It argues that by exploring these deep parts of the mind, we can find new ways to solve old problems and improve our mental health.

[5] The philosopher Walter Kaufmann singled out The Origins and History of Consciousness as a "perfect illustration" of the "utterly tedious, pointless erudition coupled with a stunning lack of even elementary concern with objections and alternatives" that distinguishes "most of the literature on archetypes and the collective unconscious".

He described Neumann as dogmatic and accused him of operating "with a notion of evidence" similar to that of theologians who prove points with biblical verses.

"[7][8] Hopcke called The Origins and History of Consciousness, along with The Great Mother (1955), "Neumann's most enduring contribution to Jungian thought".

Stevens argues that Neumann's assumptions that ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny, that preliterate human beings were "unconscious", and that Western consciousness has been subjected to different selection pressures to that of other civilized populations, are fallacious and biologically untenable.