University of New Hampshire University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository Doctoral Dissertations Student Scholarship Winter 1989 The concept of conscious pleasure in the history of modern American psychology David C. Devonis University of New Hampshire, Durham Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation Recommended Citation Devonis, David C., "The concept of conscious pleasure in the history of modern American psychology" (1989). Doctoral Dissertations. 1593. https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation/1593 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 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Order Number 9022638 The concept of conscious pleasure in the history of modern American psychology Devonis, David C., Ph.D. University of New Hampsliire, 1989 UMI 300 N. Zeeb Rd. Ann Arbor, MI 48106 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TOE CONCEPT OF CONSCIOUS PLEASURE IN THE HISTORY OF MODERN AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGY BY DAVID C. DEVONIS B. A., Temple University, 1982 M. A., University of New Hampshire, 1986 DISSERTATION Submitted to the University of New Hampshire in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology December, 1989 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. This dissertation has been examined and approved. Dissertation Director Dr. David Leary Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Sciences University of Richmond Dr. John Limber, Associate Professor Department of Psychology University of New Hampshire Dr. Kathleen McCartney, Assistant Professor Department of Psychology University of New Hampshire Dr. Michael Sokal, Professor of History Department of Humanities Worcester Polytechnic Institute Dr. Donald Wilcox, Professor Department of History University of New Hampshire Date Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION................................................................................................................ iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...........................................................................................v ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................... vii CHAPTER PAGE 1. THE DESCENT OF PLEASURE .................................................................. 1 2. THE QUANTIFICATION OF PLEASURE ................................................. 43 3. THE QUALIFICATION OF PLEASURE .................................................... 73 4. THE PROMOTION OF PLEASURE ..........................................................122 5. TOE PLACE OF PLEASURE IN TOE HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY.... 159 REFERENCE NOTES ............................................................................................... 177 LIST OF REFERENCES ............................................................................................189 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. To Deborah Ann Cardinale and to the memory of the late Dr. Anne W. Sandoval. iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Sometimes only when one reaches the end of what appears a lonely journey does one realize just how many sympathetic persons were met along the way. The members of my doctoral committee were invariably precise in their criticisms, which were delivered always in a helpful and generous spirit. I hope they will all recognize those parts which are better for their advice. Ms. Sande Webster, at some personal sacrifice, read the manuscript near its completion. Her accurate historical and stylistic sense was particularly necessary at that juncture, and she deserves more than mere thanks. Several other individuals provided material aid in various forms. Many benefits, tangible and intangible, resulted from conversations with members of the Psychology Department at the University of New Hampshire: Dr. Victor Benassi; Dr. George Haslerud; Dr. Robert Mair, Dr. John Mayer, Dr. Carolyn Mebert, Dr. John Nevin; and Dr. William Woodward. Dr. John Cerullo, cf the University of New Hampshire at Manchester, has been a constant source of support both to me personally and to the whole psychological community at Durham. Beyond these members of my own community, others elsewhere were generous in their communication of information about individuals and events mentioned in this work: Dr. Gerald Cupchik of the University of Toronto; Dr. Maiy Henle of the New School for Social Research; Dr. Paul Meehl of the University of Minnesota, Dr. Larry Smith of the University of Maine at Orono; and Dr. Hans Wallach of Swarthmore College. Also, I must express my gratitude to two individuals in particular, Dr. Jerome Kagan of Harvard University and Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi of the University of Chicago, who at important times during the development and writing of this work provided great encouragement. V Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. I count it a privilege to have associated with the members of the Wellesley Colloquium for the History of Psychology over the past several years. To Dr. Otto Marx, Dr. Laurel Furumoto, Dr. John Chirban, and Dr. Steven Heims, and to its other constant and variable members, thank you for creating and maintaining a community in which students in this field can develop intellectual self-respect The graduate student community at the University of New Hampshire is, I think, unique in its closeness. My fellow student colleagues, during my years there, maintained a sense of mutuality, trust, and friendship conducive to creative and productive thought. I thank you all for this over the years. I would like also to offer special thanks to Kevin Fleming, Sandy Rutter, John Calabrese, and Beth Jordan for their particular contributions to the present work. Institutional support for this work was provided by the University of New Hampshire in many forms: teaching assistanships at both the Durham and Manchester campuses of the University, a Summer Teaching Fellowship in 1985, the Manchester Teaching Fellowship in 1987-88, and a Dissertation Year Fellowship in 1988-89. I am grateful to The Graduate School of the University, and especially Dean Raymond Erickson, for their efforts on my behalf and on behalf of the graduate program there during increasingly difficult times. Finally, not least, I would like to acknowledge the assistance of the following members of the library staff at the University of New Hampshire: Nancy Langlois, Charles Cragin, John Wiggins, and Reyna Hart. Also, I thank the staff of the Baker and Dana Libraries of Dartmouth College. And, further, thanks to Dr. John Popplestone and the staff of the Archives of the History of Psychology at the University of Akron and Mrs. Bertha Maslow, through whom permission has been granted to quote from the papers of A. H. Maslow. vi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT THE CONCEPT OF CONSCIOUS PLEASURE IN THE HISTORY OF MODERN AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGY by David C. Devonis University of New Hampshire, December, 1989 The concept of pleasure is acknowledged by historians of psychology