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    Journ al o f Personal i ty an d Social Psychology Copyr ight 1987 by the Am erica n Psychological Association, Inc.1987, Vol . 52, No. I , 163-176 0022-3514/87/$00.75

    H o w t h e S e lf B e c a m e a P r o b le m : A P s y c h o lo g ic a l R e v i e wo f H i s t o r i c a l R e s e a r c h

    R o y F . B a u m e i s t e rC a s e W e s t e r n R e s e r v e U n i v e r s i t y

    In this article, historica l evidence pertain ing o self ood is reviewed. A scheme of stages is delineated,according to which the mod ern se l f and i t s uncer ta int ies have evolved. The h is tor ica l data are thenreviewed in connection with the following four m ajor pro blem s regarding the self: knowing an dconceptualizing the self; defining or crea ting the self; und erstand ing on e's poten tial and fulfil l ing it;and relating the single self o society.

    M o d e r n p s y c h o l o g y h a s s h o w n c o n s i d e r a b l e in t e r e s t in u n -d e r s t a n d in g t h e s e lf . I n t e r e s t in p r o b l e m s o f s e l t h o o d h a s s p r e a df r o m t h e c l i n i c i a n s t o t h e h u m a n i s t i c p s y c h o l o g i s t s a n d h a s e v e nb e c o m e a d o m i n a n t f e a t u r e o f l a b o r a t o r y r e s e a r c h . I n d e e d , i fo n e s u r v e y s t h e e x t e n s i v e l i t e r a t u r e s o n s e l f - e s t e e m ( e . g . ,B a u m e i s t e r & T i c e , 1 9 8 5 ; S . C . J o n e s , 1 9 7 3 ) s e l f - a w a r e n e s s( e . g ., C a r ve r & Sche i e r , 1981 ; D uv a l & W ic k lu nd , 1972) , s e l f -p r e sen t a t i o n (e . g ., B aum e i s t e r , 1982 , 1986 ; Sch l enke r , 1980) ,s e l f - v e ri f i c a ti o n ( S w a n n , 1 9 8 5 ), s e l f - s c h e m a s ( e .g . , M a r k u s ,1 9 7 7 ; M a r k u s & S m i t h , 1 9 81 ), s e l f - h a n d i c a p p i n g (e . g. , E . E .Jon es & B erg l a s , 1978) , s e l f - co ncep t ( e . g ., Ep s t e in , 1973 ; G e r -gen , 1971) , an d s e l f -m o n i to r i ng (e . g . , Snyde r , 1974) , i t i s d i f f i -c u l t t o e s c a p e th e i m p r e s s i o n t h a t t h e s e l f m u s t b e r a n k e d w i t hd i s s o n a n c e a n d a t t r i b u t i o n s a s o n e o f t h e f u n d a m e n t a l i s su e st h a t h a s c o n c e r n e d s o c i a l a n d p e r s o n a l i t y p s y c h o l o g i s t s .

    T h e p r o b l e m a t i c n a t u r e o f se l f h o o d h a s c o n c e r n e d l a y p e r s o n sa s w e ll a s p ro f e s s io n a l s . P o p u l a r b o o k s a n d m o v i e s c o m m o n l yr e c o g n iz e t h e n e e d t o " f i n d o n e s e l f " a n d t o " b e o n e s el f ." E r i k -s o n ( 1 96 8 ) o b s e r v e d t h a t t h e r a p i d p o p u l a r i z a t i o n o f th e t e r mident i t y cr i s i s , o r i g i n a l l y a t e r m o f p s y c h o l o g i c a l j a r g o n , d e -n o t e d t h a t t h e r e w a s a l r e a d y w i d e s p r e a d g e n e r a l i n te r e s t i n t h ep h e n o m e n a i t d e s cr i b e d . T h e i n d i v i d u a l q u e s t f o r p e r s o n a l f u l-f i l lm e n t ( s e l f - a c t u a l iz a t i o n ) h a s b e c o m e i n c r e a s i n g l y a c c e p t e db y t h e g e n e r a l s o c i e ty a s a l e g i t im a t e a n d i m p o r t a n t a s p e c t o flife.

    I t i s p l a u s i b l e t h a t t h e s e l f s i m p l y h a s s o m e i n e f f a b l e f a s c i n a -t i o n t h a t h a s m a d e i t a p e r e n n i a l p u z z l e . O n e c a n r e a d K a n ta n d D e s c a r t e s a n d e v e n t h e a n c i e n t t h i n k e r s a s i f t h e y w e r e g r a p -p l i n g w i t h a l l t h e s e s a m e i s s u e s o f s e l fh o o d . A c a r e f u l l o o k a th i s t o r i c a l e v i d e n c e s u g g e s t s , h o w e v e r , t h a t t h e c o n c e r n w i t hp r o b l e m s o f s e lf h o o d is e ss e n t ia l ly a m o d e r n p h e n o m e n o n . T h em e d i e v a l l o r d s a n d s e r f s d i d n o t s t r u g g l e w i t h s e l f - d e f i n i t io n t h ew a y m o d e r n p e r s o n s d o .

