Table Of Content‘Never has holism been more important than in this era of planetary crisis,
polarized thinking, and the fragmenting of communities and the psyche. Never
too has holism been so lauded and derided. So Holism: Possibilities and Problems
is a necessary book for the twenty first century. With a wonderfully cogent
introduction by Roderick Main, Christian McMillan, and David Henderson,
the book focuses on the interrelated thought of Gilles Deleuze and C. G. Jung
while also ranging richly between philosophy, the arts, clinical practice and the
Anthropocene. For seekers of “the whole” in the context of emergence, com-
plexity theory and transdisciplinarity, this is the place to start.’
– Susan Rowland, PhD, Pacifica Graduate Institute,
California, USA
HOLISM
Holism: Possibilities and Problems brings together leading contributors in a ground-breaking
discussion of holism. The terms ‘holism’ and ‘holistic’ arouse strong emotional responses in
contemporary culture, whether this be negative or positive, and the essays in this interdiscipli-
nary collection probe, each in its own way, the possibilities and problems inherent in thinking
holistically.
Christian McMillan, Roderick Main and David Henderson bring together established
academics and emerging scholars across subject areas and disciplinary approaches to reveal the
multiplicity and complexity of issues involved in holism. Divided into four parts, the chapters
determine key strands of thinking explicitly or implicitly underpinning contemporary holis-
tic thought, including what ethical conclusions might most reasonably be drawn from such
thought. Accessible and diverse, this extensive volume contains chapters from the perspective
of history, ecology, psychotherapy, poetry, mythology, and an especially strong representation
of continental philosophy and Jungian depth psychology. Due to its multi-disciplinary nature,
the book represents an unparalleled discussion of the meanings and implications of holism.
Written by an innovative and international calibre of contributors, this pioneering col-
lection will be essential reading for practitioners in depth psychology and scholars of Jungian
studies, as well as academics and students of philosophy, religious studies, spirituality, history,
and the history of ideas. The book is a rich resource for the enhancement of critical reflection
among all those with an interest in holism.
Christian McMillan, PhD, is Lecturer at West Suffolk College, University of Suffolk, and was
formerly Senior Research Officer in the Department for Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies,
University of Essex, UK.
Roderick Main, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic
Studies and Director of the Centre for Myth Studies at the University of Essex, UK.
David Henderson, PhD, is Lecturer in Jungian Studies in the Department for Psychosocial and
Psychoanalytic Studies, University of Essex, UK. He is a member of the British Jungian Analytic
Association (BJAA) and the International Association for Analytical Psychology (IAAP).
PHILOSOPHY & PSYCHOANALYSIS BOOK SERIES
JON MILLS
Series Editor
Philosophy & Psychoanalysis is dedicated to current developments and cutting-edge
research in the philosophical sciences, phenomenology, hermeneutics, existen-
tialism, logic, semiotics, cultural studies, social criticism, and the humanities that
engage and enrich psychoanalytic thought through philosophical rigor. With
the philosophical turn in psychoanalysis comes a new era of theoretical research
that revisits past paradigms while invigorating new approaches to theoretical,
historical, contemporary, and applied psychoanalysis. No subject or discipline is
immune from psychoanalytic reflection within a philosophical context including
psychology, sociology, anthropology, politics, the arts, religion, science, culture,
physics, and the nature of morality. Philosophical approaches to psychoanalysis
may stimulate new areas of knowledge that have conceptual and applied value
beyond the consulting room reflective of greater society at large. In the spirit of
pluralism, Philosophy & Psychoanalysis is open to any theoretical school in philoso-
phy and psychoanalysis that offers novel, scholarly, and important insights in the
way we come to understand our world.
Titles in this series:
Lacan on Psychosis: From Theory to Praxis
Edited by Jon Mills and David L. Downing
Ethics and Attachment: How We Make Moral Judgments
Aner Govrin
Jung and Philosophy
Edited by Jon Mills
Innovations in Psychoanalysis: Originality, Development, Progress
Edited by Aner Govrin and Jon Mills
Holism: Possibilities and Problems
Edited by Christian McMillan, Roderick Main and David Henderson
HOLISM
Possibilities and Problems
Edited by Christian McMillan, Roderick Main
and David Henderson
First published 2020
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2020 selection and editorial matter, Christian McMillan, Roderick
Main and David Hendersonm individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Christian McMillan, Roderick Main and David Henderson
to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the
authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance
with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other
means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and
recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978-0-367-42481-7 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-42482-4 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-82438-9 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
CONTENTS
Acknowledgement ix
Contributors x
Introduction 1
Roderick Main, Christian McMillan and David Henderson
PART I
HISTORY AND CONTEXTS 15
1 How do we think in terms of wholes? Holistic voices and
visions after World War II 17
Linda Sargent Wood
2 Irreducible responsibility: Applying holism to navigate the
Anthropocene 31
Andrew Fellows
3 Georg Ernst Stahl’s holistic organism 42
Barbara Helen Miller
PART II
ANALYTICAL PSYCHOLOGY 53
4 From the split to wholeness: The ‘coniunctio’ in C. G. Jung’s
Red Book 55
Alessio De Fiori
viii Contents
5 Science as a system: Connections between Carl Gustav Jung’s
holistic thoughts about science and his Red Book experience 67
Armelle Line Peltier
6 The holistic wish: Migration of feeling, thought and experience 75
Phil Goss
7 Holistic education: The Jungian dilemma 83
Robert Mitchell
8 Simondon and Jung: Re-thinking individuation 91
Mark Saban
PART III
PHILOSOPHY 99
9 A whole made of holes: Interrogating holism via Jung and
Schelling 101
Gordon Barentsen
10 Jung, Spinoza, Deleuze: A move towards realism 109
Robert Langan
11 Kant’s influence on Jung’s vitalism in the Zofingia Lectures 118
Christian McMillan
12 An emergent, critical realist understanding of holism 130
Ian Hornsby
13 Synchronicity: Between wholes and alterity 141
Rico Sneller
14 Why don’t holisms describe the whole? The psyche as a case
study 149
J. Linn Mackey
PART IV
PRACTICE AND THE ARTS 157
15 A synchronistic experience in Serbia 159
Richard Berengarten
16 The concept of kami in Shintō and holism: Psychotherapy
and Japanese literature 170
Megumi Yama
17 The CORE Trust: The holistic approach to addiction 180
Jason Wright
Index 188
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Work on this book was supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council,
UK [AH/N003853/1].
