Comparative Analyses of Theosis, Theory of the True Self and Search for Meaning in Life: Diverse Approaches to Self-transcendence

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-096-1_14How to use a DOI?

Keywords

self-transcendence; theosis; Thomas Merton; meaning in life

Abstract

Contemporary psychology considers ST a developmental marker associated with the highest psychospiritual growth and maturity (Garcia-Romeu et al., Garcia-Romeu et al. 2015) and an indicator of striving for broader fulfilment of human potential (Koltko-Rivera, Koltko-Rivera 2006). However, despite the significance of ST for human development, its aspects in contemporary society are mostly neglected (Joas, Joas 2015), and self-actualisation is recognised as the highest human goal (Koltko-Rivera, Koltko-Rivera 2006). In contrast, religion (in particular several Christian traditions) and positive psychology are two fields where ST is recognised as an ultimate goal of human development. That raises a tension between two modes of worldviews (self-actualising and self-transcending), and I wish to contribute to that issue by approaching ST from a religious and psychological perspective to put the two into a more productive dialogue using examples of three specific approaches. More specifically, the concept of theosis, theory of the true self of Thomas Merton and theory of meaning in life (MIL) from positive psychology will be considered to advocate for the significance of ST in light of its present secular rejection. The presented project also assumes empirical study, which will develop a model of ST based on self-reported narratives data on a sample of English-speaking adults in three categories in equal groups of about 10 in a total of 30.

Copyright

© 2022 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Download article (PDF)

TY  - CONF
AU  - Victor Nechaev
PY  - 2022
DA  - 2022/12/27
TI  - Comparative Analyses of Theosis, Theory of the True Self and Search for Meaning in Life: Diverse Approaches to Self-transcendence
BT  - Proceedings of the Meaning in Life International Conference 2022 - Cultivating, Promoting, and Enhancing Meaning in Life Across Cultures and Life Span (MIL 2022)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 187
EP  - 205
SN  - 2667-128X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-096-1_14
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-096-1_14
ID  - Nechaev2022
ER  -