Through the Dąbrowski Lens: Philosophy, Faith, and the Personality Ideal

Roeper Review, 39:262–268, 2017 Copyright © The Roeper Institute ISSN: 0278-3193 print / 1940-865X online DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02783193.2017.1363100 Through the Dąbrowski Lens: Philosophy, Faith, and the Personality Ideal Amanda J. Harper and Christine Clifford Kazimierz Dąbrowski’s (1902–1980) five-level theory of personality development, the Theory of Positive Disintegration, is one in which the experience of all emotions is essential for the process of individual growth toward the personality ideal. In this article, we introduce the phenomenological and existential influences on Dąbrowski, including the influence of Søren Kierkegaard. We also examine Dąbrowski’sreflections on faith, Christianity, God, and human purpose, with particular reference to his unpublished manuscript, Confessions of Faith in Thoughts and Aphorisms. Keywords: confessions of faith, Dąbrowski, development, existential, gifted, Kierkegaard, phenomenology, philosophy, positive disintegration The purpose of this article is to explore the phenomen- THE PHENOMENOLOGICAL MOVEMENT ological and existential influences on Kazimierz Dąbrowski (1902–1980). The philosophical perspectives The emergence of the phenomenological movement was of phenomenology and existentialism provide a platform heralded through a preparatory phase in the early 1800s; for engaging with Dąbrowski’s Theory of Positive however, it was during the time of Edmund Husserl (1859– Disintegration (Dąbrowski, 1964). Specifically 1938) that a second phase of phenomenological evolution addressed is the influence of Søren Kierkegaard on became more clearly established (Merriam, 2009). For Dąbrowski. This article discusses these ideas by exam- Husserl, phenomenology was “a study of the structure of ining an unpublished manuscript of Dąbrowski’s consciousness, which proceeds by ‘bracketing’ the objects obtained from the National Archives of Canada. In outside of consciousness itself” (Wrathall & Dreyfus, 2006, this important but undated manuscript, Confessions of p. 2). Thus, actions are determined by knowledge of cultural Faith in Thoughts and Aphorisms,Dąbrowski (n.d.) heritage, which, by its nature, is incomplete. There is a reflects on many topics, including faith, Christianity, moral responsibility to acknowledge the incompleteness of and human purpose. Despite the manuscript being knowledge and, for the sake of intellectual integrity, all undated, there are indications within the text that place ideas and beliefs must be scrutinized before being accepted its composition between 1972 and 1976. Dąbrowski as true knowledge (Werkmeister, 1941). Existentialism and identifies Existential Thoughts and Aphorisms as “one phenomenology coexisted, even within the works of of our previous works” (Dąbrowski, n.d.,p.12).This Husserl, whose “epistemological considerations … [grew] work was published in 1972. Similarly, Dąbrowski’s out of the factual and existential conditions of intellectual 1976 paper, On the Philosophy of Development integrity and moral responsibility” (Werkmeister, 1941,p. Through Positive Disintegration and Secondary 80). A central theme in phenomenology is that of conscious- Integration, expands ideas introduced in Confessions ness, or intention, and the reflection of self within and out- of Faith in Thoughts and Aphorisms (Dąbrowski, n.d.), side this reality. This theme provides a clear connection thus establishing the approximate upper-bound date of from phenomenological thought to a significant element composition. within Dąbrowski’s Theory of Positive Disintegration, that being the dynamism of subject–object in oneself. The notions of self-awareness and analysis are also foundational concepts within the Theory of Positive Disintegration and Accepted 13 December 2016. underpin Dąbrowski’s concepts of multilevelness, hierarch- Address correspondence to Amanda J. Harper, Academic Division, fi University of Tasmania, Private Bag 45, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia. ization of self, and the identi cation of the personality ideal E-mail: [email protected] (Dąbrowski, 1996). THROUGH THE DĄBROWSKI LENS 263 Martin Heidegger (1889–1976), whose work featured pro- Pascal “had an overwhelming religious experience of Jesus minently in the field of existential thought, was also signifi- the incarnate Christian God,” who bore no resemblance to cantly influential within the phenomenological movement, the Hebrew/Christian God as described by philosophers notwithstanding his desire to distance himself from the think- (Dreyfus, 2006, p. 139). From this revelation Pascal began ing of Husserl (Speziale & Carpenter, 2007; Wrathall & a debate that still continues regarding the existence of, and/ Dreyfus, 2006). Contrasting with Husserl’s focus on the nature or relationships between, a human