Literature Review 2025

File:Literature Review - Jacob D. Bekenstein, “Information in the Holographic Universe” (2003) - KALOYAN REAU.pdf File:InhoJeon LiteratureReview.docx File:Literature review Disneyland as Imaginary.pdf File:LiteraryReviewSA.pdf [[File:Esra Gundem- Literature Review- Reflections on Exile, Edward W. Said.docx|thumb]] File:Literature-review-noorTabatabaie.pdf File:Siddharta's literature review "What is it like to be a bat" by Thomas Nagel.pdf File:Ipek Usman Literature Review Glitch.pdf File:Literature review POLAK WOJCIECH.pdf File:Literature review Abi van Dam Jonny Anomaly.pdf File:Literature reviewLiciaNaspro.pdf File:Emma Soave Verdi, L. The Symbolic Body and the Rhetoric of Power, PRA (Padua Research Archive), 2010 .pdf File:Literature review (Hasse).pdf File:Literature review Hester Sjoers Schopenhauer.pdf

Title of text you are reviewing

Template for your literature review. Include your name and don't forget to cite your sources!!

Jacob D. Bekenstein, “Information in the Holographic Universe” (2003), Submitted by Kaloyan Reau

Nagel, Thomas. “What Is It Like to Be a Bat?” The Philosophical Review 83, no. 4 (October 1974): 435–450 By Siddharta van der Sluis

Ethics for A-level. Capter 1, "Utilitarianism" section 1 to 4. Submmited by Floris van Leeuwen.

Said, Edward W. “Reflections on Exile.” In Reflections on Exile and Other Essays, 2nd ed., 173–86. Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 2000. Submitted by Esra Gundem

Fromm, Erich. To have or to be? Continuum, 2008. 23-140 Submmited by Inho Jeon

Jung, C. G. Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle.

• Princeton University Press, 1973. 26–35 - Submitted by Patricia Saez

Introduction

In “Synchronicity”⁰, Carl Jung explores the concept of synchronicity, a “simultaneous occurrence of a certain psychic state with […] external events which appear as meaningful parallels to the momentary subjective state” (p.34), events that are meaningfully related but not causally connected. He argues that certain phenomena cannot be fully explained by notions of cause and effect. According to him, coincidences can reveal connections between the external world and unconscious psychic processes or “psychic conditions” (p.29). In this case, what many people call miracles could be seen as examples of synchronicity.

This raises the question: How can the illusion of miracles influence our perception of reality?

Miracles exist and influence our lives

Jung believed that the mind and the spirit affect our perception of physical material reality. He says that “space and time consist of nothing” (p.29), and that time does not exist in itself but is created through “psychic conditions”¹.

These psychic conditions are often unconscious. Jung believed our unconscious acts upon us² and viewed it as a source of meaning and symbolic guidance. The unconscious feelings often repressed by our conscious mind are, according to Jung, a tool to perceive the world we live in. We perceive meaningful coincidences when universal archetypal symbols³ are manifested, often when emotional intensity is created (surprise, fear, hope…). Thus, these apparently random events named “miracles” by many people and “synchronicities” by Jung appear when our unconscious mind is trying to make us learn something about ourselves.

This can be used by people to understand events they can’t explain. People also refer to religion to explain such events (i.e. Greek mythology⁴). This attempt at rational explanation is what Jung described with synchronicities: people seek meaning and symbolic understanding of events and the emotions they produce. Thus, the question is brought: do miracles truly exist, or only until science disproves them?

Are miracles truly possible?

Jung’s arguments are based on his experience, perception and assumptions, which might not be applicable to all. The existence of a collective unconscious can be questioned, since the interpretation of certain symbols depends on one’s cultural background and knowledge. This would make the unconscious specific and not universal and collective as he claimed. Being part of Western philosophy, Jung found Western meaning in symbols without considering indigenous or non European systems. For example, birds symbolize death in Western culture⁵, but “bringers of fertility”⁶ for the Zulu people. If symbols vary so much between cultures, Jung’s “universal archetypes” may be culturally conditioned interpretations.

