Jung’s Alchemical Philosophy
Winner of the IAJS Book Award 2023 for Best Theoretical Book
Traditionally, alchemy has been understood as a precursor to the science of chemistry but from the vantage point of the human spirit, it is also a discipline that illuminates the human soul. This book explores the goal of alchemy from Jungian, psychological, and philosophical perspectives.
Jung’s Alchemical Philosophy: Psyche and the Mercurial Play of Image and Idea is a reflection on Jung’s alchemical work and the importance of philosophy as a way of understanding alchemy and its contributions to Jung’s psychology. By engaging these disciplines, Marlan opens new vistas on alchemy and the circular and ouroboric play of images and ideas, shedding light on the alchemical opus and the transformative processes of Jungian psychology. Divides in the history of alchemy and in the alchemical imagination are addressed as Marlan deepens the process by turning to a number of interpretations that illuminate both the enigma of the Philosophers’ Stone and the ferment in the Jungian tradition.
This book will be of interest to Jungian analysts and those who wish to explore the intersection of philosophy and psychology as it relates to alchemy.
Stanton Marlan is a Jungian analyst, President of the Pittsburgh Society of Jungian Analysts, and an Adjunct Professor in Clinical Psychology at Duquesne University, with long-time interests in alchemy and the psychology of dreams. He is also the author of other books on psychology and alchemy, including C.G. Jung and the Alchemical Imagination: Passages into the Mysteries of Psyche and Soul.