolizing the fluidity and ease of adopting variousviewpoints—the current work integrates and modifies the views used toforge a psychological approach to what the notion of chéng might meanfor contemporary people. It is indeed the goal of a psychological facility,in the sense of a 'naturalness and effortlessness', that chéng must becontemplated. This integrative approach is best to adopt since this work isintegrative in itself. It is composed by an American residing in China;using a psychology which originated in 20th century Europe (informed asit was by 17th century Gnostic and alchemical thought) to fathom thesignificance of a philosophical view born over 2400 years ago in China;striving to provide a psychological explication for a way ofbeing-in-the-world taken to be common, easy and well-balanced, leadingto a centered human who embodies sincerity, integrity, (etc.) andculminates in self-realization. It also seeks to integrate a non-reductiveempirical approach with a metaphysical one.