Definitions HQ

The Inferior function (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the part of you that things “happen” to — like the warm feeling type who now and then happens to say something of unsurpassable tactlessness.

The Inferior function (n.) betrays ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠itself by a sultry, resentful tone: magnanimous in sacrifice for his idea, the thinker's feelings are petty, mistrustful, crotchety.

The Inferior function (n.) lives ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠in an archaic, animal state, which is why dreams show it as a battle between two animals or monsters.

The Inferior function (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠not sick, only backward — the function society never gave a reason to develop because another one brought more success.

The Inferior function (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠known like a person known only by sight: conscious in its effects, its true significance unrecognized.

The Inferior function (n.) cannot ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠be deprived of its energy: neglected, it passes that energy into the unconscious and breeds fantasies on its own archaic level.

The Inferior function (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the slave that Christianity moved indoors: antiquity enslaved the many for the few, and the Christian world reproduced the same order inside each soul — the enslavement of the inferior functions is an ever-bleeding wound in modern man.

The Inferior function (n.) may ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠hide far higher individual values beneath its neglect — the intensity and beauty a man will vainly seek in his collective function.

The Inferior function (n.) once ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠repressed starts an internal civil war when it is consciously accepted: the restrained opposites are unleashed, and freedom must be traded for despotism or chaos.

The Inferior function (n.) slips ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠out of conscious control and contaminates the others, acting as a blind surcharge that carries the conscious function beyond its intentions or diverts it into a side-track.

The Inferior function (n.) cannot ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠be turned straight into a superior one — that is a perpetuum mobile; it can be raised only at the superior function's expense, so whoever identified with his best function must descend to a balanced but lower level.

The Inferior function (n.) takes ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the form of inferior extraversion in the introvert, dissolving him into archaic identity with the object; he resists it fiercely, mistakes it for the extravert's way of being, and pours on others the contempt he really feels for his own.

The Inferior function (n.) once ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠released would stage a slave rebellion against the heroic ideal that compels us to sacrifice everything else for the one — and the outcome is the renunciation of power and the demand to be realized as one is.

The Inferior function (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠precisely the least valued one that enables life to continue when the differentiated function threatens it with extinction — what lay fallow, despised and repressed suddenly bursts forth and lives.

The Inferior function (n.) is, ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠in a thinking man, feeling as primitive as a savage's: he denies it any say, so it seizes the say by itself.

The Inferior function (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the one we cannot steer and so become its victims: moody, suggestible, dependent on people and circumstances.

The Inferior function (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠autonomous: it attacks, fascinates and spins us about until we can no longer tell ourselves from others.

The Inferior function (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the one we excluded to think straight — and it returns in a crisis, archaic and covered in the slime of the deep, carrying exactly what the failed attitude lacked.

The Inferior function (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠practically identical with the dark side of the personality — the door into the unconscious and the gateway of dreams.

The Inferior function (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the Achilles heel of the most heroic mind: somewhere the strong are weak, the clever foolish, the good bad.