52 Spirituality Studies 11-1 Spring 2025 Imagination functioning synthetically is the common root of both meaning and reason. It operates mysteriously even before reason itself, yet, as Kant argues, it is not irrational but “confused”. Jung addresses this issue through his definition of the “irrational”, which does not refer to something opposed to reason, but rather something that lies beyond the limits of reason, i.e. something not founded in it, yet still operative in the psyche (Jung CW6 1921, 454). Let us notice that in our lives, we identify phenomena as meaningful, yet we can never point directly and say, “this is meaning”. The inability to locate meaning within the object itself is expressed in Jung’s concept of “in res” – meaning that is not contained within the object itself but arises from our relationship to it. This idea perhaps also approximates Kant’s “thing-in-itself”, which is intrinsically linked to the phenomenon, that is, to its temporal and spatial manifestation. In the field of philosophy, if we are to avoid the banal claim that meaning is merely the logical coherence of a statement, we must take a second step into the field of psychology, where meaning becomes lived and felt, thus attaining fullness as a life motivation. What remains unchanged in both philosophy and psychology is the status of meaning as something that retains its autonomy from analysis and, therefore, from reason itself. It is no coincidence that both Kant and Jung place meaning before reason, though each does so for different reasons. Jung draws extensively from Kant’s concept of synthesis for his psychology, as it provides a framework for describing the process of individuation – that is, how a person comes to terms with their psychological structure and context. A person must deal with the one-way movement of psychic material toward them, whose pre-given concreteness they analyze retrospectively, and also be creative in discovering and forming their own meanings. Thus, the synthetic principle, which Kant places at the beginning of thought, is for Jung the starting point of psychological development. In this text, I have sought to demonstrate that the meaningfulness of psychic content is linked to its autonomy from context. Meaningfulness is not only an emotional quality – a motivation – but also a cognitive quality – distinguishability. Jung applies this principle to his description of individuation, which he defines as finding one’s own way of life – not merely derived from the collective in a positive sense (simple identification), nor in a negative sense (schematic opposition). Once again, we find parallels with Kant’s concept of freedom, which may or may not stand in opposition to the events unfolding in the surrounding natural world. Jungian psychology draws on the theoretical depth of philosophy to explore the concept of meaning, while simultaneously utilizing its own capacity to demonstrate meaning’s effect in human life. This effect is psychological well-being, which is inseparably linked to psychological freedom (Jung CW6 1921, 596–605) [5]. 10 The Symbol as a Doorway: A Concluding Reflection on Meaning and Motivation Motivation is one reason why depth psychology uses the word “depth” – its search for underlying motives is the central thread of Jung’s work. Even as a student, Jung expressed both admiration for and frustration over German philosophical tradition, and especially Immanuel Kant, whose refined and noble reflections on human nature contained nothing that could be considered a motive in the psychological sense. In other words, Jung found no direct connection between philosophical thought and its lived effect – no explicit link between philosophical analysis and its psychodynamic impact. For Jung, motive is the source of psychic energy – the force that transforms a person and drives them toward development. In his view, German idealism remained trapped in its own paradox of autonomy. If a free being cannot be influenced by anything, then what moves them to act or change? Jung resolved this paradox by shifting the discussion to psychology and developing the concept of motivation, which he saw as more appropriate for the differentiated mind of the modern human – a mind whose goal is individuation, the search for personal meaning. The individuation is a process of finding balance – between inner structure and external circumstances, between identity and contingency. The motivation for individuation is the sustaining, renewing, and discovering of meaning – a meaning that is not imposed as a command but is created by the individual themselves. In the previous section, we analyzed Kant’s distinction between phenomenon and its meaning, which transcends it. In Jung’s framework, a similar function is fulfilled by psychic contents that exist at the boundary between consciousness and the unconscious – which he refers to as symbols. These symbols manifest through familiar visual elements, yet their
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