Abstraction

1. Etymology

Abstraction names a form of mental activity by which a conscious content is freed from its association with irrelevant elements, akin to differentiation. Compare empathy. Related: introversion; libido; function; participation mystique.

2. Plain summary

Abstraction works across all four functions. Abstract thinking pulls out logical qualities; abstract feeling does the same with value; abstract sensation is aesthetic rather than merely sensuous; abstract intuition is symbolic rather than fantastic.

Jung pictures abstraction as a withdrawal of libido from the object—value flowing back into a subjective, abstract content—an introverting movement and an energic devaluation of the object. In that sense it rises above a primitive participation mystique, breaking the object’s hold on the subject. Related to introversion as attitude (empathy/extraversion as the other pole of the comparison).

Examples (exhaustive house list for this Index lemma — common abstraction motifs named across Jung’s essays and standard Jungian lexica; not a claim that Jung’s CW contains only these):
free content from irrelevant associations; differentiation kinship; abstract thinking / feeling / sensation / intuition; withdrawal of libido from object; energic devaluation of object; introverting movement; vs empathy / extraversion; rise above participation mystique; function-wide activity; typology link.

3. Academic elucidation

In analytical psychology abstraction is function-general introverting work—not “being abstract” as a personality insult, but a libido movement that frees content and loosens participation mystique. Descent Press keeps Sharp in §4; Samuels has no dedicated abstraction head this pass. §5 holds sample stamps Prefer CW 6 Definitions. ---

4. Lexicon

Sharp (1991)

Abstraction. A form of mental activity by which a conscious content is freed from its association with irrelevant elements, similar to the process of differentiation. (Compare empathy.) Abstraction is an activity pertaining to the psychological functions in general. … I visualize the process of abstraction as a withdrawal of libido from the object… abstraction amounts to an energic devaluation of the object. … abstraction is an attempt to rise above the primitive state of participation mystique.

(Sharp, 1991)

Samuels, Shorter & Plaut (1986) — no dedicated abstraction head (list):

(No dedicated Samuels head for abstraction this vessel pass.)

5. CW concordance — sample, not exhaustive

Abstraction, therefore, is a form of mental activity that frees this content from its association with the irrelevant elements by distinguishing it from them or, in other words, differentiating it… In its wider sense, everything is abstract that is separated from its association with elements that are felt to have no relevance to its meaning.
(Jung, 1921/1971, CW 6, p. 571, ¶677)

Abstraction is an activity pertaining to the psychological functions… in general. There is an abstract thinking, just as there is abstract feeling, sensation, and intuition… Abstract thinking singles out the rational, logical qualities of a given content from its intellectually irrelevant components. Abstract feeling does the same with a content characterized by its feeling-values… Abstract sensation would be aesthetic as opposed to sensuous sensation… and abstract intuition would be symbolic as opposed to fantastic intuition…
(Jung, 1921/1971, CW 6, pp. 571–572, ¶678)

When I take an abstract attitude to an object, I do not allow the object to affect me in its totality; I focus my attention on one part of it by excluding all the irrelevant parts. … I visualize the process of abstraction as a withdrawal of libido from the object, as a backflow of value from the object into a subjective, abstract content. For me, therefore, abstraction amounts to an energic devaluation of the object. In other words, abstraction is an introverting movement of libido.
(Jung, 1921/1971, CW 6, pp. 572–573, ¶¶679–680)

See also: introversion; extraversion; function; libido; participation mystique; typology; rational; irrational.

References

Jung, C. G. (1971). Psychological types [Definitions]. In H. Read, M. Fordham, G. Adler, & W. McGuire (Eds.), The collected works of C. G. Jung (R. F. C. Hull, Trans.) (Vol. 6, pp. 571–573, ¶¶677–680). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1921)

Samuels, A., Shorter, B., & Plaut, F. (1986). A critical dictionary of Jungian analysis. Routledge.

Sharp, D. (1991). Jung lexicon: A primer of terms & concepts. Inner City Books.