Humanism, putting “I” or
“me” at the center of the universe, has been an insidious problem for humanity
from the very beginning of man’s existence. We could begin with Adam and Eve,
who, when the serpent spoke to Eve, revealed more about the human condition
than we could ever hope to learn from all that the history of psychology might
want to teach us. In the garden the following scene plays out,
1Now the serpent was
more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he
said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree
of the garden'?"
2The woman said to
the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;
3but from the fruit
of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not
eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'"
4 The serpent said
to the woman, "You surely will not die!
5"For God knows
that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like
God, knowing good and evil."
6When the woman saw
that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and
that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate;
and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. (Emphasis mine)
7Then the eyes of
both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed
fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.
Genesis 3:1-7 (NASB)
As these events play out
we get the first glimpse of person-centered behavior ever recorded, and what
eventually proves to be the fall of mankind. The thought processes exhibited by
Eve (and Adam) continue to be evidenced throughout history.
In the ancient Greek world early humanistic beliefs were
propagated by Anaxagoras who proposed the idea of “Free Thinking.” This idea
allowed Epicurus to develop his human-centered approaches to achieving a state
of “eudaimon,” or what we would know as happiness achieved through
self-actualization. However, on the horizon, we see the mechanistic view
marching forward.
Beginning with the 14th
and 15th centuries the mechanistic view of humanity was taking shape. Also, the
idea of self-determinism was on the rise. Thomas Hobbes recognized how society was
wandering down the path of humanistic thought. One feature of Hobbes’s theory of
why people behaved the way they did was that he considered human nature as
being absolutely egoistic. He describes people as being, by nature, selfish and
not in fact considering others. “In his psychological analysis he finds naught
but self-regarding feelings impelling man’s activity.” (Hobbes, 1898) Although Hobbes himself was a
proponent of a Christian worldview, his reference in this writing is to reveal
the prevailing zeitgeist of his day. His words show the pervasiveness of
humanistic thought processes during the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
The
progression of humanistic thought continues to grow, and it finds a foothold in
the center of Germany the home of the beginnings of modern psychology.
One of the more ardent
proponents of humanistic psychology was Charlotte Buhler. She conveys that her
clients often say they don't know what they want, and they do not know what
they believe in. Buhler subsequently states, “…this is a call for humanistic
psychology, a psychology that guides people in defining what they think is
healthy and meaningful living. It is through this clarification of goals that
people become fulfilled.” (Buhler, 1972) (Emphasis mine) Again we see the same type of
thinking that caused Adam and Eve so much pain, and what Thomas Hobbes saw as
he observed the behavior of his day. Humanistic thinking focuses on “I” and
“me.” It focuses on the self-_________
(fill in the blank). The people mentioned thus far reveal to us the
anthropocentric nature of humanism. All was not humanistic thought from the 15th
through 19th centuries. Blaise Pascal, Francis Bacon, Sir Isaac Newton, Michael
Faraday, James C. Maxwell, and J. Robert Oppenheimer represented the best that
science had to offer. All based there science in the fact that there is a
creator who is also a lawgiver, and none of them believed that man, starting
from himself could understand anything. None of them had a humanistic outlook.
Non-Christian philosophers
from the time of Plato to Sartre had some common ground. They were
rationalists. They assumed man, starting with himself, can gather enough
information to form logical conclusions (understanding) of who they were and
why they behaved as they did. They believed all knowledge comes from inside them
leaving out the possibility of God. They also took reasoned though very
seriously. Their logical conclusion was they could achieve true knowledge
through reason alone. These older views, albeit faulty, show an optimistic
outlook on life and knowledge. But a shift occurred that moved men from an
optimistic view to a view that all is lost. The humanistic expectation that
autonomous man would be able to bring together a unified view of human nature
stalled. The pessimistic view of man was ushered in by men like Jean-Jacques
Rousseau, David Hume, Immanuel Kant, Georg Hegel, and Soren Kierkegaard. The
main idea for these men could be summed in this way, autonomous freedom,
meaning freedom from any kind of restraint, and truth being sought in the
synthesis of ideas instead of absolutes or antithesis. Some going as far to say
meaning is found through a “leap of faith.” Without absolutes the door was left
wide open for humanistic thought to inflict more damage. The age of psychology
was beginning and the men of the 20th century will take humanistic ideas to the
edge of reasoned thought. Thus, Humanistic Psychology will be born. Abraham
Maslow, born in 1908, believed that although psychoanalysis as posited by Freud
was somewhat useful, but Maslow said it was on useful on the sick. He placed
his emphasis on studying the non-sick.
