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Jung was in agreement with theorists who proposed that psychic energy is just as valid as physical energy, and that it too could be measured.

He was not, however, "concerned in the least in fitting psychic energy processes into the physical system". His view was that it does not matter whether a quantum of mental energy is expended; his concerns were with the psychological, not physical, aspect of psychic energy.

Jung argued that the psyche should be regarded as a phenomenon in its own right (though it is ultimately dependent on the brain). So therefore he wanted to find a device by which he could measure psychic energy in its own realm. For this, he needed to turn to physical energy.

 Physical energy is measured in two ways:

The first is the mechanistic viewpoint, or causality (cause-and-effect). Thus a series of events 1-2-3-4 would be seen as 1 causing 2, which leads on to 3, which ends in 4. This is the qualitative system of measurement.

The second is the energic viewpoint, or the concept of finality. Here, the energy flows causelessly from the improbable state of 1, through 2 and 3, to the probable state of 4. This is the quantitative system of measurement.

In physics, either the mechanistic-causal (qualitative) or the energic-final (quantitative) system is used at a given time.

In psychology, however, Jung saw the need for both viewpoints to be applied together. Yet as the mechanistic view often failed in this field, he turned his attention to the quantitative system.

He came to see "our collective moral and aesthetic values" as "quantitative estimates of energy", or as objective systems of value and measurement.

A subjective estimate, based on the individual's own feeling and insight, can lead to a false estimate regarding the unconscious (repression) since it is restricted to consciousness; an objective estimate is therefore needed.

Jung envisioned "constellations of psychic elements grouped around feeling-toned contents", which he termed complexes.

The complex (feeling-toned content) consists of a nuclear element and a number of "secondarily constellated associations".

The nuclear element is born of experience (causally related to the environment) and an innate factor (part of which is the individual's own disposition). The greater the energic value of the nuclear element, the greater its constellating power.

The nuclear element rarely presents itself directly to consciousness where one could make a subjective estimate. One would expect that the higher the energic value of the complex, the more it would be compelled into consciousness, but (as Freud's repression theory notes) it would seem that the conscious attitude is hostile to the unconscious complex and blocks its way into consciousness.

Jung applied two complementary theories of energy to his work: the principle of equivalence (that the quantity of energy expended or consumed results in an equal quantity of the same or other form of energy elsewhere) and the theory of entropy (that transformations of energy lead to an equalisation of differences). Indeed, he saw the intense seclusion and lethargy of dementia praecox(schizophrenia) as a phenomenon of entropy.

He used libido to describe "the energy concept used in analytical psychology", but did not (as Freud) see it as merely a matter of sexual dynamics; Jung saw the libido as "an abbreviated expression for the 'energic standpoint'".

Libido analogues, or symbols that convert energy, have emerged from our collective unconscious throughout our history (appearing as the archetypes of mythology), giving us access to quantitative systems of measurement.