The Life and Ideas of James Hillman

Volume III of Dick Russell’s monumental biography, The Life and Ideas of James Hillman, takes up the final decades of the pioneering depth psychologist’s explorations of “Soul in the World.”  Hillman’s twenty-three-year relationship and ultimately marriage to visual artist Margot McLean provides the backdrop for the diversity of his wide-ranging pursuits—where the aesthetic and the imagination become central motifs for the founder of archetypal psychology.   Hillman’s cultural explorations resulted in six provocative books between 1991 and 2004, including The Soul’s Code that became an international bestseller. He also took up themes of therapy, the business world, aging, ecology and war. In public lectures he traversed a still broader path, delving into everything from architecture to pornography.   This volume examines, through the eyes of the participants, the controversial Festival of Archetypal Psychology at Notre Dame University. It analyzes the complex and often fraught relationship with German psychologist and Jungian analyst Wolfgang Giegerich. It looks at Hillman’s unique collaborative efforts with Thomas Moore, Michael Ventura and bell hooks, along with Hillman’s penchant for making unusual friends.   Why was Hillman more popular in Italy and Japan than in his native America?  His many travels to, and deep affinity for, these two vastly different countries is explored in depth. Was Hillman a good analyst?  A compelling classroom instructor?  What kind of father was he?  Interviews with many of Hillman’s patients, as well as colleagues at the institute where he taught and with several of his children, reveal the man’s strengths as well as weaknesses.   The biography culminates with Hillman’s surprising discovery that his predecessor C.G. Jung’s Red Book presaged where he was seeking to move psychology. In his eighties, how Hillman faced physical failings and ultimately death serve as life lessons for anyone confronting their own mortality.

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