Maslow studied those who had achieved
higher levels of satisfaction with life. He wanted to understand what motivated
the thought processes of successful and well adjusted people. Thus marks the
beginning of Humanistic Psychology which teaches that every person has a strong
desire to realize his or her full potential, to reach a level of
Self-actualization. Maslow used a visual aid to represent his idea of a
Hierarchy of Needs which shows how people progress from the most basic needs to
the pinnacle of self-actualization. The system emanates as follows,
“By satisfying basic needs
such as food, water, sex, exercise, and recreation, and feeling safe, we can
progress to higher order, psychological needs such as love, needs for
belonging, and self-esteem. When these are met, it provides the confidence and
focus to reach the pinnacle of psychological integration, or
self-actualization.” (Jacobs, 2002)
Basically Maslow states
that once we satisfy our basic needs we, in humanistic fashion, continue to put
ourselves first. With that understanding, human behavior is seen as based on a
perception of reality that causes the individual to act accordingly and satisfy
their needs in light of those perceptions. Maslow took this idea a step further
by stating that the way the needs are filled are just as important as the needs
themselves. He said that filling the needs and the way they are filled combine
to make up the human experience. Maslow’s idea of meaning level of
self-actualization is achieved when a person establishes meaningful connections
to an external reality. Establishing an
external connection is the goal of Carl Roger’s client-centered therapy.
The client-centered or person-centered psychology is probably
the biggest perpetuator of humanistic psychology, and the dangerous ideas that
flow from it that have come about in our lifetime. Carl Rogers was influenced
by the views of John Dewey, Sigmund Freud, and Soren Kierkegaard. His brand of
psychology is humanistic, but it is also existentialistic as well. Where Rogers
ideas begin to break down are in the area of human nature. He believes that
people are intrinsically good. He also believes they are rational, and
trustworthy. From these basic beliefs he constructs his entire premise which
states that people have an inherit tendency toward actualization, growth,
health, independence, and autonomy. His theory is not without many
shortcomings, “The person-centered counseling perspective in its “classic” form
possesses nearly insurmountable obstacles for rehabilitation practitioners.” (See, 1986) Rogers offers a statement in his
book, A Way of Being, which is true to humanistic thinking, but causes problems
for those trying to engage his theory, “individuals have within themselves vast
resources for self-understanding and for altering their self-concepts, basic
attitudes, and self-directed behavior.” (Rogers,
1980) The theories of Maslow and Rogers seem, on the surface, to be reasonable,
but are they really?
The Christian view of humanity contradicts the Rogerian
belief in man’s natural goodness. The Bible teaches that,
“23for all have sinned and
fall short of the glory of God,”
Romans 3:23 (NASB)
Man is in not intrinsically good, but his nature was altered all the way back in the very beginning of human existence as stated in the verses of Genesis that began this writing. Except for God’s provision through His Son, Jesus Christ, and His finished work on the cross, man cannot overcome his fallen nature. The ultimate problem for mankind is not our childhood, our past, or the thwarting of our actualizing potential. Our problem is sin, and we cannot save ourselves. Taking the correspondent’s view of truth the Christian faith has the only real answers to our problems. That being the case, and it can be made with very strong evidence, then the humanistic view that we can find answers to our problems within ourselves and without God, is a bankrupt idea. So is there any hope for utilizing any of the ideas contained within humanistic psychology?
Humanistic thought should have very little use within the
Christian counseling setting. For counselors to be true to Biblical teaching,
they must jettison humanistic practices such as no boundaries, permissive therapy
atmosphere, and nondirective therapy. The logical outcome of using these
practices is a counseling practice that will have little resemblance to
anything Biblical.
Works Cited
Buhler, C. (1972). Introduction
to Humanistic Psychology. Bellmont, California: Wadsworth Publishing Co.
Hobbes, T. (1898). The
Ethics of Thomas Hobbes as Contained in Selections from His Works. Boston, MA,
U.S.A.: Ginn & Company.
Jacobs, D. (2002). Psychology
(Brain, Behavior, and Popular Culture) (4th Edition ed.). Dubuque, Iowa,
U.S.A.: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co.
Rogers, C. (1980). A Way
of Being. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
See, J. (1986). Applied
Rehabilitation Counseling. (M. W. Riggar, Ed.) New York, NY, U.S.A.: Springer.
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