C G Jung’s Psychological Types Reading Group with Peter Geyer – Orientation session

Ever wanted to read C G Jung’s Psychological Types but found it challenging or daunting? If so, you’re not alone! It’s the foundation of all that we do in psychological type and AusAPT, so we’re pleased to be kicking off the Psychological Types Reading Group with an orientation session on 20 October.

The Reading Group will be an opportunity for AusAPT members to read C G Jung’s Psychological Types together over about a year with the guidance of Peter Geyer, custodian of the Type Research and Practice Collection and long-time researcher and presenter on Jung and Psychological Types. We’ll meet monthly to discuss the concepts and ideas we’ve read.

The orientation session is free and open to all on Thursday 20 October, 7pm – 8:30pm AEST/Melbourne time. But note that you will need to be an AusAPT member once we kick off on 10 November.

Register in advance for the 20 October orientation session:
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZItduqorTkvH9ygNM_Z0PncCGG5Ba9MVomw 

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the session.

We’ll talk more about how the Reading Group will work in the orientation session, but here are a few key details for once we start:

1/ We’ll meet on the 2nd Thursday of each month starting 10 November, 7-8:30pm Melbourne time.

2/ The Reading Group is FREE for 2022/23 AusAPT members and will run till around October 2023.

3/ You need to be an AusAPT member to join in the Reading Group from 10 November.

Below is advice prepared by Peter Geyer about what to expect with commentary also on editions of the text.

Advice ahead of the Orientation session and Reading Group

The following is a guide for those interested in engaging with others in an online discussion of C.G. Jung’s book Psychological Types facilitated by Peter Geyer.

The discussion involves regular meeting and set reading of chapters or parts of chapters in sequence (some chapters are very long).

The emphasis is on what Jung wrote at the time of initial publishing (1921/3) rather than later commentaries, although these can be part of a discussion.

There are many editions of Psychological Types, even in English, where there are two translators of the original text: H.G. Baynes (1923) and R.F.C. Hull’s revision  (1971?)

Here’s one link to what’s available online. A Google search can also be useful.

Any edition of this text is suitable for the discussion, as both translations are held in the AusAPT TRPC, including digital editions of recent publications. 

The Baynes translation is preferred for several reasons, one being an informative preface where the translator explains his perspective. This does not appear elsewhere and will be provided to discussion participants prior to the first session. The language is also that of the period in which Psychological Types written and so appeals to the historically minded. This is not to say that the Hull translation is inadequate, far from it.

The idea of the discussion is to discover and discuss what Jung actually wrote. It isn’t an exercise in dogma and belief. The discussion can involve comments and works of contemporaries if desired. The Collection has several relevant books and articles from the period up to the Second World War.

Apart from the regular meetings, anticipated to be monthly, members of the group may contact Peter Geyer at any time if there are queries or a desire for discussion on a particular point.

You can download the opening pages of Psychological Types (1923 edition) for pre-reading for the orientation session here: