Psychology and the Human Dilemma

by Rollo May

Here Rollo May discusses our loss of our personal identity in the contemporary world, the sources of our anxiety, the scope of psychotherapy, and the ultimate paradox of freedom and responsibility. Whether reflecting on war, psychology, or the ideas of existentialist thinkers such as Sartre and Kierkegaard, Dr. May everywhere enlarges our outlook on how people can develop creatively within the human predicament.

Genres: Psychology, Philosophy, Nonfiction

238 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1978

About the author

Rollo May (April 21, 1909 – October 22, 1994) was an American existential psychologist. He authored the influential book Love and Will during 1969.

Although he is often associated with humanistic psychology, his philosophy was influenced strongly by existentialist philosophy. May was a close friend of the theologian Paul Tillich. His works include Love and Will and The Courage to Create, the latter title honoring Tillich's The Courage to Be.

Biography
May was born in Ada, Ohio in 1909. He experienced a difficult childhood, with his parents divorcing and his sister becoming schizophrenic. His educational career took him to Michigan State College majoring in English and Oberlin College for a bachelor's degree, teaching for a time in Greece, to Union Theological Seminary for a BD during 1938, and finally to Teachers College, Columbia University for a PhD in clinical psychology during 1949. May was a founder and faculty member of Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center in San Francisco.[1]

He spent the final years of his life in Tiburon on San Francisco Bay, where he died in October 1994.

Accomplishments

May was influenced by American humanism, and interested in reconciling existential psychology with other philosophies, especially Freud's.

May considered Otto Rank (1884-1939) to be the most important precursor of existential therapy. Shortly before his death, May wrote the foreword to Robert Kramer's edited collection of Rank’s American lectures. “I have long considered Otto Rank to be the great unacknowledged genius in Freud’s circle,” wrote May (Rank, 1996, p. xi).

May used some traditional existential terms in a slightly different fashion than others, and he invented new words for traditional existentialist concepts. Destiny, for example, could be "thrownness" combined with "fallenness" — the part of our lives that is determined for us, for the purpose of creating our lives. He also used the word "courage" to signify resisting anxiety.

He defined certain "stages" of development:

Innocence – the pre-egoic, pre-self-conscious stage of the infant.
An innocent is only doing what he or she must do. However, an innocent does have a degree of will in the sense of a drive to fulfill needs.

Rebellion – the rebellious person wants freedom, but does not yet have a good understanding of the responsibility that goes with it.
Decision – The person is in a transition stage in their life such that they need to be more independent from their parents and settle into the "ordinary stage". In this stage they must decide what to do with their life, and fulfilling rebellious needs from the rebellious stage.
Ordinary – the normal adult ego learned responsibility, but finds it too demanding, and so seeks refuge in conformity and traditional values.
Creative – the authentic adult, the existential stage, self-actualizing and transcending simple egocentrism.
These are not "stages" in the traditional sense. A child may certainly be innocent, ordinary or creative at times; an adult may be rebellious. The only association with certain ages is in terms of importance: rebelliousness is more important for a two year old or a teenager.

May perceived the sexual mores of the 1960s and 1970s, as well as commercialization of sex and pornography, as having influenced society such that people believed that love and sex are no longer associated directly. According to May, emotion has become separated from reason, making it acceptable socially to seek sexual relationships and avoid the natural drive to relate to another person and create new life. May believed that sexual freedom can cause modern society to neglect more important psychological developments. May suggests that the only way to remedy the cynical ideas that characterize our times is to rediscover the importance of caring for another, which May describes as the opposite of apathy.

