Desire and one-sidedness: Extroversion’s enemies within, introversion’s enemies without

Abstract

This article will provide a thorough Lacanian and Heideggerian analysis of Jung’s 1923 book Psychological Types. In particular, this article will demonstrate how one-sidedness of introversion or extraversion leads an analysand to experience the obstructiveness of a complex. I will use my past writing, which integrated Zizek’s interpretation of Lacan with my Heideggerian interpretation of Jung to show why this one-sidedness leads to the obstructiveness of a complex. In contrast, an analysand adheres to ‘the ethics of psychoanalysis’ when there is not a one-sidedness of introversion or extraversion This can be simplified by noting that introverts neglect the desire of the Other compared to the extrovert who neglects acting “in conformity with the desire that is in you”. I aim to show that a balance is required between introversion and extroversion for the analysand to be at ‘home in the world’ and this can be restored with a unification of opposites through Jung’s transcendent function.