(ROLLO MAY) 2.2.

neurotic anxiety
EXISTENTIAL PSYCHOLOGY 3. Guilt
4. Intentionality
I. Biography 5. Care, will and love
Born on: April 21, 1909 5.1. union of love and will
Died on: October 22, 1994 5.2. forms of love
Parents : Mattie Boughton 6. Freedom and destiny
Earl Tittle May
Wives : Florence DeFrees 1. Being-in-the-World
Ingrid Kepler Scholl > Dasein: to exist in the world unity of
Georgia Lee Miller Johnson self and world
Children: Robert, Allegra & Carolyn > 3 modes of Dasein:
1. Umwelt: environment around
II. Existentialism us
> the endeavor to understand man by 2. Mitwelt: our relations with
cutting below the cleavage between other people
subject and object which has bedeviled 3. Eigenwelt: our relationship
Western thought and science since with our self
shortly after the Renaissance (Ryckman, Healthy people live in umwelt,
p. 478). mitwelt and eigenwelt simultaneously;
Unhealthy people suffer from
III. Basic Assumptions isolation and alienation and manifest
1. Existence takes precedence over this in 3 areas:
essence. 1. separation from nature
2. Existentialism opposes the split 2. lack of meaningful
between subject and object. interpersonal relations
3. People search for some meaning to 3. alienation from one’s authentic
their lives. self.
4. Existentialists hold that ultimately
each of us is responsible for who we are 2. Anxiety
and what we become. > subjective state of the individual’s
5. Existentialists are basically becoming aware that his/her existence
antitheoretical. can be destroyed, that he can become
nothing;
Difference between Existence and > a threat to some important value;
Essence: > is the “dizziness of freedom”.
Existence 2.1. Normal Anxiety
>To emerge or to become (constructive anxiety)
>Suggest process > that which is proportionate to
>Associated with growth and change the threat;
> does not involve repression;
Essence > can be confronted
>static immutable substance constructively on the conscious
>refers to a product level;
>signifies stagnation and finality > is felt whenever values are
threatened;
IV. Basic Concepts
1. Being in the world vs. nonbeing 2.2. Neurotic Anxiety (sick
2. Anxiety anxiety)
2.1. normal anxiety > reaction which is:
 a. disproportionate to the threat;
b. involves repression and other
forms of intrapsychic conflict;
c. is managed by various kinds of
blocking-off of activity and
awareness;
> is experienced whenever
values become transferred into
dogma.
3. Guilt
> arises when people deny their
potentialities;
> fail to accurately perceive the needs of
fellow humans; or
> remain oblivious to their dependence
on the natural world;
> is used in reference to the nature of
one’s being;
> arises from a lack of awareness of
one’s dasein;
* Three forms of Guilt:
3.1. Separation guilt (umwelt):
people’s undiscerning reliance on
others for the satisfaction of their
needs;
3.2. Inability to perceive
accurately the
world of others (mitwelt);
3.3. Denial of our own
potentialities or with our failure
to fulfill them (eigenwelt/jonah
complex).
*Normal Guilt
> develops a healthy sense of humility;
> improves relations with others;
> creatively uses potentialities.
* Neurotic Guilt
> leads to nonproductive or neurotic
symptoms ( sexual impatience,
depression, cruelty to others, inability to
make choices)
4. Intentionality
> structure that gives meaning to
experience; and
> allows people to make decisions about
the future;
> implies action and vice versa;
> makes possible for us to
see/understand the outside world;
> partially bridges the gap between
subject and object.
5. Care
> active process;
> opposite of apathy;
> state in which something does matter;
> manifested by recognizing the other
person as a fellow human being;
> source of love and will.
5. Will
> capacity to organize one’s self so that
movement in and toward a certain
direction/ goal may take place;
> when seen as will power, becomes
self-serving and lacking in passion;
> no care, only manipulation.
5. Love
> delight in the presence of the other
person;
> an affirming of that person’s value/
development as much as one’s own;
> when seen as sex, becomes temporary
and lacking in commitment;
> there is no will, only wish.
* Forms of Love
5.1. Sex
5.2. Eros
5.3. Philia
5.4. Agape
5.1. Sex
> biological function;
> satisfied through sexual
intercourse or some other release
of sexual tension;
> power of procreation;
> drive which perpetuates the
race;
> source at once of the human
being’s most intense pleasure and
his most pervasive anxiety;
> physiological need that seeks
gratification through the release
of tension;
 5. 2. Eros
> psychological desire that seeks
procreation/ creation through an
enduring union with a loved one;
> wish to establish a lasting
union;
> forever transcending all
techniques;
> built on care and tenderness;
> can be regarded as the
salvation of sex;
> built on the foundation of
philia.
5.3. Philia
> intimate nonsexual friendship
between 2 people;
> takes time to grow, develop,
sink into its roots;
> does not require us to do
anything for the beloved except
to accept him, be with him and
enjoy him;
> friendship in the simplest,
most direct terms;
> necessary requisite for healthy
erotic relationships during early
and late adolescence;
> makes eros possible and needs
agape.
5.4. Agape
> esteem for the other, concern
for the other’s welfare
> love of God for man;
> altruistic love;
> kind of spiritual love that
carries with it the risk of playing
God;
> does not depend on any
behavior or characteristic of the
other person.
6. Freedom and Destiny
> individual’s capacity to know that he
is the determined one;
> comes from an understanding of our
destiny;
> flexible, ready to change for the sake
of greater human values;
> entails being able to harbor different
possibilities in one’s mind even though it
is not clear at the moment which way
one must act;
> openness, a readiness to grow.
* Forms of Freedom
1. Existential Freedom
> freedom of action;
> freedom of doing;
> freedom to act on the choices
that one makes.
2. Essential Freedom
> freedom of being;
* Destiny
> design of the universe speaking
through the design of each one of us;
> can choose how we shall respond, how
we shall live out our talents which
confront us.
Stages of Consciousness
1. Innocence (infancy)
2. Rebellion (childhood/adolescence)
3. Ordinary consciousness of self
4. Creative consciousness of self
1. Innocence (infancy)
> has no consciousness of self;
2. Rebellion (childhood/adolescence)
> seek to establish our inner strength;
> is defiance, an active rejection of
parental and societal rules;
> is automatic, rigid and reflexive.
3. Ordinary Consciousness of Self
> understanding some of our errors;
> recognizing some of our prejudices;
> learning from our mistakes; and
> assuming responsibility for our
actions.
4. Creative Consciousness of Self
> signifies maturity;
> are able to see the truth without
distortion;
> Maslow’s peak experiences.