essence, the capacity for of consciousness, Heidegger’s phenomenological standpoint individual self-definition, and the separation of body and centered on the human experience of being-in-the-world and soul. This line of thought also influenced Dąbrowski and the relationships therein (Wrathall & Dreyfus, 2006). This can be seen throughout Confessions of Faith in Thoughts perspective appears through the dual notion that between and Aphorisms (Dąbrowski, n.d.). every mode of being in the world there is a corresponding Links between Dąbrowski and Kierkegaard extend across mode of experiencing the world. When combined, these modes existential and phenomenological inquiry. Jürgen Habermas equate to the totality of existence and Heidegger’s concept of (1989) refers to Kierkegaard’s “either/or” where the individual beingness. It is the consideration and investigation of this takes on responsibility for his or her own existence. Michael concept that is, according to Heidegger, the purpose of philo- Tilley (2013) interprets this as meaning sophy. In this way, the connection is drawn from phenomen- fi ology to ontology and, speci cally, existential philosophy The self is not created, but it is chosen among a host of other (Werkmeister, 1941). possibilities; the identity of an individual is developed by taking The works of Husserl and Heidegger also contributed to the up a particular understanding of the history of the individual and “German phase” of phenomenological emergence by high- directing one’s life according to this historical portrait. (p. 405) lighting the development of central concepts: those of essences, intuiting, and phenomenological reduction. The con- The alliance between existentialism and phenomenology was cept of essence highlights the close links between the work of also demonstrated through the work of Heidegger and Sartre, Dąbrowski and the phenomenological thinkers. We expand both of whom continued the traditions of thought established fl ’ this link later when exploring his thinking in Confessions of by Kierkegaard and Nietzsche. The in uence of Nietzsche s ą Faith in Thoughts and Aphorisms (Dąbrowski, n.d.). thinking can also been seen in the work of D browski. ą ’ fi The third phase in the evolution of phenomenological D browski s contemporaries within the elds of psychol- fl thought was led by French philosophers. This included ogy and psychiatry were also in uenced by the work of Gabriel Marcel, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Maurice Merleau- Kierkegaard and Heidegger, notably Ludwig Binswanger, “ ‘ ’” Ponty and saw the emergence of the concept of embodiment the named founder of existential analysis (Frie, 2000,p. and further development of the idea of being-in-the-world. 108). After initially examining the work of Sigmund Freud, Building on their thinking, contemporary phenomenology is Binswanger turned to the work of Heidegger. Binswanger fi ’ used to describe the phenomena of everyday life through the was the rst to identify the importance of Heidegger s work ’ lived and conscious experiences of those people living it to psychiatry. Binswanger s existential analysis is an “ (Barrasso, 2010; Gibson & Hanes, 2003; Punch, 2005; approach to psychiatry where person and world are one. Speziale & Carpenter, 2007; Titchen & Hobson, 2011). It It is thus a question of attempting to understand and explain provides an understanding of how the world might appear to the human being in the totality of his or her existence, which ” those living in it and the essence of the shared experiences always includes his or her relationship to others (Frie, of those people, which are considered the foundational units 2000, p. 114). However, while acknowledging the impor- ’ fi of common understanding (Speziale & Carpenter, 2007). tance of Heidegger s thought, Binswanger was not satis ed with Heidegger’s treatment of the social aspect of being human and the inherent part that human interactions play CONTEMPORARY EXISTENTIAL THINKING in the achievement of authenticity. In Binswanger’s continu- ing search for deeper meaning around the social dimension, Contemporary existential thinking has its roots in the work he turned to the work of Buber and as such moved away fl of Blaise Pascal (1623–1662), who saw the human experi- from the in uence of both Kierkegaard and Heidegger. ence as a paradox between mind and body. This notion was While the works of Buber and Binswanger did depart ’ shared by Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855). During the 20th from Kierkegaard, Kierkegaard s social ontology and con- century, existential thought was divided into two schools: cept of community link his work to the domain of conti- that of a Christian nature where Kierkegaard was positioned nental religious philosophy and phenomenological inquiry ’ and that of an atheistic

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