Chapter 11 Notes Flashcards
basic tenet of existentialism is
- process and growth are more important than product and stagnation
- existentialists oppose the artificial split between subject and object.
- stress people’s search for meaning in their lives
- each of us is responsible for who we are and what we will become. Can’t blame parents
- anti-theoretical position, believing that theories tend to objectify people
- People have an equal degree of both freedom and responsibility (people frequently run away both from making choices and from assuming responsibility.)
Dasein
being-in-the-world
Three modes of being-in-the-world are:
Umwelt
Mitwelt
Eigenwelt
Umwelt
one’s relationship with the
world of things
Mitwelt
one’s relationship with the world of people
Eigenwelt
one’s relationship with oneself
an awareness of the possibility of one’s not
being, through death or loss of awareness is called
Nonbeing, or nothingness
Best to face up to death and realize that non-being is part of being
when they are aware of the possibility of their nonbeing as well as when they are aware that they are free to choose, people experience:
anxiety
2 kinds of anxiety
normal
neurotic
People experience ontological guilt as a result of their
(1) separation from the natural world (umwelt)
(2) inability to judge the needs of others (mitwelt)
(3) denial of their own potentials. (eigenwelt)
the underlying structure that gives meaning to experience and allows people to make decisions about the future is called
Intentionality
taking delight in the presence of the other person and affirming that person’s value as much as one’s own is
love
Existential freedom is
freedom of action/doing, freedom to move about, to pursue tangible goals
can’t do from jail
Essential freedom is
freedom of being, freedom to think, to plan, to hope
can do from jail
Cultural myths are
belief systems, both conscious and unconscious, that provide explanations for personal and social problems
Forms of Love
sex, eros, philia and agape
sex
Sex is the desire to experience pleasure
Used to be natural and now has all kinds of baggage in terms of guilt
eros
Seeks procreation or creation through an enduring union with someone, not to be confused with sex, which often times it is
philia
intimate nonsexual friendship between two people
takes time to grow, to develop, to sink its roots
friendship in simplest terms
eros is built on the foundation of Philia
agape
Philia depends on Agape
Esteem for the others welfare beyond any gain
The love of god for man Altruistic
Underserved or unconditional
Healthy adult relationships
blend all four forms of love
Based on sex satisfaction, a desire for enduring union, genuine friendship and concern for the welfare of the other
Oedipus story is a powerful myth in our
culture because it contains:
1) birth
2) separation or exile from parents and home,
3) sexual union with one parent and hostility toward the other
4) the assertion of independence and the search for identity, and
5) death
May’s concept of myths is comparable to Carl Jung’s idea of:
collective unconscious in that myths are archetypal patterns in the human experience; they are avenues
to universal images that lie beyond individual experience
When people deny their destiny or abandon their myths
they lose their purpose for being; they become directionless. Without some goal or destination, people become sick and engage in a variety of self-defeating and self destructive behaviors
erect a variety of neurotic symptoms, not to regain their freedom, but to renounce it.
rejecting the idea that psychotherapy should reduce
anxiety and ease feelings of guilt
psychotherapy should
make people more human
expand their consciousness so that they will be in a better position to make choices
purpose of psychotherapy is to
set people free
main mode of working with a patient:
establishing an I-thou encounter in which both therapist and patient are viewed as subjects rather than objects
to be guide, friend, and interpreter to persons on their journeys
through their private hells and purgatories
delved into childhood experiences
Related Research
sparked almost no direct empirical research
terror management is
a modern experimental offshoot of existential psychology
humans are first and foremost motivated by fear of death. Moreover, many of these thinkers see human creativity, culture, and meaning as unconscious defenses against mortality.
“Cultures promote norms to help distinguish themselves from animals, because this distinction provides the very important psychological function of providing protection against deeply rooted concerns about mortality”
More specifically, cultural world views (religion, politics, and social norms) and self-esteem function to defend against thoughts of death so that when death becomes salient through disasters, death of a loved one, or images of death, people respond by clinging more closely to cultural world views and bolstering their self-esteem.
Rollo May
clinical psychologist
Existential psychology
Alienation is the illness of our time and it manifests in:
1) separation from nature,
2) lack of meaningful interpersonal relations
3) alienation from one’s authentic self
3 healing agents of intentionality
Care, Love, and Will
Freedom Defined
free when we recognize that death is a possibility at any moment and when we are willing to experience changes even in the face of not knowing what those changes will bring
Destiny Defined
includes the limitations of our environment and our personal qualities, including our mortality, gender, and genetic predispositions.
Without destiny, then, we have
no freedom, but without freedom our destiny is meaningless
Psychopathology
apathy and emptiness—not anxiety or depression—as the chief existential disorders of our time.
inability to fulfill one’s destiny
Critique of May
Mostly low
Concept of Humanity
High on free choice, teleology, social influences, and uniqueness. On the issue of conscious or unconscious forces, his theory takes a middle position
Discuss the interrelationship between care, love, and will.
Care is an active process that suggests that things matter. Love means to care, to delight in the presence of another person, and to affirm that person’s value as much as one’s own. Care is also an important ingredient in will, defined as a conscious commitment to action.
Explain how physical fitness can be a defense against mortality awareness.
found support for the hypothesis that, for people who value health and fitness, thoughts of death are related to greater interest in health-related behaviors.