    M y t h e s i s i s t h a t t h e s e l f h a s b e c o m e a p r o b l e m i n th e c o u r s eo f h i s t o r i c a l d e v e l o p m e n t . T h e p r e s e n t a r t i c l e re v i e w s h i s t o r i c a ld i s c u s s io n s o f d e v e l o p m e n t s th a t s h e d l i g h t o n h o w t h a t h a p -p e n e d . I h a v e o r g a n i z e d t h i s a r t i c l e a c c o r d i n g t o a n a p r i o r is c h e m e o f f o u r p r o b l e m s p e r t a i n i n g t o t h e s e l f. T h e s e p r o b l e m si n c l u d e h o w i d e n t i t y i s a c t iv e l y o r c r e a t i v e l y d e f i n e d b y t h e p e r -s o n , w h a t i s t h e n a t u r e o f t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n t h e i n d i v i d -u a l a n d s o c i e ty , h o w d o e s t h e p e r s o n u n d e r s t a n d h i s o r h e r 19 0-t e n t i a l a n d t h e n f u l f il l i t, a n d h o w a n d h o w w e l l d o p e r s o n s k n o wt h e m s e l v e s .

    T h e g e n e r a l s c h e m e o f h i s t o r i c al e r as c a n b e o u t l i n e d ( a n dn a m e d ) a s f o ll o w s. T h e l a t e m e d i e v a l p e r io d , f r o m a b o u t t h e1 l t h t h r o u g h t h e 1 5 t h c e n t u r y , g r a d u a l l y d e v e l o p e d a c r y s t a l -l i z ed c o n c e p t o f th e u n i t y o f th e s i n g le h u m a n l if e. T h e e a r l ym o d e r n p e r i o d ( r o u g h l y 1 5 0 0 - 1 8 0 0 ) c a m e t o s t re s s t h e d i s ti n c -t i o n b e t w e e n t h e i n n e r s e l f a n d t h e o u t e r s e l f , t o v a l u e i n d i v i d u -a li ty , a n d i n c r e a s in g l y to r e c o g n i z e h u m a n d e v e l o p m e n t a n dc h a n ge . D u r i n g t h a t e r a , P u r i t a n i s m i n c r e a s e d s e l f- c o n s ci o u s -n e s s a n d r e c o g n i z e d t h e p o s s i b i l i ty o f s e lf - d e c e p ti o n . I n t h e R o -m a n t i c e r a ( l a t e 1 8 t h a n d e a r l y 1 9 t h c e n t u r i e s ) , p e r s o n s b e g a nt o s e e k a n d e m p h a s i z e s e c u l a r f o r m s o f f u lf i ll m e n t , a n d t h e ya c u t e l y s e n s e d a d e e p c o n f l i c t b e t w e e n t h e i n d i v i d u a l a n d s o c i -e ty . D u r i n g t h e V i c t o r i a n e r a (r o u g h l y 1 8 3 0 - 1 9 0 0 ) , t h e r e w e r ec r i se s w i th r e g a r d t o e a c h o f th e f o u r p r o b l e m s o f s e l fh o o d Ih a v e m e n t i o n e d . E a r l y in t h e 2 0 t h c e n t u r y , t h e m e s o f a l ie n a t i o na n d o f d e v a l u a t i o n o f s e l fh o o d i n d i c a t e d c o n c e r n o v e r t h e i n d i -v i d u a l ' s h e l p l es s d e p e n d e n c y o n s o c ie t y. S i n c e W o r l d W a r I I ,i n d i v i d u a l s h a v e a c c o m m o d a t e d t o t h e c h a n g e d s o c i a l r ea l i ti e sb u t h a v e c o n t i n u e d t o g r o p e f o r i d e a ls a n d m e a n s o f s el f -d e f in i -t i o n a n d f u l fi l lm e n t . (T h e g e n e r a l sc h e m e a n d d e v e l o p m e n t s a r eo u t l i n e d i n T a b l e 1 .)

    E v i d e n c e

    I wish to than k D . McFarlin, D. Peabody, S. Hanson, B. Levy , S.Matthews, D. Stevenson, G. E. Swanson, D. Tice, and an anonymousreviewer for their crit icism s and suggestions. Portion s of this article arebased on a recent book , Identity, by Roy E Baumeister, Oxford U niver-sity Press, 1986.Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to RoyE Baumeister, who is now at the Psychology De partm ent, U niversity ofTexas at Austin, A ustin, Texas 78712.

