Why Hillman Matters

Abstract

This article began as a contribution to a panel on the significance of James Hillman at the 2006 meeting of the international Association for Jungian Studies. The author describes the impact on his own thinking of the encounter with Hillman's ideas over three decades. He suggests that Hillman's thinking represents the evolution of an intellectual tradition which has been called the 'radical enlightenment', in contrast to the 'conventional enlightenment' from which scientific materialism emerged. As the limitations of scientific materialism become more evident, the contributions of radical thinkers such as Jung, Whitehead and Hillman become critically significant.