This essay has the purpose of sharpening psychology's self-understanding by reflecting it against the foil of the other of Buddhism as elucidated by what competent Japanese scholars, well versed in both Eastern and Western thinking, have written about the Buddhist conception of the psyche or mind, often contrasting it with Western psychology. Close examination shows, however, that such a comparison meets with serious difficulties because what is compared is not always really comparable or commensurable. It is precisely through the analysis of these difficulties that psychology is enabled to come to a clearer understanding of where it stands.



Buddhist and Western Psychology,

Pitfalls in Comparing

: A Contribution to Psychology's Self-Clarification, Wolfgang Giegerich, 2018, Paperback, 100 pages, $14.80

Wolfgang Giegerich is a Jungian psychoanalyst and author of numerous books and articles on a variety of psychological topics but always committed to the one goal of developing a "psychology with soul". He has twice taught as Visiting Professor at Kyoto University and for more than twenty years regularly conducted intensive case and dream seminars for Japanese colleagues.