    T h e p r e s e n t d i s c u s s i o n r e li e s on t w o r e l a t e d t y p e s o f e vi -d e n c e . O n e i s h i s t o r i c a l d a t a ; t h e o t h e r i s l i t e r a t u r e . T h e u s e o fl i t e r a t u r e ( e s p e c i a l l y f i c t io n ) a s e v i d e n c e f o r th e p r o b l e m s a n dc o n f l ic t s c o n f r o n t i n g h u m a n b e i n g s is b a s e d o n t h e a s s u m p t i o nt h a t t h e l i t e r a t u r e o f a g iv e n e r a u s e s th e m e s a n d c h a r a c t e r s t op o r t r a y c u r r e n t d i l e m m a s o f th e h u m a n c o n d i t i o n ( se e , f o r e x -a m p l e , H o u g h t o n , 1 95 7 ). C h a n g e s i n t h e m a t i c c o n t e n t a n dc h a r a c t e r i z a t i o n f r o m o n e e r a t o th e n e x t , t h e n , s u g g e s t c h a n g e si n t h e h u m a n c o n d i t i o n . T h e w r i t in g o f l iv e s, i n b i o g r a p h y a n d

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    164Table 1I s su es o f S e l fh o o d a n d H is to r ica l S tag es

    ROY E BAUMEISTER

    Self-knowledge, self- " Relation of individual toHistorical era conception Self-definition Fulfillment societyLate med ieval Unproblematic Morality & virtue Christian salvation (in "Great Chain of Be in g" -Increased sense of unity of Hono r, lory, reputation heaven) fixed, stable order

    single life (fixed criteria) (Possible) public acclaim Self equated with social,Otherwise, society defined public selfEarly modern (16thto 18th century)

    Puritan

    identity: rank, kin, etc.Concept of personal change,developmentSincerity; equivalence ofinner and outer selves, asa virtueLoss of identity throughfamily lineageIn principle, none!(predestination)

    Romantic (late 1 8 t h ,early 19thcenturies)

    Victorian (mid &late 19th century)

    Early 20th century

    Recent 20th century

    Unproblematic for own self;for others, question ofinner ru e self vs. outerapparent selfIncreased interest inindividuality, uniquenessof selfSelf-consciousnessConcern with self-deception(henceforth, self-knowledge uncertain)Need to discoverowndestiny and fulfill t(duty)Imperial, hypertrophied selfRepression, hypocrisyInvoluntaryself-disclosureImperial, "hypertrophied"selfDevaluation of selfImpossibility of completeself-knowledge Freud)

    Belief n personaluniquenessValues of self-exploration

    Individual exists prior toparticular social rolesQuest for fulfillment as self-definitionPersonality as identitySelf-reliance,ruggedindividualismAdolescenceas crisis in self-definitionSocioeconomicstatusExistential concerns,authenticityPersonality, social skillsRadical choicePersonalitySocioeconomicstatus

    Christian salvationIncipient secularfulfillment, as increativity

    Christian salvation: butindividual is helplessInner struggle to overcomesin and weaknessCreativityPassion ("romantic" love)Thus, grope for secularizedconcept of fulfillmentSeek fulfillment alone(transcendentalism)Private, family life isparamountSociety prevents fulfillment(alienation)Emotional fulfillment infamilyWork as unfulfillingQuest for celebrityQuest for means of self-actualization

    Unstable (social mobility)Some separation (privacy)

    Work: Success meanssalvation

    Individual vs. society:struggle for freedomIndividual inseparablefrom society, but canchange rolesPeaceful coexistence(transcendentalism)Change society(Progressivism,Utopianism)Hostile, critical,muckrakingAlienation

    AccommodationMyth-making

    autobiography, is an imp orta nt area of overlap of historical andliterary evidence about selfhood.

    The inter pretation of both historical and literary evidence isnecessarily more subjective than the in terpretat ion of experi-mental findings. To prevent myself from generating the supp ortfor my own con clusions (as well as to p revent mysel f from mak-ing judgments I am not qualified to make), I shall rely exclu-sively on the work o f historians and litera ry scholars, inst ead ofon direct in terpretation of evidence.

    One danger of any review article is that the co nclusions canbe no more valid than the evidence surveyed, and perhaps this isespecially true of an interdiscipl inaryreview article. The readermust be doubly cautious of my psychological conclusions basedon historical evidence, first because they are limited by thesoundness of current historical research, and second becausethey are made by a psychologist rather than a historian. I haveproceeded with this pro ject despite these risks because the on lyapparent alternative is to ignore the research in other disci-plines, which carries the opposite risk of depriving personalityand social psychology of potentially valuable info rmati on andperspectives.

    Needless to say, the generalizations in this article pertain togeneral trends rather th an to universal patterns. The purpose isto underst and the sequential development of problems o f self-hood, not to formulate strict or rigid classification of personsby historical eras. Moreover, the research reviewed herein fo-cuses on America, England, and France. Other European cou n-tries may have passed through similar stages at different times,but again, what is impor tant is the developmental sequence, notthe precise dates. My origin al intent ion was to restrict my re-search to Ame rican history. However, the recency of Americanhistory necessitated some reliance on data from Western Eu-rope, especially England. The historical roots of Ame rican civi-lization would seem to justify this use. For present purposes,the most impo rtan t divergence between English and Americanpatterns was the differential timi ng of the in fluence of Puritan-ism, which flourished in America only after its defeat in En-gland.