His first book, The Meaning of Anxiety, was based on his d

Reviews

[Kaplumbağa Felsefecisi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rollo May'i o her yerde karşıma çıkan Yaratma Cesareti kitabıyla tanıdım. O kitabı okuduktan sonra da kendi kendime daha fazla Rollo May okumalıyım sözünü verdim. Kafese Konan Adam kitabı farklı makalelerini bir araya getirmesine rağmen bence birbirini oldukça iyi tamamlayan bir okuma sunuyor bize.
İnsanın ikilemini, insanın sonlu özgürlüğü ile birlikte açıklayan May, çoğu kez kimi düşünürlere atıflar yaparak, onların bakış açısını kendisininki ile kıyaslayarak okumayı kolaylıyor. Ben açıkçası Rollo May'i okurken Irvin Yalom okur gibi hissettim kendimi. Eğer Yalom seviyorsanız, May'i de seveceksiniz diyebilirim.
Biraz aklımda kalanlara ve notlarıma dönecek olursak ; sonlu Özgürlük kavramını Paul Tillich'ten alıntı yaparak açıklar. İnsanın sonsuza dek ölüme, hastalıklara, sınırlı zeka, algı, tecrübeye ve diğer belirleyici güce tabi olmasından dolayı sonludur. Fakat aynı zamanda bu güçlerle bağdaşma özgürlüğüne de sahiptir. Tüm bunlara anlam verebilir, farkında olabilir, kendi üzerindeki etkisini tanımlayabilir, bu güçler arasında seçim yapabilir ve ağırlığını birinden yana koyabilir. Yani hem doğa hem de tinini ortaya koyarak kendi dünyasını şekillendirebilir. Bu tür bir bakış açısını kimi zaman farkında olmadan yaşıyor olsak da, aslında bizi birçok konuda kaygılarımızdan kurtaracak noktada duruyor. Kitabın ilerleyen bölümlerinde Kierkegaardın Kaygı Kuramı kitabını listeye almamı sağlayan ve anksiyeteye bakış açıma ters taklalar attıran şeyler okudum.
Karantinada olduğumu şu günlerde bir arkadaşımla yaptığım konuşma esnasında ne kadar dış etkene maruz kalmadan(!) evin içerisinde olsam da her gün bir başka ruh haliyle uyandığımı, kimi zaman inanılmaz keyifli, kimi zaman bıkkın, kimi zaman özlem dolu, kimi zaman neşeli, kimi zaman da umutsuz şekilde haberlere bakıyor olduğumdan söz etmiştim. Bütün bu psikolojiyi yönetmek bazen zor olsa da altından kalkabilecek araçları hayatıma dahil ettiğim için kendimi şanslı hissediyordum bir noktada. Anksiyetenin sürekli kurtulunması gereken bir şey olduğunu düşündüğüm için ruh halimi iyiye yönlendirmek için bunu yapıyordum aslında. Bknz."Buraya kadar her şey yolunda" Sonra kitapta çok çarpıcı birkaç bölüm dikkatimi çekti. Anksiyete umut ile birlikte hareket eden, eğer hastalık, saplantı vs boyutunda değilse insanı harekete geçiren bir şeymiş. Aslında şunun gibi, rahatsız olmak iyidir. Bir yandan da pek çok çelişki ve çeşitlilik barındıran insan doğası matematik bir akılla kavranmasının imkansız olduğuna değiniyor. Rasyonel bir kesinliği olmayan, mütemadiyen bir huzursuzluk içinde geçen insan doğası idi aslında normal olan. Huzursuzluğu yaşamazsan değiştirebileceğin de bir şey olmazdı. Bütün bunların içsel bir bütünlüğe işaret ettiğinden söz ediliyor.
Ve buradan bireysel özgürlüğe geçiş yapan Rollo May, özgürlüğün içerisinde de potansiyel bir anksiyete olduğunun altını çizer.  Ne kadar normal ya da barbarca olursa olsun, sınırlarla bilinçli bir şekilde yüzleşmek bir özgürlük eylemidir, der. Çünkü bu kişinin elini ayağını bağlayan öfkesinden azad eden bir kabulü getiriyor. Özgürlüğün kendisi muğlak ve düşüsellikten uzak olan değil de anksiyeteleriyle yüzleşerek, aşabilecekleri araçların kendisine özgü olduğunu bilerek, endişelerinden kaçmayarak ortaya çıkacağını anlatır. İyi yönetilen bir anksiyetenin yaratıcılığın da bir yönünü oluşturduğundan bahseder.

