Principles of Typology
by
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Preface
This book is addressed to the advanced student of typology. My primary goal is to bring rigor to the subject. Thus, first and foremost I will provide a systematic account of what typology is. This shall clarify what we already know about the subject as well as dispel many myths we have held hitherto. As an entailment to this accomplishment, I hope to propound fresh insights concerning the field, as I believe I have accomplished this in many of my lengthy profiles. It should be clearly noted that this inquiry embarks upon the purpose of making discoveries about the subject, my chief purpose is to provide a method with respect to how one must inquire into the field. Hence, the primary purpose will be to provide a systematic approach to typology and secondary to use this method to make discoveries. One may ask, why is it important to subscribe to one particular methodology, and why it ought to be mine. The answer to this question is that the reason why typology today cannot be taken seriously as an academic pursuit is because it lacks rigor. This means that without rigor, we do not have a reliable way of ascertaining of what we know about the subject. Without this, there could not be any sound typological inquiry at all. It shall be reduced to mere superstition. My thesis is that it is possible to approach the matter in a systematic fashion and therefore it is a mistake to label Jungian typology as mere ‘pop-psychology’. In addition to this it should be mentioned that I am primarily concerned with pure typology and not applied typology, in the regard that these terms are defined in the last section of chapter one. Pure typology is chiefly concerned with the unconscious predilections of the subject in question. How they manifest in human behavior shall be a matter of applied typology. This is the business of sociology
and psychology. Thus, this book is concerned with pinpointing unconscious tendencies rather than with the pursuit of understanding people, the latter is of ancillary importance at best. In this respect my aim is very different from that of David Keirsey. My purpose is to show how the intellectual integrity of typology could be adequately protected. Popularizing the subject, or making it accessible to as wide of an audience as possible interferes with this process. This is so because difficult concepts are often toned down or are not given sufficient treatment in order for the text to be rendered more enticing to the layman. For this reason, I reiterate, this book presupposes advanced knowledge of the subject and does not serve as an introductory course. For the purposes of the latter, I direct the reader to David Keirsey’s Please Understand Me.
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About the Book
Principles of Typology is an attempt to rigorously outline all existing and possible typological systems. Even though it focuses only on one particular system, namely, the Jungian typology, it has established the foundation and the methodology that underlies all systematic thought with regard to the subject. This book starts with an outline of the axioms of typology, upon which clear and thorough definitions of functions, attitudes as well as their relations with each other has been established. The chief purpose of this volume is to clearly outline the essence of typology and provide a method for further acquisition of insight with regard to this subject. Therefore, a distinction is drawn between pure and applied typology, the type itself and personalities that inhere within the type, as well as light is shed on the proper association of those concepts. The primary purpose of the outline of such fundamental notions to the subject is to allow for the reader to be clearly aware of what we already know of Jungian typology and the core of all typological systems as well as how we can acquire further reliable knowledge. Because the method with regard to both procedures is clear and rigorous, it is likely to be reliable. This volume includes the following, two essays exploring important aspects of the subject and includes 16 additional essays, devoted to a thorough analysis of each type. The two essays are concerned with the aforementioned issues as well as include a critique of well known works on typology. The methodology that has been established in those essays has been utilized in the body of this work, namely, the 16 profiles where our current knowledge and possible knowledge with regard to each type has been subjected to the exactest and most thorough scrutiny possible.
About the Author
This book includes the following;
-Essays clearly and thoroughly explaining the foundations of typology.
-An outline of the most important features of typology such as functions, attitudes and their relations to applied typology.
-Critique of other typological works such as Keirsey's Please Understand me and Lenor Thomson's Personality Type, an Owner's manual.
-A list of typological terms where a clear and a specific definition has been provided.
-A lengthy profile for each type, especially lengthy for each Intuitive type.
-Short guide regarding how to acquire knowledge in applied typology and how applied typology is distinct from pure. Furthermore, keeping this distinction in mind, the guide is concerned with how and to what extent we can integrate our inquiry into pure typology into the empirical method of investigation.
In summary this book outlines in a very systematic and rigorous way the following; what we already know about typology, our method for acquisition of further knowledge, and prunes away many misleading notions that others hold to be true about typology today.
Principles of Typology is devoted to the advanced student of the subject who wishes to attain a deeper understanding of the subject and to think more clearly and rigorously about typology. In this regard, this book is different from that of popularizers of typology, such as David Keirsey. Very few compromises of rigor and depth of inquiry have been made in favor of clarity of exposition. However, an advanced student of the subject should find the text very readable.