    S e l f - K n o w l e d g eConf idence in the hum an capac i ty for self -knowledge seem s

    to have suffered a progressive deteriora tion over the past centu-

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    S E L F H O O D I N H I ST O R Y 1 6 5r ie s . T h i s d e v e l o p m e n t c a n b e s e e n i n t h e g r a d u a l e l a b o r a t i o no f a c o n c e p t o f t h e s e l f a s s o m e t h i n g i n c r e a s in g l y h i d d e n , a b -s t r a c t , a n d e l u s i v e . T h e s e l f c e a s e d t o b e . e q u a t e d w i t h o b s e r v -a b l e b e h a v i o r a n d c o m m i t m e n t s , a n d i t c a m e t o b e u n d e r s t o o da s t h e c a u s e a n d o w n e r o f th e v i s i b l e p h e n o m e n a .

    R e v i e w o f R e se a r chA l t h o u g h t h e i n j u n c t i o n t o " k n o w t h y s e l f " i s a r ti c u l a t e d i n

    a n c i e n t G r e e k p h i lo s o p h y , t h e r e i s n o r e a s o n t o a s s u m e t h a t s e lf -k n o w l e d g e p o s e d th e s a m e p r o b l e m f o r a n c i e n t G r e e k s a s itd o e s f o r m o d e r n c i t i z e n s . I n d e e d , g i v e n M a c l n t y r e ' s ( 1 9 8 1 )a n a l y s is o f e a r ly c o n c e p t s o f p e r s o n a s p u r e l y f u n c t i o n a l , " k n o wt h y s e l f " p r o b a b l y c a n a n d s h o u l d b e i n t e r p r e t e d a s a d v i c e t oa p p r a i s e o n e ' s t a l e n t s a n d c a p a c i t i e s a c c u r a t e l y so a s t o b e a b l et o c a r r y o u t o n e ' s d u t i e s e ff ec ti ve ly , w i t h p r u d e n t j u d g m e n t .

    L a t e m e d i e v a l a w a r e n e ss o f s el f h o o d w a s c r u d e b y m o d e ms t a n d a r d s , s u g g e s ti n g t h a t s e l f - k n o w l e d g e w a s n o t r e g a r d e d a sa n i m p o r t a n t p r o b l e m . H a n n i n g ( 1 9 7 7 ) h a s n o t e d t h a t l i t e r a -t u r e o f th e 1 l t h a n d 1 2 th c e n t u r i e s w a s j u s t b e g i n n i n g t o u s ed e v i c es b a s e d o n t h e i d e a t h a t d i f f e re n t c h a r a c t e r s i n a d r a m ah a d d i f fe r e n t p e rs p e c ti v e s o n t h e a c t io n . ( H a n n i n g ' s c o n t e n t i o nt h a t s u c h s i g n s i n d i c a t e t r u e i n d i v i d u a l i t y s e e m s a n e x a g g e r a -t i o n , u n l e s s i n d i v i d u a l i t y is d e f i n e d v e r y l o o s e l y .) T h e i n c r e a s e da w a r e n e s s o f t h e u n i t y o f t h e s i n g l e li f e i s s u g g e s t e d b y s e v e r a ld e v e l o p m e n t s, p a r t i c u l a r l y a c h a n g e i n p o p u l a r C h r i s t i a n b e l i e f sr e g a r d i n g d e a t h . A r i e s ( 19 8 1 ) n o t e d t h a t e a r l y C h r i s ti a n b e l i e f sa n d e s c h a t o l o g y v i e w e d s a l v a t i o n a s c o l l e c t iv e , b u t t h a t a r o u n dt h e 1 2 th c e n t u r y a c o n c e p t o f t h e L a s t J u d g m e n t s p r e a d t h a te m p h a s i z e d t h e j u d g i n g o f individual s o u l s ( a l s o s e e M o r r i s ,1 97 2 ). A l l t h e e v e n t s o f t h e l i fe a d d e d u p t o a m o r a l a n d s p i r i t u a ls u m , a n d t h i s t o t a l i t y d e c i d e d t h e e t e r n a l f a te .

    T h e r e i s l it t l e e v i d e n c e t h a t m e d i e v a l s e n g a g e d in i n t r o s p e c -t i o n o r e x p e r i e n c e d i n n e r s t r u g g l e s . I n d e e d , H a r m i n g ( 1 9 7 7 ) ,i n s e a r c h i n g f o r i n n e r s t r u g g l e s p o r t r a y e d i n m e d i e v a l w r i t i n g s ,c o u l d d o n o b e t t e r th a n a p o e m i n w h i c h t h e h e r o i n e p a u s e s f ora m o m e n t w h e n c o n f r o n t e d w i t h c o n fl i c ti n g i m p e r a t i v e s. W e i n -t r a u b ( 1 9 7 8 ) o b s e r v e d t h a t t h e r e m a r k a b l e s c a r c i t y o f a u t o b i o -g r a p h i c a l w r i t i n g d u r i n g t h e M i d d l e A g e s i s i ts e l f e v i d e n c e o f ad i s i n t e r e s t i n e x p l o r i n g t h e i n d i v i d u a l se l f. W e i n t r a u b f o u n do n e e x c e p t i o n a l p e r s o n ( P e t r a r c h , i n t h e 1 4 t h c e n t u r y ) w h os h o w e d i n t r o s p e c t i v e t e n d e n c i e s , b u t e v e n t h i s m a n ( w h o w a sp r o b a b l y f a r a h e a d o f hi s c o n t e m p o r a r i e s ) a p p e a r e d t o u s e i n -t r o s p e c t i o n t o a p p r a i s e h o w w e l l h e m a t c h e d t h e c o l l e c ti v e , g e n -e r a l id e a l s , a n d n o t a s a m e a n s t o w a r d i n d i v i d u a t i o n o r s e l f-fu l f i l lm en t .