Bu kitaba dair belki saatlerce yazabilirim, anlatabilirim. Belki yıllar sonra okuduğumda farklı şeyler yakalayabilirim. Bilmiyorum, tek bildiğim kafese(evime) konuşlandığım şu dönemde bana çok ama çok iyi geldiği...
Umarım size de iyi gelir.

Dipnot: Yayınevine de ilettiğim bir sorunu var kitabın. Biraz fazla göze takılan, imla hatası, kelimelerin ve eklerin yanlış yazımları söz konusu. 2018 baskısı idi bendeki. Tekrar baskı yapmış mıdır bilmiyorum. Neyse ki kitap güzel de çok sinirim bozulmadan okudum.

[Zeynep T. · Rating 3 out of 5]

- Benlik yitimi, kendine yabancılaşma, kişiliksizleşme, kişiliğini kaybetme anlamlarına gelen depersonalization gayrişahsileşme olarak çevrilmiş. Metinin genel dili ve akışı düşünüldüğünde kulak tırmalıyor.

- Erwin W. Straus'un ismi yanlış yazılmış, The Upright Posture makalesi kitap olarak belirtilmiş.

- Kitabın orijinal adı alt başlık olarak bırakılıp bölüm isimlerinden biri ana/üst başlık seçilmiş. İçeriği tam olarak ifade etmiyor, ucuz kişisel gelişim kitabı tınısı var. Okuyucunun dikkatini çekmek için yapılmış belli ama beğenmedim.

- Özellikle sonlara doğru anlatım bozukluğu içeren cümleler ve yapım/çekim eki eksikliği olan kelimeler var. Metin düzeltmeden geçse iyi olur.

İçindekiler·
Bu Baskıdaki Bölümlere Dair Bir Not
Giriş
Psikoloji ve İnsanın İkilemi
1 - İnsanın İkilemi Nedir?
Bölüm Bir - Çağımızdaki Durumumuz
2 - Modern İnsanın Önemini Yitirrnesi
3 - Kimliksiz Dünyada Kişisel Kimlik
Bölüm İki - Anksiyetenin Kaynaklan
4 - Modem Anksiyete Teorilerinin
Tarihsel Kökenleri
5 - Anksiyete ve Değerler
Bölüm Üç - Psikoterapi
6 - Psikoterapi Bağlamı
7 - Psikoterapiye Fenomenolojik Bir Yaklaşım
8 - Varoluşçu Terapi ve Amerikan Sahnesi
9 - Jean-Paul Sartre ve Psikanaliz
10 - Varoluşçuluk ile Psikoterapi Arasındaki
İlişkinin Tehlikeleri
Bölüm Dört - Özgürlük ve Sorumluluk
11- Kafese Konan Adam
12 - Özgürlük ve Sorumluluk Yeniden Mercek Alhnda
13 - İnsan Bilimine dair Sorular
14 - Psikologların Sosyal Sorumlulukları

[Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is less of a psychology/psychotherapy text than it is a collection of essays on the human condition by a very well-read practitioner. May is just as likely to draw his observations from Kierkegaard and Sartre as he is from Freud, Rogers et. al., and as such the best parts of the book read like a summation of intellectual history in an effort to grapple with the 'human dilemma' of the title.

In essence, the dilemma stems from the fact that man perceives himself simultaneously as both object and subject. That is, an active subject capable of making rational decisions and choices in order to lead the life they want, but also the hapless victim of external forces beyond control. The book is a series of essays that intend to illustrate how existential psychology might allow us to reconcile ourselves with this dilemma.

