I call it Being-psychology because it concerns itself
with ends rather than means, i.e., with end-experiences,
end-values, end-cognitions, with people as ends.
Contemporary psychology has mostly studied
not-having rather than having,
striving rather than fulfillment,
frustration rather than fulfillment,
frustration rather than gratification,
seeking for joy rather than having attained joy,
trying to get there rather than being there.[Abraham Maslow Toward a Psychology of Being
(New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1968) p. 73]
Abraham Maslow
(1908-1970) was an American psychologist
best known for his work with "self-actualizing"
people.
He spent many years interviewing such people,
attempting to discover how they differ from
non-self-actualizers.
Among famous individuals,
Maslow is fairly sure Thomas Jefferson
and Abraham Lincoln (in his last years) were
self-actualizing persons.
He also lists a number of people whom he
classifies as "highly probable":
Albert Einstein, Eleanor Roosevelt, Jane
Addams,
William James, Albert Schweitzer, Aldous
Huxley, and Spinoza.
Maslow estimates that less than 5% of the
adult population are self-realizers.
Here we will explore
Maslow's concept of self-actualization
by asking four broad questions,
which should help us determine the degree
of our own self-actualization:
I. Are all my deficiency-needs satisfied
(or transcended)?
II. Am I pursuing a value or meaning beyond
myself?
III. Am I more concerned with being than
with seeming?
IV. Have I moved from conformity to autonomy?
I. ARE ALL MY DEFICIENCY-NEEDS SATISFIED (OR TRANSCENDED)?
Psychology often
seems preoccupied with basic human needs.
Some psychologists assume that people always
act to fulfill their needs
or to get back into a comfortable or pleasant
state of body or mind.
With respect to most
people, Maslow agrees with these views.
Most of us are motivated in our daily behavior
by things we want or need.
But self-actualizing persons have higher
aspirations.
90 BECOMING MORE AUTHENTIC: THE POSITIVE SIDE OF EXISTENTIALISM by JAMES PARK
If you would like to read the rest of this
chapter
—and perhaps other perspectives on Authentic
Existence—
go to the publisher's website: existentialbooks.com
or write to the author for more information:
James Park: e-mail: PARKx032@TC.UMN.EDU
Return to the Table of Contents, which includes an outline of this chapter.
Return to the beginning of the EXISTENTIALISM page.
Return to the beginning of this home page:
An
Existential Philosopher's Museum.