Christian Jung

Written in the late 1950s at the height of popular fascination with UFO's, _Flying Saucers_ is the great psychologist's brilliantly prescient meditation on the phenomenon that gripped the world. A self-confessed sceptic in such matters, Jung was nevertheless intrigued, not so much by their reality or unreality, but by their psychic aspect. He saw flying saucers as a modern myth in the making, to be passed down the generations just as we have received such myths from our ancestors. In this wonderful and enlightening book Jung sees UFO's as 'visionary rumours', the centre of a quasi-religious cult and carriers of our technological and salvationist fantasies. 40 years later, with entire religions based on the writings of science fiction authors, it is remarkable to see just how right he has proved to be.

In his early years, before his dialogical turn, Martin Buber studied the mystical traditions of Europe and Asia and even considered himself a mystic of sorts. The present paper examines Buber's attitude towards mysticism in the course of his intellectual and personal development, particularly before and during his transitional phase to the philosophy of dialogue. The first section details the formative impact intellectual currents around 1900 had on Buber, focussing on the Neue Gemeinschaft of the Hart brothers in Berlin and Gustav Landauer. In a second step, Buber's concept of mysticism is subject to scrutiny. This is essential for understanding why he dissociated so vehemently from mysticism in his dialogical phase. The critique of mysticism in I and Thou is, therefore, the subject matter of the third and last section.

Aristotle's theory of intellect is notoriously difficult, due basically to the scarcity of textual evidence. It has therefore always been controversial and often subject to the systematic biases of its interpretators. In order to provide a fresh and objective perspective on the text itself this book offers a detailed study of the fundamental text, Aristotle's De anima III 4-5, by giving an improved Greek text, extensive commentary, and discussion. An examination of several other important Aristotelian passages on the intellect is also included. The analysis shows that Aristotle distinguishes clearly between the active and the passive intellect, but that the active intellect is not actively involved in cognitive processes, such as abstraction, but the pure principle of actuality in the soul. On this basis ancient and medieval commentators identified the human and divine intellects.

The unity of God and man in the intellect is the fundamental teaching of Meister Eckhart on which he bases the system of his thoughts. Since there is a metaphysical and a psychological aspect to this teaching the book naturally falls into two parts: The first part is devoted to the analysis of divine nature, the second examines the human soul. God and man are essentially the same in their highest point: God's innermost essence is unity, which Eckhart identifies with intellect. But intellect is also the highest peak in the human soul, the famous spark. By studying both Eckhart's German and Latin works, from the early Parisian Questions to the German sermons, this study also shows the unity of Eckhart's thought in all genres of writing.