Irrationality || Rationality
Thinking and feeling are rational functions in so far as they are decisively influenced by the motive of reflection. They attain their fullest significance when in fullest possible accord with the laws of reason. The irrational functions, on the contrary, are such as aim at pure perception, e.g. intuition and sensation; because, as far as possible, they are forced to dispense with the rational (which presupposes the exclusion of everything that is outside reason) in order to be able to reach the most complete perception of the whole course of events.
- Psychological Types, Jung
Jung differentiates irrationality (perception) from rationality (judgement) by the boundaries of either reason or perception. Irrationality is concerned with the “absolute perception of the flux of events”, including situations of chance, while rationality is within the bounds of reason, excluding anything outside of it. Basic facts are an example of pure irrationality, such as the existence of the Sun or the concept of sight, while utopian ideals are an example of pure rationality (anything posited, with its very existence entirely composed of rational definitions). The former includes random events and the perception of anything that might be seen as frivolous, while the latter excludes anything but the system itself.
As a byproduct of this distinction, Jung also excludes passive feeling and thinking from the functions of feeling and thinking, stating that the two are irrational. He writes that passive thinking "lacks any sense of direction" in contrast to the conceptual connection of thinking, and that passive feeling "allows itself to be attracted or excited by a particular content" in contrast to the assignment of value by feeling.[1][
References
[1] - Jung, Carl. G. Psychological types (1971), 605
[2] - Jung, Carl G. Psychological types (1971), 662-663 [3]Jung lexicon;A primer of Terms and Concepts by Daryl Sharp ,M.A Jungian Analyst
3 Comments
I think this needs clarification. It's very hard to understand it imo.
ye maybe like cut down the quotes a bit and add some explanation? so it's not just like quote blocks lol. jung is a go-to source for this stuff so i like that, once the pages for some other mbti developers get filled out we could include references by them
Jung lexicon
Preface
C. G. Jung died in 1961, without ever having presented a systematic summary of his psychology. For the past thirty years his ideas have been explained, explored and amplified by thousands of others, with varying results.
Jung Lexicon takes the reader to the source. It was designed for those seeking an understanding of relevant terms and concepts as they were used by Jung himself. There are choice extracts from Jung’s Collected Works, but no references to other writers.
Jung Lexicon is not a critique or a defence of Jung’s thoughts, but a guide to its richness and an illustration of the broad scope and interrelationship of his interests. Informed by a close reading of Jung’s major writings, Jung Lexicon contains a comprehensive overview of the basic principles of Jungian psychology. The implications and practical application of Jung’s ideas are well covered by other volumes in this series.