Chapter 11 Notes

Question 1

basic tenet of existentialism is

Answer 1

• 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.)

Question 2

Dasein

Answer 2

being-in-the-world

Question 3

Three modes of being-in-the-world are:

Answer 3

Umwelt
Mitwelt
Eigenwelt

Question 4

Umwelt

Answer 4

one’s relationship with the

world of things

Question 5

Mitwelt

Answer 5

one’s relationship with the world of people

Question 6

Eigenwelt

Answer 6

one’s relationship with oneself

Question 7

an awareness of the possibility of one’s not

being, through death or loss of awareness is called

Answer 7

Nonbeing, or nothingness

Best to face up to death and realize that non-being is part of being

Question 8

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:

Answer 8

anxiety

Question 9

2 kinds of anxiety

Answer 9

normal

neurotic

Question 10

People experience ontological guilt as a result of their

Answer 10

(1) separation from the natural world (umwelt)
(2) inability to judge the needs of others (mitwelt)
(3) denial of their own potentials. (eigenwelt)

Question 11

the underlying structure that gives meaning to experience and allows people to make decisions about the future is called

Answer 11

Intentionality

Question 12

taking delight in the presence of the other person and affirming that person’s value as much as one’s own is

Answer 12

love

Question 13

Existential freedom is

Answer 13

freedom of action/doing, freedom to move about, to pursue tangible goals

can’t do from jail

Question 14

Essential freedom is

Answer 14

freedom of being, freedom to think, to plan, to hope

can do from jail

Question 15

Cultural myths are

Answer 15

belief systems, both conscious and unconscious, that provide explanations for personal and social problems

Question 16

Forms of Love

Answer 16

sex, eros, philia and agape

Question 17

sex

Answer 17

Sex is the desire to experience pleasure

Used to be natural and now has all kinds of baggage in terms of guilt

Question 18

eros

Answer 18

Seeks procreation or creation through an enduring union with someone, not to be confused with sex, which often times it is

Question 19

philia

Answer 19

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

Question 20

agape

Answer 20

Philia depends on Agape

Esteem for the others welfare beyond any gain

The love of god for man Altruistic

Underserved or unconditional

Question 21

Healthy adult relationships

Answer 21

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

Question 22

Oedipus story is a powerful myth in our

culture because it contains:

Answer 22

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

Question 23

May’s concept of myths is comparable to Carl Jung’s idea of:

Answer 23

collective unconscious in that myths are archetypal patterns in the human experience; they are avenues
to universal images that lie beyond individual experience

Question 24

When people deny their destiny or abandon their myths

Answer 24

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.

Question 25

rejecting the idea that psychotherapy should reduce

Answer 25

anxiety and ease feelings of guilt

Question 26

psychotherapy should

Answer 26

make people more human

expand their consciousness so that they will be in a better position to make choices

Question 27

purpose of psychotherapy is to

Answer 27

set people free

Question 28

main mode of working with a patient:

Answer 28

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

Question 29

Related Research

Answer 29

sparked almost no direct empirical research

Question 30

terror management is

Answer 30

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.

Question 31

Rollo May

Answer 31

clinical psychologist

Existential psychology

Question 32

Alienation is the illness of our time and it manifests in:

Answer 32

1) separation from nature,
2) lack of meaningful interpersonal relations
3) alienation from one’s authentic self

Question 33

3 healing agents of intentionality

Answer 33

Care, Love, and Will

Question 34

Freedom Defined

Answer 34

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

Question 35

Destiny Defined

Answer 35

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

Question 36

Psychopathology

Answer 36

apathy and emptiness—not anxiety or depression—as the chief existential disorders of our time.

inability to fulfill one’s destiny

Question 37

Critique of May

Answer 37

Mostly low

Question 38

Concept of Humanity

Answer 38

High on free choice, teleology, social influences, and uniqueness. On the issue of conscious or unconscious forces, his theory takes a middle position

Question 39

Discuss the interrelationship between care, love, and will.

Answer 39

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.

Question 40

Explain how physical fitness can be a defense against mortality awareness.

Answer 40

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.