Part I: Mind, memory, and archetype morphic resonance and the collective unconscious

Abstract Rupert Sheldrake is a theoretical biologist whose book, A New Science of Life: The Hypothesis of Formative Causation (Tarcher, 1981) evoked a storm of controversy. Nature described it as “the best candidate for burning,” while the New Scientist called it “an important scientific inquiry into the nature of biological and physical reality.” Because his work has important implications for Jung's concepts of the archetype and the collective unconscious, we have invited Sheldrake to present his views in a series of four essays which will appear in successive issues of PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES. These essays will be updates of his presentation on “Morphic Resonance and the Collective Unconscious,” which he gave in May of 1986 at the Human Relations Institute in Santa Barbara. Audio recordings were made by Alpha Omega Cassette Enterprises of Pasadena, California.