Lecture ( ). May Flashcards
Rollo May’s approach of lookung at human being
clinical experience
He saw people as living in the world of
present experiences and ultimately being responsible for who they become
May believed that many people
Many people, May believed, lack the courage to face their destiny, and in the process of fleeing from it, they give up much of their freedom
Having negated their freedom, they likewise
Having negated their freedom, they likewise run away from their responsibility.
May birth order
the first son of the six
children
Parent status
neither was very well educated
Relationship to the parents
May was not particularly close
to either of his parents, who frequently argued with each other and eventually
separated.
5 Elements of Existentialism
1) existence takes precedence over essence
2) existentialism opposes the split between subject and object
3) people search for some meaning to their lives
4) existentialists hold that ultimately each of us is responsible for who
we are and what we become.
5) existentialists are basically antitheoretical
Existence suggests? Essence refers to?
Existence suggests process; essence refers to a product.
People are both subjective and objective and must search for truth by
People are both subjective and objective and must search for truth by living active and authentic lives.
A phenomenological approach to understanding humanity
Being-in-the-World
basic unity of person and environment is expressed in the word
Daesin
illness of our time
Alienation
Alienation manifests itself in three areas;
(1) separation from nature, (2) lack of meaningful interpersonal relations,
and (3) alienation from one’s authentic self.
2 Basic Concepts of Existentialism
Being in the World and Nonbeing
Nonbeing
dread of not being:
Nonbeing can also be expressed
can also be expressed as blind conformity to society’s expectations or as generalized hostility that pervades our relations to others
Anxiety defined by May
The subjective state of the individual’s becoming aware that his or her existence can be destroyed, that he can become nothing.
Anxiety exists when
Exists when one confronts the issue of fulfilling one’s potentialities which can lead to stagnation and decay, but can also result in growth and change.
2 Types of Anxiety
Normal and Neurotic Anxiety
Normal Anxiety
Experiences which are proportionate to the threat, does not involve repression, and can be confronted constructively on the conscious level.
Neurotic Anxiety
A reaction which is disproportionate to the threat, involves repression and other forms of intrapsychic conflict, and is managed by various kinds of blocking-off of activity and awareness.
Guilt
Arises whenever people deny their potentialities, fail to accurately perceive the needs of others, or remain blind to their dependence on the natural world.
Three Forms of Ontological Guilt
Separation Guilt, Inability to perceive accurately the world of others (Mitwelt), Denial of our own
potentials
