Dikran J. Martin Psychology 111 Name:. Date:. Lecture Series: Chapter 13 Experience, Existence, Pages:18 and Free Will: The Phenomenological Approach TEXT: Funder, David C., (2000). The Personality Puzzle (2 nd ) New York:W. W. Norton. Principal Features A Humanistic Psychology "Most adherents of the phenomenological approach disagree that the study of the mind is just another science " "They believe that the subject matter of psychology is fundamentally different from that of any of the conventional sciences." "As an object of study, they argue, the mind is not only different from things such as molecules of atoms, but also fundamentally different." "It is fundamentally different because (335-336) unlike anything else, the human mind is aware." -1-
Wilhelm Wundt's Phenomenology What do the following statements mean? " Wundt worked to train himself (336-337) and his team of researchers in the art of introspection." "The goal of this work was to (337) formulate something like a chemistry of mental life." "The enterprise failed " (337-338) "The behaviorist move away from introspection (338) was extremely influential." -2-
Phenomenology Humanism, and Existentialism "The term phenomenological refers to the emphasis on the (338) "Since the aware mind usually is assumed to be a uniquely human possession, the term humanistic also is used "A third term associated with this general approach is existential, because it has roots in the branch of philosophy, called existentialism, that puts the experience of one existence Awareness Is Everything What do the following statements mean? "To say that the phenomenological (339) approach emphasizes conscious experience is perhaps an understatement." "The past, the future, other people, and (339-340) other places are no more than ideas and in a sense, illusions." -3-
Awareness Is Everything (Continued) " phenomenological analysis is not (340) a new idea." Free Will "Phenomenologists (believe) that your conscious experience is the crux of personality means that you "Your own particular experience of the (341) world is called your construal." Understanding Others "A corollary of the phenomenological view is that to understand another person, you must understand his or her construals." -4-
Existentialism What is existentialism? (341-342) Three Parts of Experience "The attempt to understand how existence (342) feels is called phenomenology." "The first component is biological experience, or Umweldt, which consists of the "The second component is social experience, or Mitwelt, which consists of what you "The third component is inner, psychological experience, or (343) Eigenwelt. In a sense, this is the -5-
Thrown-ness and Angst What do the following statements mean? "An important basis of your experience (343) is your thrown-ness " "From an existential perspective, this last way of being thrown yours is particularly difficult." " science, art, and philosophy have failed to provide an alternative worldview that can tell you the two things you most need to know: 1. Why are 2. What should "Every conscious human must feel anguish " (343-344) -6-
Bad Faith What should you do about Angst? (344) "Although the strategy of ignoring existential issues is very common, the existentialists say there are three problems with it." "The first problem, they say, is that to ignore the troubling facts of existence is to live a "A second, more pragmatic problem with living in bad faith is (345) that even if you manage to keep yourself unaware of troubling existential issues, you still will "The third problem with the ostrich approach to existential issues is that it is impossible, because choosing not to worry about existential issues and to surrender your choices to external authorities is itself a Authentic Existence "The preferred alternative is to courageously (345-346) come to terms with your existence in the world." -7-
Authentic Existence What do the following statements mean? "The approach is called authentic existence." (346) "Existentialism is not for wimps." "The existential challenge (is) not to give up, but to do all you can to The Eastern Alternative: Zen Buddhism "The key idea of Buddhism is anatta, or "non-self," the idea that this independent, singular self you think you see inside your own mind is itself -8-
The Eastern Alternative: Zen Buddhism (Continued) What do the following statements mean? " a separate and independent soul (347) is harmful." "All consciousness and all of time have equal claim to existence " " the idea of anicca (is) that nothing "The true nature of reality is that everything and everyone are "Enlightenment is manifested by caring for (347-348) -9-
The Modern Humanists Existential Optimism: Rogers and Maslow "(Carl) Rogers and (Abraham) Maslow were the two pioneers who introduced phenomenological analysis into North American psychology." SELF-ACTUALIZATION: ROGERS "Although Carl Rogers was a phenomenologist, by adding one optimistic assumption to the phenomenological approach, he changed its entire tone and much of its message." "His added assumption was this: People are basically (348) "The organism has one basic tendency and striving to "Conscious experience is where everything "These experiences continually combine in different ways at (348-349) "Rogers posited that all people have a basic need to (349) -10-
THE HIERARCHY OF NEEDS: MASLOW What is Abraham Maslow's concept of self-actualization? (349) " Maslow is at odds with the existentialists who would believe that, even if starving, an individual has THE FULLY FUNCTIONING PERSON "Maslow and Rogers believed that the best way to live is to become more clearly "A fully functioning person lives what the existentialists called an authentic existence, except that the fully functioning person is "The only way you can become a fully functioning person is to face the world What are "conditions of worth?" (350) -11-
THE FULLY FUNCTIONING PERSON (Continued) "The experience of a fully functioning person is also rich in emotion (350) and self-discover, and such a person is "The fundamental belief of humanism is that people are basically "If left alone, and not burdened with conditions of worth, humans will develop into. "Moreover, they will become nicer to one another: when they can perceive and accept all the experience that life has to offer, without filtering some experiences to PSYCHOTHERAPY What is the goal of Rogerian psychotherapy and (350-351) humanistic psychotherapy in general? " there is more to mental health than being the person one wants to be." -12-
Personal Constructs: Kelly What is George Kelly's unique spin on phenomenology? (351-352) What is a person's personal construct system? (352) What are chronically accessible constructs? Where do these constructs come from? Why did George Kelly lean heavily on the metaphor that every person is, in a sense, a scientist? -13-
Personal Constructs: Kelly (Continued) " your personal construct system becomes the framework for your perception of and thinking about the world." [Example] Personal construct system. (353) "A corollary of personal construct theory, which Kelly called the sociality corollary, holds that if you wish to understand another person, you must understand his or her CONSTRUALS AND REALITY Why is George Kelly's concept of constructive alternativism? "The consequences of one's construal can (354-355) be real land concrete." -14-
CONSTRUALS AND REALITY (Continued) [Illustration] Construals and reality. (354-355) Flow: Csikszentmihalyi "The heart of the phenomenological approach is the conscious experience (355) of being "As a good phenomenologist, Csikszentmihalyi believes that your "His (Csikszentmihalyi's) work focuses on (354-355) 'optimal experience. ' " -15-
Flow: Csikszentmihalyi (Continued) [Evidence] Optimal experience. (355-356) What do the following statements mean? "Flow is not the same thing as joy (or) (356) happiness." " spend as much time in flow as possible." " Csikszentmihalyi seems to be describing a rather solitary kind of happiness." -16-
Humanistic Psychology Today "The research of modern humanistic psychologists is distinctive in (357) that it tries to focus on the What is "rigorous humanism?" (358) What do the following statements mean? "Experiments begin with humanistic (359) presumptions, rather than demonstrate the validity of those assumptions." Conclusion "All of the phenomenologists, the philosophers as well as the psychologists, agree that the key to human existence is the experience of On Happiness -17-
Note in this section the differences in philosophical existentialism with (360) respect to happiness and the meaning of life. The Mystery of Experience Why is it difficult to emphasize sufficiently how different (360-361) the phenomenological approach to psychology is from any other part of psychology or of science? The Influence of the Phenomenological Approach "Despite the self-imposed isolation of much of modern humanistic psychology, the more general phenomenological approach continues to have impact." What is the key precept of the phenomenological approach? (361) END -18-