“The Light That Shines in the Darkness.” Jung, Evil, Alchemy

The problem of evil is one of the themes at the root of C. G. Jung’s life and work. Analyzing the jungian vision of Evil, the article points out the place and meaning of Evil within the Totality (the Self), and shows how Jung drew upon sources in the opus alchemicum for his theory that salvation can be obtained only by transforming evil, not by suppressing it. The implications of this approach in relation to ethics and therapeutics are neither simple nor unequivocal, and they suggest that the wisdom of doubt may be more valuable than moral certainties.