Chapter 22 Summary and Key Terms

Summary
Chapter 22, by Carl G Jung, is an overview about symbols, why we use them and what symbols mean. A symbol, as defined in this chapter, is a term, name or picture that could be familiar to us and there is a specific meaning to it. The literal term means a token and is from the Greek language. It is also implies something that is unknown to us. For example, religious symbols are used to explain and visualize ideas that are hard to comprehend but are of great importance. People also form dreams subconsciously in the form of dreams.
In the after-reading of this chapter, Charles Sanders Peirce argues that there are three different ways that signs communicate. There is an Icon, and uses the resemblance method of communication that we know through seeing it, and example of this would be a picture. The second is an Index which uses a casual way of communicating and we process this sign by figuring it out ourselves, an example of this would be if we see smoke we know that it means that there is a fire. The third and final one is a Symbol, this uses the convention way of communicating and we process this through learning it, an example of this would be the flag.
Overall, symbols do not just have meaning on their own, society gives the meaning for each symbol and how we learn this is unconscious and we "absorb them in a subliminal manner".


Key Terms:

Symbol- name, picture, a term that is familiar and has a specific meaning to it and is also used in explanation (ex:Religious symbols)

3 kinds of signs:

ICON
Resemblance
ex: Picture
Can See

INDEX
Casual Connection
ex: Smoke=Fire
Figure Out


SYMBOL
Convention
ex: Flag
Learn