The Origins And History Of Consciousness (International Library of Psychology)

influences. Lack of self-knowledge inevitably led to lack of self-responsibility. Thus humanity felt victimized by evil spirits. Fear of them often led to submission to them —and this happened on a quite conscious and intentional level.

Jaynes argues that the solution that emerged to prevent the scattering of the group was an introjection of the dominant male’s figure, whose “voice,” ordering what to do, became “heard” by his subjects even in his absence. The voice of the sovereign continues to be heard and revered even after his death. His corpse, preserved for as long as possibl

The cultural process that gave rise to modern society and modern man was the development of the ego. This development is associated with the acquisition of knowledge and the gaining of power over nature. Man is part of nature like any other animal, fully subject to her laws; but he is also above nature, acting upon and controlling her. He does the

This is not to say that early man was something of a philosopher; abstract questions of this kind were wholly alien to his consciousness. Mythology, however, is the product of the collective unconscious, and anyone acquainted with primitive psychology must stand amazed at the unconscious wisdom which rises up from the depths of the human psyche in