There are no real 'suggestions' as to how one deals with the human dilemma - naturally this isn't a self-help book - but there are many insightful observations as to the nature of anxiety in the latter half of the 20th century, most of which retain and often have added relevance in the 21st. Two that stood out:

1. The American public's resistance to 'existential' treatments - and existential thinking in general - is in large part due to America being only a few hundred years removed from its pioneer past. For American settlers, living physically taxing and often isolated lives in a relatively new land, spending a great deal of time thinking deeply about one's own existence was absolutely not conducive to survival. May suggests that this attitude persists through the 20th century. I cannot comment as to whether or not this still holds true in the 21st century USA, but it most certainly does in Australia - to an even greater degree I would argue.

2. Much modern anxiety stems also from the paradox that in order to gain significance, one must renounce their significance in some degree. Living 'successfully' in most cases necessitates conformity, being a team player etc. The "organization man" is the term given here to the person who trades in a part of their personal identity in order to meet the demands of daily living. Where psychotherapy once aimed to guide clients back into the fold of conformity so that they could rejoin the functional ranks of society, its job now is to increasingly support the millions of disillusioned persons already within that fold.

Highly recommended for philosophy as well as psych buffs, and anyone interested in "the science of man".

[Douglass Morrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rollo May states his purpose in writing Psychology and the Human Dilemma, in the introduction. “These essays have a common theme. It arises out of the richness of human nature on one side and the meanness on the other.. the contrast between generosity and cruelty…reason which is in perpetual conflict with irrational behavior…joy and creativity one day and on the very next despair and defeat…The very range of this spectrum… introduces characteristics I discuss under the term ‘dilemma’…. The word dilemma is not used to mean an insoluble problem… I use it to refer to the polarities and paradoxes which are inescapably human. To be sure, the dilemmas can result in stalemate, blockage, and overdevelopment of one side to escape the other. Hence the many problems that bring people to psychotherapeutic clinics… But this polarity is also the source of human energy and creativity. It is out of constructive confronting of the tensions which these paradoxes produce that we human beings build cultures and civilizations.”
May defines ‘the human dilemma’, as “…that which arises out of man’s capacity to experience himself as both subject and object at the same time.” He urges us to face the ‘paradox of man’ as largely determined by drives and instincts (the stimulus-response of behaviorists) at the same time as having subjective freedom and rationality (Carl Rogers’ school of psychology). May tells us that emphasizing only one side of this duality risks oversimplifying the situation.
“Is not one of the central problems of modern Western man that he experiences himself as without significance as an individual?” As examples, he cites the powerlessness Americans felt during the Cold War, specifically in building home bomb shelters; in the attempts to understand the point of the Vietnam War; and in the conformity of the ‘organization man’. He tells us that Paul Tillich called this the ‘anxiety of meaninglessness’, and Soren Kierkegaard referred to it as the ‘fear of nothingness’. “We have noted some problems that arise from the loss of individual significance in the face of vast and powerful collectivist tendencies in the contemporary (1960s) scene. …anxiety experienced at the threat of diminution or loss of personal identity.” May goes on to describe normal anxiety which encourages us to properly perceive our situation and develop constructive solutions to the problems we face. He contrasts this to neurotic anxiety which can lead to depersonalization and apathy. An example of the latter he says, is a person drafted to fight in a war in which he does not believe, such as Vietnam. “Anxiety occurs because of a threat to the values a person identifies with his existence as a self.”, and “a person can meet anxiety to the extent that his values are stronger than the threat.”
May writes of psychotherapy as the art and science of assisting people for whom the dilemmas of existence have become especially severe. He describes phenomenology, the philosophy of lived experience; as free, as possible, from preconceived ideas or presuppositions. He tells us that phenomenology endeavors to look at phenomena, not their causes. May implies that this approach contrasts with the ‘medical model’ of the patient as the one with a particular disease. He also emphasizes trying to step back from every discussion of psychology and psychotherapy, to examine our assumptions, first. He then suggests we view psychotherapy as a tool for helping people adjust to their existence, an ontological or ‘being’ approach. This is an alternative to the idea that a patient has a problem to be solved (what if he does not wish to get ‘well’?)
Psychology and the Human Dilemma develops the idea of a doctor-patient encounter, rather than a relationship. “I think the term relationship psychologizes too much. Encounter is what really happens; it is something much more than a relationship. In this encounter I may be able, to some extent, to experience what the patient is experiencing… Our chief concern in therapy is with the potentialities of the human being. The goal of therapy is to help the patient actualize his potentialities.”
May tells us that a problem that arises from defining psychotherapeutic ideas only in the context of illness, is that it creates an empty view of man. Health becomes what is left after the disease is cured. He also amplifies his discussion of encounter, as opposed to a relationship, by defining traditional Freudian ‘transference’ as a ‘distortion of encounter’. He expands his take on unconscious material in light of his emphasis on phenomenology; “Unconscious experience is the potentialities for action and awareness that the person cannot or will not actualize.”
May cites Kierkegaard, “Truth exists for the individual only as he himself produces it in action.” He further states that American philosopher-psychologist, William James, with his ‘passionate emphasis on the immediacy of experience’ had resonance with existential thinkers. American pragmatism and self-reliance foster a sort of ‘optimistic existentialism’. He also refers to particularly American irrational elements, which have appeared throughout our history. Having previously referred negatively to seeing the patient through the perspective of disease, May finishes this chapter telling us that no one will bare their soul in psychotherapy unless it is in service to trying to alleviate some form of suffering (definition of a patient?). Another dialectic of another paradox.
“The history of the world is none other than the progress of the consciousness of freedom…The progress of therapy can be measured in terms of the consciousness of freedom…This inseparable relation of self to the world also implies responsibility…I cannot become a self except as I am engaged continuously in responding to the world of which I am a part…freedom is not the opposite of determinism. Freedom is the individual’s capacity to know that he is the determined one, to pause between stimulus and response, and thus to throw the weight, however slight on the side of one particular response among several possible ones…freedom can never be separated from responsibility.”
I recommend Psychology and the Human Dilemma, to readers who are specifically interested in some heavy going through psychological, philosophic, and psychotherapeutic jargon. As a reader not fully conversant with either philosophy or psychology, I found it helpful to review the online dictionary for definitions of words like dialectic. existentialism, ontology, phenomenology, and transference during my reading of this book.