    I n c i p i e n t i n t r o s p e c t i o n , a w a r e n e s s o f s e p a r a t e n e s s o f d i f f e r-e n t p e r s o n s , a n d s e n s e o f u n i t y o f e a c h s i n g l e l i fe a l l m a y b er e g a r d e d a s p r e r e q u i s i t es f o r m a k i n g s e l f- k n o w l e d g e i n t o ap r o b l e m . T h e l a t e M i d d l e A g e s s a t i s fi e d t h e s e p r e r e q u i s i t e s .

    T h e n e x t s t e p t o w a r d m a k i n g s e l f- k n o w l e d g e i n t o a p r o b l e mw a s t o c e a s e e q u a t i n g t h e s e l f w i t h i t s a p p e a r a n c e s . T r i l l in g( 1 9 7 1 ) h a s a s s e r t e d t h a t i t w a s t h e 1 6 t h c e n t u r y i n w h i c h p e o p l ef i rs t c a m e t o b e l i e v e t h a t t h e s e l f w a s a n i n n e r o r h i d d e n s p a c ea n d w a s s o m e t h i n g t o b e d i s t i n g u i sh e d f r o m t h e w a y t h e p e r s o na c t e d i n p u b l i c . T r i l l i n g d e s c r i b e d t h e 1 6 t h c e n t u r y s o c i e t y i nE n g l a n d a s o b s e s s e d w i t h d e c e p t i o n a n d p r e t e n s e ( c f. A u e r b a c h ,1 9 4 6 / 1 9 7 4 , p . 8 6 ) . In d e e d , t h e c o n c e r n w i t h c o n t r a s t s b e t w e e nm i s l e a d i n g a p p e a r a n c e s a n d u n d e r l y i n g r e a li t ie s w a s a b u n -d a n t l y r e f l e c t e d i n t h e p h i l o s o p h y , p o l i ti c s , a n d l i t e r a t u r e o f th a t

    e r a , f r o m S h a k e s p e a r e t o M a c h i a v e l l i t o B e r k e l e y . T h e g r e a t r i s ei n p o p u l a r i t y o f t h e t h e a t e r i n E n g l a n d a n d F r a n c e r e f le c t e d an e w i n t e r e s t i n a c t i n g a n d p l a y i n g r o l e s, a l t h o u g h a c t o r s w e r en o t y e t t h e c u l t u r e h e r o e s t h e y a r e t o d a y . T r i ll i n g n o t e d i n p a r -t i c u l a r t h e l i t e r a r y e m e r g e n c e o f v i ll a i n s , i n t h e s e n s e o f c h a r a c -t e r s r e c o g n i z e d a s e v il b y t h e a u d i e n c e b u t n o t b y t h e o t h e r c h a r -a c t e rs i n t h e d r a m a .

    A n a b s t r a c t , h id d e n s e l f i s h a r d e r t o k n o w a n d d e f i n e t h a n i sa c o n c r e t e , o b s e r v a b l e s e l f. T h e r e f o r e , t h e b e l i e f i n a r e a l s e l ft h a t i s h i d d e n , t h a t i s n o t d i r e c t l y o r c l e a r ly c o n t a i n e d i n o n e ' sa c t i o n s , c a n b e r e g a r d e d a s a c r i t i c a l c o m p l i c a t i o n o f s e lf -k n o w l e d g e . T h e i n n e r n a t u r e o f s e lf h o o d , w h i c h i s r e g a r d e d a sa x i o m a t i c b y m u c h m o d e r n p s y c h o l o g ic a l t h o u g h t , s e e m s t oh a v e b e c o m e a c o m m o n c o n c e p t i o n f i rs t i n t h e 1 6 th c e n t u ry .

    A t t h a t t i m e , h o w e v er , t h e p r o b l e m s e e m e d t o b e t o k n o w t h ei n n e r s e l v e s o f o t h e r s , n o t o n e ' s o w n s e lf . I n t r o s p e c t i o n f l o u r -i s h e d d u r i n g t h e 1 6 t h c e n t u r y ( W e i n t r a u b , 1 9 78 ), b u t i t d o e sn o t s e e m t o h a v e b e e n f e l t t o b e d i f f ic u l t o r l i m i t e d ( a l s o s e eA u e r b a c h , 1 9 4 6 / 1 9 74 , p p . 3 0 1 - 3 0 3 ) . T h e d i f fi c u lt y o f k n o w i n gt h e u n d e r l y i n g m o t i v e s o f o t h e r s i s a tt e s t e d b y t h e i n c r e a s i n gs t r e s s o n t h e n e w v i r t u e o f s i n c e r i t y ( T r i l li n g , 1 9 71 ). S i n c e r i t yi s a k i n d o f e q u i v a l en c e b e t w e e n t h e p u b l i c a p p e a r a n c e o f th ep e r s o n a n d t h e i n n e r s e l f t h a t i s p r e s u m e d t o b e h i d d e n b e h i n do r u n d e r n e a t h t h a t a p p e a r a n c e . M a k i n g s i n c e r i ty i n t o a n i m -p o r t a n t v i r t u e r e f le c t e d t h e n e w c o n c e r n w i t h a n d d i f fi c u lt y o fi n f e r r i n g t h e h i d d e n s e l f f r o m t h e o v e r t a c ts a n d a p p e a r a n c e s .

