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# Function
- URL: https://www.descentpress.com/index/function/
- Published: 2026-09-05T04:40:52.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-11T20:10:09.000Z
- Description: Function — Descent Press Index (entry forthcoming).
- Author: Jae Botávn
- Tags: #index, #Import 2026-09-04 23:45

\## 1\. Etymology

\*\*Function\*\* names a \*\*form of psychic activity, or manifestation of libido (energy), that remains the same in principle under varying conditions\*\*. Related: auxiliary function; \[inferior function\](/index/inferior-function/); primary function; differentiation; \[typology\](/index/typology/).

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\## 2\. Plain summary

Jung’s model distinguishes four psychological \*\*functions\*\*: \[thinking\](/index/thinking/), \[feeling\](/index/feeling/), \[sensation\](/index/sensation/), \[intuition\](/index/intuition/). Sensation establishes what is present; thinking its meaning; feeling its value; intuition its possibilities—whence and whither.

All four exist in every psyche, but one is usually more consciously developed, producing one-sidedness that can tip toward neurosis. Libido invested in one function is withdrawn from the others; drained long enough, they sink toward the unconscious and archaic levels—a regressive dissociation. Related to \[rational\](/index/rational/) / \[irrational\](/index/irrational/) classes and to the \[inferior function\](/index/inferior-function/) as fourth.

\*\*Examples (exhaustive house list for this Index lemma — common function motifs named across Jung’s essays and standard Jungian lexica; not a claim that Jung’s CW contains only these):\*\* 

psychic activity / libido manifestation; four functions; present / meaning / value / possibilities; one-sided conscious development; libido withdrawal from others; regressive archaic level; dissociation of personality; auxiliary / primary / \[inferior function\](/index/inferior-function/); \[typology\](/index/typology/) model; \[rational\](/index/rational/)/\[irrational\](/index/irrational/) pairing.

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\## 3\. Academic elucidation

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\## 4\. Lexicon

\*\*Sharp (1991)\*\*

\> Function. A form of psychic activity, or manifestation of libido (energy), that remains the same in principle under varying conditions. (See also auxiliary function, differentiation, inferior function, primary function and typology.) Jung’s model of typology distinguishes four psychological functions: thinking, feeling, sensation and intuition. Sensation establishes what is actually present, thinking enables us to recognize its meaning, feeling tells us its value, and intuition points to possibilities…

(Sharp, 1991, p. \[provisional — unverified\])

\> typology … Jung identified these as thinking… feeling… sensation… intuition… A person will have a primary (or superior) mode of functioning… auxiliary function… inferior function…

(Samuels, Shorter, & Plaut, 1986, pp. \*\*153–155\*\*)

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\## 5\. CW concordance — sample, not exhaustive

\> Sensation establishes what is actually present, thinking enables us to recognize its meaning, feeling tells us its value, and intuition points to possibilities as to whence it came and whither it is going in a given situation. … The four functions are somewhat like the four points of the compass; they are just as arbitrary and just as indispensable.

(Jung, 1921/1971, CW 6, pp. 736–737, ¶958)

\> Abstraction and empathy, introversion and extraversion, are mechanisms of adaptation and defence. … In so far as they are directed functions, they liberate him from fortuitous impulses; indeed they are an actual defence against them since they make self-alienation possible. … Identification with the directed function has an undeniable advantage…

(Jung, 1921/1971, CW 6, pp. 422–423, ¶502)

\> This state brings about a dissociation of the personality, since the archaic modes of functioning have no direct connection with consciousness … the further the process of self-alienation goes, the further the unconscious functions sink down to the archaic level.

(Jung, 1921/1971, CW 6, p. 424, ¶503)

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\*\*See also:\*\* \[typology\](/index/typology/); \[rational\](/index/rational/); \[irrational\](/index/irrational/); \[thinking\](/index/thinking/); \[feeling\](/index/feeling/); \[sensation\](/index/sensation/); \[intuition\](/index/intuition/); \[inferior function\](/index/inferior-function/); \[libido\](/index/libido/).

\## References

Jung, C. G. (1971). Psychological types. 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. 422–424, 736–737, ¶¶502–503, 958). 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.

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