[Noha · Rating 5 out of 5]

الكتاب جميل جدا فيه قدر كبير من التواضع وطرح مشكلات حقيقية جدا للعلاج النفسي بصفته معالج هذا عمل يستحق الإشادة وتناول قضايا شائكة جدا ، اعتقد غرض الكاتب ليس أن يجد جوابا أو حلا لكل ماطرح إنما تحريك الماء الراكد وتسليط الضوء على بعض المشكلات، ذكرني بكتاب الإسلام بين الشرق والغرب في بعض القضايا الي تناولها.

[فيروز]

عديت حاجات كتير عشان اخلص لأنها كانت غير كاملة القهم بالنسبة لي وتخصصية شوية ..محتاجه اقراه فيما بعد تاني .. مجملًا مفيد وفيه أفكار حلوة

[Danijel · Rating 4 out of 5]

MAY, Rollo. Psihologija i ljudska dvojba. Zagreb: naprijed. 1980. ISBN

Str. 35: čovjek je sam trska, najslabašnija u prirodi, ali ova trska MISLI..... Sve se naše dostojanstvo sastoji dakle u mišljenju. (Blaise Pascal, pensees)

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love May. This book in particular was brilliant. He manages to discuss contemporary things (the book was published in 1980) that still are incredibly contemporary. A wonderful book that transcends the date of publication with ease and aplomb.

[Jayalexn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insightful, and just as relevant today as it was when first published over 30 years ago.