    W i t h P u r i t a n i s m , t h e d i f f ic u l t y o f k n o w i n g u n d e r l y in g p s y -c h o l o g i c a l r e a l i ti e s w a s e x t e n d e d t o s e l f - k n o w l e d g e . T h i s m a yh a v e d e v e l o p e d i n th e f o l l o w i n g w a y. T h e P u r i t a n d o c t r i n e o fp r e d e s t i n a t i o n m e a n t t h a t e t e r n a l d a m n a t i o n o r s a lv a t i o n w a sa l r e a d y u n c h a n g e a b l y f i x ed w h e n t h e p e r s o n w a s b o r n . C a l v i na d d e d p a r e n t h e t i c a l l y t h a t t h e r e w e r e w a y s o f t e ll i n g w h e t h e ro n e w a s a m o n g " t h e E l e c t " o r w a s d e s t i n e d t o H e l l i n s te a d . A l -t h o u g h C a l v i n s a i d n o t t o d w e l l o n w h e t h e r o n e s e l f b e l o n g e d tot h e E l e c t o r n o t , i t p r o b a b l y w a s h a r d f o r t h e t y p i c a l P u r i t a n t or e s is t w o n d e r i n g a b o u t t h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t f e a t u r e o f h i s o r h e re t e r n a l l i fe ( W e i n t r a u b , 1 9 7 8) . T h e r e f o r e , a s m o s t h i s t o r i a n ss e e m t o a g r e e , P u r i t a n s b e c a m e s e l f- c o n s c io u s t o a n u n p r e c e -d e n t e d d e g r e e . In d e e d , W h y t e ( 1 9 6 0 ) r e c o r d e d t h a t c o n s c i o u s -n e s s a n d s e l f- a w a r e n es s fi rs t c a m e t o b e r e c o g n i z e d a s i m p o r t a n tc o n c e p t s a n d v a l u e s d u r i n g t h e 1 7 th c e n t u r y , a s i n d i c a t e d i np a r t b y t h e f ir s t a p p e a r a n c e o f t h o se t e r m s ( w i th t h e m o d e r nm e a n i n g ) i n E n g l i sh a n d G e r m a n w r i t in g s . A l i f e t im e o f s e lf -s c r u t i n y , h o w e v e r , t e n d e d t o b r i n g m a n y P u r i t a n s t o r e a l i z e t h a tt h e y w e r e e s p e c i a l l y s e e k i n g f a v o r a b l e s i gn s , b e c a u s e t h e y n a t u -r a l ly w a n t e d t o b e l i e v e t h e m s e l v e s a m o n g t h e E l e c t. T h e p o s s i-b i l i t y t h u s a r o s e t h a t t h e y w e r e d e c e i v i n g th e m s e l v e s a b o u t t h e i rp i e t y , f a i t h , a n d v i r t u e ( W e i n t r a u b , 1 9 7 8 ). O n c e t h e r e c o g n i t i o no f s e l f - d e c e p t i o n , a n d o f m o t i v e s f o r s e l f - d e c e p t i o n , b e c a m ef i r m l y e st a b l is h e d , s e lf - k n o w l ed g e w a s d o o m e d t o r e m a i n t e n t a -t iv e a n d u n c e r t a i n .

    T h e c o n t r i b u t i o n o f t h e R o m a n t i c e r a t o t h e d i f fi c u lt y o f s el f-k n o w l e d g e w a s p r i m a r i l y th e e m p h a s i s o n t h e u n i q u e , i n d i v i d -u a l d e s t i n y a n d p o t e n t i a l o f e a c h p e r s o n , w h i c h t h a t p e r s o n w a sp r e s u m a b l y o b l i g e d b y s o m e c o s m i c d u t y t o d i s c o v er a n d f u lf il l.I s h a l l c o v e r t h i s d e v e l o p m e n t i n g r e a t e r d e t a i l l a te r , i n t h e s e c -t i o n o n f u l f i l l m e n t a n d p o t e n t i a l . A s e c o n d f e a t u r e o f t h i s e r aw a s t h e e x p a n s i o n o f th e r e a l m o f t h e h i d d e n s e lf . F o r e x a m p l e ,A n d e r s o n ( 1 97 l ) c h a r a c t e r i z e d t h e s e l f o f 1 9 th c e n t u r y l i te r a -t u r e a s t h e hypertrophied self, a n d S y p h e r (1 9 6 2 ) m a d e a s i m i l a r

