Existentialism Flashcards
daimonic
In May’s theory, any natural function that has the power to take over a person.
essence
In philosophy, the unchangeable principles and laws that are believed to govern existence.
existentialism
A philosophical movement that studies the meaning of existence.
intentionality
In May’s theory, a dimension that undercuts conscious and unconscious, and underlies will and decision.
myths
In May’s theory, narrative patterns that give significance to our existence.
paradox
Two opposites that seem to negate each other but cannot exist without each other. In May’s theory, two opposing things that are posited against and seem to negate each other yet cannot exist without each other. In Lazarus’s therapy, the use of contradictions.
Identify 2 major traditions that may combines
The psychoanalytic tradition in psychology and the existentialist movement in philosophy
Describe the philosophy of existentialism
Emphasizes existence rather than essence. It suggests that there is no truth or reality except as we participate in it. Knowledge is an act of doing.
Explain the existentialist approach to scientific methodology
Believe that the psychologist’s preoccupation with lawfulness and predictability stands in our way of understanding the real person, and they urge greater breadth to our scientific methodology. They seek to study the structure of human existence and to look at the unity of the person prior to any split into subject and object.
Describe the central problem May believed we face
Is a feeling of powerlessness in the face of enormous problems
Explain how May conceived of anxiety, and tell how it is intensified in contemporary culture.
As the apprehension cued off by a threat to n essential value. It is intensified in contemporary culture by the interpersonal isolation and alienation that have come out of the way in which we view ourselves. Many of our present efforts to dispel anxiety actually end up increasing it.
Discuss the source of human dilemma according to May
Lies in the loss of the centre values in our society. A distinguishing mark of the human animal is that of creating values. The need today is to discover and affirm a new set of values
Identify 4 ontological assumptions May made concerning human beings, and explain how they can give us structural basis for a science of personality
(a) Living organisms are centred on themselves and seek to preserve that centre
(b) They can go from their centred-ness to participate with other people
(c) Sickness is a means of preserving one’s being
(d) Human beings can engage in a level of self-consciousness that permit them to transcend the present and consider alternatives.
These assumptions precede our scientific activity and make it possible, but our analytic activity may in turn illuminate them
Discuss what is involved in rediscovering selfhood
Involved re-disovering our own feelings and desires and fighting against those things that prevent us from feeling and wanting. There are 4 stages of consciousness of the self: innocence, rebellion, ordinary consciousness of self, and creative consciousness of self.
Show how May confronted the paradoxes involved in each of the following goals of integration: love, intentionality, the daimonic, courage and creativity, power, freedom, and destiny
May discussed key issues in personality in ways that avoided abstraction and facilitated the confronting of paradoxes. Love, which used to be seen as the answer to human problems, has now become the problem. We are unable to love. We need to experience and rediscover care. May introduced the concept of intentionality to bridge the gap between subject and object to place the concept of the daimonic and insisted that we must come to terms with it. He emphasized our need to be courageous and creative. We also need to rediscover our power and express it in constructive ways. May pointed out how our freedom needs to be considered in light of our destiny.
