Thinking

## 1. Etymology

**Thinking** names the **mental process of interpreting what is perceived**—knowing what a thing is, naming it, linking it. Compare [feeling](/index/feeling/); related: intellect; directed vs intuitive thinking; rational function.

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## 2. Plain summary

**Thinking** in Jung’s typology is the rational function that connects and judges conceptually. If thinking leads, [feeling](/index/feeling/) tends to fall inferior—true thinking rigorously excludes feeling, though undeveloped people may have both at the same weak level.

Active thinking is an act of will (directed thinking / intellect); passive thinking happens when connections form themselves (intuitive thinking). Related to [introversion](/index/introversion/)/[extraversion](/index/extraversion/) and to the irrational pair [sensation](/index/sensation/)/[intuition](/index/intuition/).

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

interprets what is perceived; naming and linking; rational function with feeling; thinking type / feeling inferior; must exclude feeling to be true to principle; active/directed vs passive/intuitive thinking; intellect as capacity for directed thinking; apperception; complementary to [feeling](/index/feeling/); [opposites](/index/opposites/) of concept vs value; [compensation](/index/compensation/) when one-sided; [persona](/index/persona/) of the expert thinker.

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## 3. Academic elucidation

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## 4. Lexicon

**Sharp (1991)**

> Thinking. The mental process of interpreting what is perceived. … Along with feeling, it is a rational function. If thinking is the primary function, then feeling is automatically the inferior function. … Active thinking is an act of the will, passive thinking is a mere occurrence… The capacity for directed thinking I call intellect…

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

> typology … Some individuals are more excited or energised by the internal world and others by the external world; these are introverts and extraverts respectively… in addition… thinking, feeling, sensation, intuition…

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## 5. CW concordance — sample, not exhaustive

> Thinking is the psychological function which, following its own laws, brings the contents of ideation into conceptual connection with one another. It is an apperceptive activity, and as such may be divided into active and passive thinking.

> The term “thinking” should, in my view, be confined to the linking up of ideas by means of a concept, in other words, to an act of judgment, no matter whether this act is intentional or not.

> …we speak of the “consciousness” of a function only when its use is under the control of the will and, at the same time, its governing principle is the decisive one for the orientation of consciousness. This is true when, for instance, thinking is not a mere afterthought, or rumination, and when its conclusions possess the validity of a decisive conviction…

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**See also:** [feeling](/index/feeling/); [intuition](/index/intuition/); [sensation](/index/sensation/); [consciousness](/index/consciousness/); [introversion](/index/introversion/); [extraversion](/index/extraversion/); [opposites](/index/opposites/); [compensation](/index/compensation/). *(Queued — sensation; directed thinking.)*

## 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. 565, 662–663, ¶¶667, 830–831). 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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