Routledge The Absolute Power Complex from Constantine to Stalin: The Collective Unconscious of Catholic and Orthodox Countries

In The Absolute Power Complex from Constantine to Stalin: The Collective Unconscious of Catholic and Orthodox Countries Mino Vianello advances a new hermeneutical paradigm in analyzing why liberal-democratic institutions and ways of life do not flourish in Catholic and Orthodox countries. Vianello maintains that the breaking point is not the Reform, as Weber stated in the wake of de Tocqueville, but the events of the fourth century, with the Nicene Council, convoked by Constantine for the purely political purpose of giving a psychological cement to the crumbling empire, and Theodosius the Great’s decision to proclaim the Trinitarian Doctrine State Religion. These events left an indelible mark in the collective unconscious of the peoples who happened to fall into this mesh studded with neo-platonic philosophical categories and legal concepts derived from Roman Law. This book demonstrates the inception and effects of the Absolute Power Complex by linking the theological-political construction of the Church to later absolute regimes and twentieth century dictatorships. This distinguishes these countries from those Christianized by Arius’ followers, which eleven centuries later became Protestant. Vianello traces the wavering succession of philosophical and theological doctrines which have shaken Christianity, leading to a combination of politics and theology unknown to early Christians and the Evangelical Message. This is the first time that Jung’s concept of the Collective Unconscious has been historically explored in terms of political and social consequences in such an innovative and interdisciplinary way. Although Vianello explores historical themes, this book will be a fascinating resource for analytical psychologists and other professionals informed by Jung’s ideas. It will also appeal to academics and students of the history of ideas, political theory, sociology, hermeneutics, cultural studies and other professionals interested in contemporary events. Review "The Absolute Power Complex from Constantine to Stalin is one of those concentrated essays which can really open our eyes more than entire treaties. It points to profound, ‘hard’ archetypes which can penetrate cultures and determine history. Why, for instance, during the Cold War era in Europe was the Italian left monopolized by the Communist Party and not a Western-style socialist one? Mino Vianello explains how unconscious, ‘monopolistic’ patterns of thought, inherited during millennia from the Church, might have played a role deeper than the existence of the Soviet Union." – Luigi Zoja, former president of the International Association of Analytical Psychology and author "Mino Vianello’s new book explains cultural and political differences among European countries, with a basic assumption that the differences are rooted in religion. Unlike Weber in the case of the birth of Protestantism in Western Europe, Vianello argues that the sources of differences among European countries are in a deep past, in the fourth century. As he writes on looking for roots of political systems in non-Protestant parts of Europe: ‘Constantine promoted a theological-political construction imbued with Neoplatonic concepts and Roman Law categories that led to a dogmatic, state-imposed doctrine totally alien to the Gospels and ignored in the Christian world up to the end of the second century, a doctrine that in the course of time shaped psychologically the peoples’ mind to submission and lack of responsibility. The heritage of the fourth century is the main hub of the Collective Unconscious that characterizes both the Catholic and the Orthodox worlds.’ "Vianello analyzes political and cultural traits in the part of Europe where Catholic and Orthodox religions are still predominant. He traces developments over centuries, arguing that Jung’s theories help to explain the propensity of the mentality of societies living in these countries. The Collective Unconscious