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    166 R O Y E B A U ME I STE Robse r va t i on r eg a r d i ng t he ex t end ed s cope o f t he s e l f a t t h i s t i me .T hus , t he t a sk o f se l f -know l edge w as i nc r eased : A s t he s i ze o ft he s e l f w as deeme d g r ea te r , the r e w as m or e an d m or e o f t he s e l ft o k n o w . O n e a r e a o f e x p a n s io n w a s p e r so n a li ty . D u r i n g t h e19 t h cen t u r y , pe r sona l i t y ( r a t he r t han soc i a l r ank and r o l e s )came t o be i nc r eas i ng l y r ega r ded a s a , even the, cen t r a l a spec to f t he s el f. O n e sour ce o f ev idence f o r t h i s deve l opm en t i s tr endsi n b i og r aph i ca l w r i t i ng , w h i ch sh i f t ed t o emphas i ze pe r sona lma ter ia l (Al t ick, 1965). Indee d, Al t ick asser ted th at l i t e raryc r i t i c i sm dur i ng t he 19 t h cen t u r y began t o use t he work as am e a n s f o r u n d e r st a n d i n g t h e person w h o c r e a t e d i t, w h i c h w a sa r ad i ca l depa r t u r e f r om t r ad i t i ona l a t t i t udes and appr oaches .

    T he ex t ens ivenes s o f t he h i d den pa r t s o f t he s e l f w as i nc r easedby V i c t o r i an r ep r e s si veness . T he h ab i t s o f s e lf - s c r u t i ny (w h i chb y t h e n w e r e w i d e sp r e ad ) , c o m b i n e d w i t h t h e i m p o s s i b l y h ig hmo r a l s t anda r ds , f o r ced V i c t o r i ans t o b ecom e se l f- decep t ive (c f.H o u g h t o n , 1 9 5 7 , a l t h o u g h t h i s o b s e r v a t i o n i s c o m m o n p l a c enow ) . I ndeed , i t cou l d be sugges t ed t ha t t he e x t en t o f V i c t o r i anse l f - decep t i on made i t i nev i t ab l e t ha t some i ns i gh t f u l pe r sonw ou l d even t ua l ly beg i n t o s ee t h r ough i t al l, pe r mi t t i ng t he sys -t e m a t i c a c c o u n t i n g o f t e c h n i q u e s a n d m o t i v e s f o r s e lf -d e c e p-t i on . F r eud ' s accompl i shmen t i n t h i s r ega r d has been su f f i -c i en t l y i n f l uen t ia l t ha t f ew peop l e now adays can r ega r d t he a t -t a i nm en t o f compl e t e s e l f- know l edge a s a p r ac t i ca l pos s i b il it y .( C e r t a i n my s t i c i sms may cons t i t u t e excep t i ons . )

    I n t h i s connec t i on , i t i s i n t e r e s t i ng t ha t V i c t o r i ans be l i evedt he i nne r s e l f w ou l d be r evea l ed i nvo l un t a r il y , so one h ad t o bec o n s t a n tl y o n g u a r d . S e n n e t t ( 1 9 7 4 ) c o n t e n d e d t h a t p e o p l ec a m e t o f ee l a l a rm e d a n d t h r e a t e n e d b y t h e b e l i ef t h a t o t h e r scou l d dedu ce t he i r pe r sona li t ie s , i nc l ud i ng p r i va t e t hough t s an dwishes , f rom looking a t thei r c lothes and other subt le t ies . Byabou t 1850, u r ban c l o t h i ng s ty l e s had b ecom e pa i ns t ak i ng l yd r a b a n d i n ex p r es s iv e , a n d m a n y V i c t o ri a n w o m e n s i m p l y r e -f used t o go ou t i n pub l i c i n d ay l i gh t f o r f ea r o f be i ng l ooked a t( Senne t t , 1974) . T he V i c t o r i an be l i e f and f a sc i na t i on w i t h t hei n v o l u n t a r y d i s c lo s u r e o f e m o t i o n i s e x e m p l if i ed b y t h e p o p u l a rS h e r lo c k H o l m e s n o v e ls o f t h a t e r a a n d i s p r o b a b l y b e h i n dF r e u d ' s ( 1 9 0 5 / 1 9 5 9 ) f a m o u s a s s e r t i o n t h a t " B e t r a y a l o o z e sf r o m e v e r y p o r e ."

