Positive Disintegration (Kazimierz Dabrowski)

Miscellaneous General
1

I found the following while I was researching existential depression for an semi-auto biographical essay I might try writing in the near future. I thought the bullet concerning the third factor & free will was particularly interesting, and was wondering if anyone has come across this before & what your thoughts are on the subject:

[from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_disintegration]

  • The third factor is a measure of an individual’s drive toward autonomy.

  • Elaboration:

"…the third factor, described by Dabrowski as an autonomous factor “of conscious choice (valuation) by which one affirms or rejects certain qualities in oneself and in one’s environment” (Dabrowski 1972, p. 306). The person consciously reviews his or her existing belief system and tries to replace lower, automatic views and reactions with carefully thought out, examined and chosen ideals.

These new values will increasingly be reflected in the person’s behavior. Behavior becomes less reactive, less automatic and more deliberate as behavioral choices fall under the influence of the person’s higher, chosen ideals."

The Third Factor & Free Will

"Dabrowski was clear to differentiate third factor from free will. He felt that free will did not go far enough in capturing the motivating aspects that he attributed to third factor. For example, an individual can exercise free will and show little motivation to grow or change as an individual. Third factor specifically describes a motivation – a motivation to become one’s self.

This motivation is often so strong that in some situations we can observe that one needs to develop oneself and that in so doing, it places one at great peril. This feeling of “I’ve gotta be me” especially when it is “at any cost” and especially when it is expressed as a strong motivator for self-growth is beyond the usual conceptualization ascribed to free will."

This is only a portion of the entire theory of it, so you may have to skim the entry for better context.

Thoughts?

2

Thanks for pointing this out. It reminds me a lot of Rand’s views on how the individual should live its life and approach reality.

3

Yeah, from what I’ve read of Rand, it definitley reminded me of such. It would be interesting if I brought this up to a friend of mine, who is minoring in psychology, and see if he is more receptive to it (He’s indifferent to Rand, but mainly out of lack of exposure). It’s ocassional ideas like this that remind me why I thought psychology was worth majoring in earlier in high school.

4

FWIW, I think this view goes all the way back to Aristotle. J. S. Mill definitely held similar views, in distinguishing his rich account of flourishing from the more vulgar Benthamite one. He too was influenced by Aristotle’s conception of man. it definitely resonates well with perfectionism.