Jung and aesthetic experience

by Donald H. Mayo

What is the source of artistic inspiration and the related effect of great art upon the audience or reader? This work provides the best answer yet given to this difficult question that has been speculated upon by artists and in philosophic writings since Plato. The author has extracted and explicated a coherent theory of aesthetics from Carl Jung's voluminous writings, arguing that Jung's is the best explanation of the phenomenon of artistic inspiration. Finally a scheme is proposed for a system of criticism based on Jung's writings.