Jung also argues that coincidences reveal underlying psychic structures, but this cannot be proven or disproven scientifically since it is subjective and based on perception.

When we attribute something to a miracle, we might obviate the invisible thing that truly caused said event. For instance, after a fire in a Spanish village, a woman claimed that the church wasn’t burnt to the ground thanks to the fact that she saved a statue of the Virgin Mary, but it was firefighters who did⁷.

This is how conspiracy theorists thrive: they try to explain the unknown as miracles or coincidences, but there is often a hidden cause. Whether we call them miracles or coincidences, these events reveal our human need to find meaning in the unknown. Jung’s theory of synchronicity gives a psychological explanation for this urge but doesn’t prove that miracles exist beyond subjective perception.

Conclusion

To conclude, the illusion of miracles influences our perception of reality, making us believe that events that appear as random are miracles or have an underlying psychic meaning our unconscious tries to reveal. However, it might just explain the unexplainable and unknown to humans today, becoming a way to obviate other reasons why things happen.

Footnotes:

⁰Jung, C. G. Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle. Princeton University Press, 1973. 28-35

¹(emotions, dreams, feelings…)

²just as Sigmund Freud, but Freud viewed it as repressed instinct that can be analyzed to learn more about ourselves

³Archetypal symbols are what Jung described as universal symbols that are present in our collective unconscious, making themselves visible during synchronicities or meaningful coincidences.

⁴In Greek mythology, Zeus’ anger was used to explain thunder, which was later disproved by science. List of thunder deities - Wikipedia

⁵Even in the West, the symbol varies: freedom, love, transformation…

⁶African Folklore, the Mystery of Birds: Part 2. - Londolozi Blog written by Bruce Arnott | 16.09.2017

⁷Article on Religión Digital, written by RD/Agencias | 20.08.2025

Baudrillard, Jean. “Hyperreal and Imaginary.” Essay. In Simulations, 23–26. Semiotext(e), Foreign Agents, 1983. Submitted by Tom Gawlinski

Russel, Legacy. 2020. Glitch Feminism: A Manifesto. Verso. Submitted by Ipek Usman

Mark Fisher, 2009. "It’s easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism", submitted by Wojciech Polak

Nietzsche’s Critique of Utilitarianism by Jonny Anomaly chapter 3. Egoistic Altruism submitted by Abi van Dam

Ricard, Matthieu. 2014. “A Buddhist View of Happiness.” Journal of Law and Religion 29, no. 1 (February): 0-16 by Daria Mashkantseva

"Manifesto of Futurist Painters" (U. Boccioni and others) from "100 artists' Manifestos; from the Futurist to the Stuckiest"- Alex Danchev. Submitted by Licia Naspro

Traiger, Saul. “‘SHADOW PLAY’: Original Air Date: May 5, 1961.” In Twilight Zone Reflections: An Introduction to the Philosophical Imagination, 139–41. Lever Press, 2024. by Hasse Visser.

Jacques Ellul, Propaganda: The Formation of Men’s Attitudes, Chapter 3 - The necessity for Propaganda (p.118-160), trans. Konrad Kellen and Jean Lerner (New York: Vintage Books, 1973), submitted by Sokratis Anastasiou

Judith Butler, “Critically Queer” (GLQ, 1993)Noor tabatabaie

File:Thien Verschoor Literature Review.pdf Simondon, Gilbert, Cécile Malaspina, and John Rogove. “On the Mode of Existence of Technical Objects.” Minneapolis, Univocal  (2017). Submitted by Thien Verschoor

Schopenhauer, Arthur. The World as Will and Representation. Translated by E. F. J. Payne. New York: Dover Publications, 1969. Submitted by Hester Sjoers.