The term ‘even’ as it appears across the depth-psychology corpus functions less as a subject of sustained theoretical elaboration than as a logical and rhetorical intensifier marking the outer boundary of a claim — the furthest reach of inclusion, the limit case that tests a principle. In Augustine, ‘even’ marks God’s presence in memory beyond expected precincts; in Dōgen, it signals that the most resistant minds are drawn toward goodness; in Hollis, it names the radical self-otherness required for authentic individuation. Hillman deploys it to stretch the sacred into profane zones — even Priapos, even pornography, belong to the divine economy. Estés uses it to mark the survival of soul under maximum deprivation. Across the corpus, ‘even’ consistently performs the same philosophical labor: it extends a principle to cases where resistance is greatest, thereby stress-testing the generality of a claim. Whether in mystical theology, Jungian psychology, or contemplative ethics, the rhetorical use of ‘even’ signals that the author regards some limiting case as essential evidence rather than mere exception. The term thus indexes the scope and audacity of a given theoretical commitment, revealing where thinkers believe their frameworks must hold if they are to hold at all.
Place there is none; we go backward and forward, and there is no place. Every where, O Truth, dost Thou give audience to all who ask counsel of Thee
Augustine uses ‘even’ implicitly to press the claim that God is found even in memory itself, marking the paradox that a presence not previously known was nonetheless somehow always interior.
, Confessions, 397thesis
Even though we may think a certain thing is undoubtedly good for us, sometimes we [instead] go along with what other people say.
Dōgen employs ‘even’ to mark the limit case where reasoned conviction yields to social influence, demonstrating the mind’s susceptibility even when it believes itself autonomous.
, Shōbōgenzō Zuimonki, 1234thesis
The priapic was a way to honor Dionysus and even to represent him. Since (as Heraclitus says) Dionysus and Hades are the same, the phallos triumphant belongs
Hillman extends the sacred to its most transgressive limit, arguing that even the priapic and pornographic participate in genuine divine representation.
, Mythic Figures, 2007thesis
other than even the one I was—am I able to experience the often terrifying but always enriching abundance of life.
Hollis deploys ‘even’ to radicalize the demand for selfhood: genuine individuation requires otherness from one’s own past self, not merely from others.
, Swamplands of the Soul: New Life in Dismal Places, 1996thesis
the soul and spirit are able to thrive on very little, and sometimes for a long time on nothing. To me, it is the miracle of miracles that this is so.
Estés uses the logic of ‘even’ — survival on nothing — to assert the soul’s irreducible resilience beyond the severest maternal deprivation.
, Women Who Run With the Wolves Myths and Stories of the Wild, 2017supporting
we will not forget even for a moment that everything in the world is sustained by the power of the Lord.
Easwaran uses ‘even’ to describe the achieved state of unbroken spiritual awareness — the limit case of continuous remembrance.
, The Bhagavad Gita for Daily Living: A Verse-by-Verse Commentary, 1975supporting
When we arrive at cognitive abilities, such as reasoning, verbal fluency, and memory, differences become even more marked.
Hillman uses ‘even more’ to press the argument that individuality increases as one moves from physical to psychic traits, supporting the acorn theory of irreducible character.
, The Soul’s Code: In Search of Character and Calling, 1996supporting
the Prakriti resumes for a time its old habit of working under the pressure but not always with a knowledge or present memory of that high experience.
Aurobindo traces how even after high mystical experience the lower nature reasserts itself, making ‘even’ an implicit marker of the persistent reach of the ego’s residue.
, The Synthesis of Yoga, 1948supporting
The word may even be restricted to a single family of languages.
Benveniste uses ‘even’ in its standard rhetorical sense to mark the extreme case of lexical restriction, noting that some Indo-European words for ‘door’ survive in only one language family.
, Indo European Language and Society, 1973aside
even in case of murder. His lodge was a sacred asylum and absolutely inviolable.
Radin employs ‘even’ to mark the outermost reach of the peace chief’s intercession — extending clemency even to the gravest transgression.
, The Trickster: A Study in American Indian Mythology, 1956aside