    T hu s , t he d i f f i cu l ty and t he des i r ab i l it y o f s e lf - know l edgew er e w e ll e s t ab li shed cu l t u r a l a t t i tudes by t he beg i nn i ng o f t he20 t h cen t u r y . I t is no t neces sa r y t o i nvoke an y f u r t he r deve l op-m e n t s d u r i n g t h e 2 0 t h c e n t u r y t o e x p l a i n w h y s e l f- k n o w le d g ei s a p r ob l em . T w o specu l a t i ons dese r ve men t i on , how eve r. F i r st ,t he i nc r eas ing f a i lu r e and ab and on me nt o f r e l ig i ous fa i t h mayhave depr i ved m ode r n c i t i z ens o f access t o a f i xed s e t o f answ er st o p r ob l em s i n i n t e r p r e t ing t he s e l f (e .g . , J ung , 1928 / 19 71 ; a l sosee R ie f f , 1968) . Second , t he p r o f ou nd i n t e r e st i n e xp l o r i ng t hese l f ma y have been i nc r ease d by i nd i v i dua l is t i c ch i l d - r ea r i ngpa t t e r ns .Conclusion

    T w o c r uc i a l deve l opmen t s s eem t o have m ade s e l f - know l edgei n t o a p r ob l em . T he f ir st w as com i ng t o r ega r d t he s e l f a s some-t h i ng s epa r a t e f r om, and som e t i mes expr e s sed by , i t s man i f e s t a -t i ons i n v i s ib l e ac t i on ; t h is appea r s t o have oc cur r e d du r i ng t hee a r ly m o d e r n p e r i o d . T h e s e c o n d w a s t h e i n c r ea s i n g m o t i v a t i o nt o dece i ve onese l f , e spec i a l l y among t he Pur i t ans and V i c t o r i -a n s , c o m b i n e d w i th t h e c o n c o m i t a n t r e c o g n i ti o n t h a t t h e p r e v a -

    l ence o f s e l f -decep t i on r end e r ed a l l s e lf - know l edge suspec t andunr e l i ab l e .

    P o t e n t i a l a n d F u l f i l l m e n tM a s l o w ( 1 9 6 8 ) h a s e m p h a s i z e d t h e c e n t r a l i m p o r t a n c e o f f ul -

    f i ll men t ( s e l f - ac tua l i za t ion ) f o r und e r s t and i ng t he s e lf . H i s gen -e r a l s cheme w as de ri ved f r om t he w o r k o f H e i degge r (1927) ,a c c o r d i n g t o w h o m t h e p r e s e n t s e lf h a s a n u m b e r o f p o t e n ti a li -t ie s f o r f u t u r e be i ng ; som e o f t he se becom e f u l f il led w he r eas o t h -e r s do n o t . T h e gu i d i ng con cep t o f po t en t i a l f u l f il l men t g ivesm e a n i n g a n d p u r p o s e t o t h e p r e s e n t s el f. S o m e e m p i r i c a l c o n -f i r ma t i on o f t he i mp or t an ce o f the se r e l a t ionsh i ps , a t l e a st f o rm a l e a d u l t s , w a s p r o v i d e d b y L e v i n s o n , D a r r o w , K l e i n , L e v i n -s o n , a n d M c K e e ( 1 9 7 8 ) .

    T h r e e t y p e s o f p r o b l e m s a r e a s s o c i a te d w i t h p o t e n t i a l a n df u l fi l lmen t . O ne i s how t o f o r m a spec i fi c conc ep t o f one ' s po -t en t i a l, t ow ar d w h i ch o ne m ay s t ri ve . T he s econd i s how t o f u lf il lt ha t po t en t i a l . T he t h i r d i s how t o t o l e r a t e t he f r us t r a t i on andd i s appo i n t men t a s soc i a t ed w i t h nonf u l f i l l men t , w h i ch i s i nev i -table to so me deg ree (cf . May, Angel , & El lenberger , 1958, againon th e bas i s of Heidegger , 1927).Review of Research

    E a c h o f th e t h r e e p r o b l e m s o f p o t e n ti a l a n d f u lf i ll m e n t h a sbeen r a i s ed by h i s t o r i ca l deve l opmen t s . M ed i eva l C hr i s t i an i t yh a d s o lv e d t h e m a ll . T h e g u i d i n g c o n c e p t o f h u m a n p o t e n ti a lf u l f il l men t w as t he s am e f o r a l l med i eva l pe r sons : s a l va t i on i nheaven . T he t echn i que w as a t fi rs t a s i mpl e m a t t e r o f pa r t i c i pa -t i on i n chu r ch r i t ua l o r, p re f e r ab ly , i n mo nas t i c a s ce t i c i sm . T hel a t e r Mi dd l e A ges i nc r eas i ng l y empha s i zed v i r t ue and p i e t y i no n e ' s p e r s o n a l b e h a v i o r as t h e m e a n s o f b e in g j u d g e d w o r t h y o fe ternal sa lvat ion. St i ll , there we re c lear guidel ines for wo rkingt o w a r d s a l v a ti o n . A l t h o u g h M o r r i s ( 1 9 7 2 ) n o t e d t h a t 1 2 th c e n -t u r y m o n a s t i c s d e b a t e d t h e p r o p e r f o r m s o f m o n a s t i c l if e, s u c hdeba t e s do n o t den o t e a l ack o f t echn i q ues b u t , r a the r , a su r p luso f ideas f o r t he de t a il s o f t e chn i qu e . F i na l ly , t he p r ob l em o f non-f u l f il l men t w as de f l ec t ed because f u l f il l men t w as pos t po ned un-t i l a f t e r dea t h . F r us t r a t i on and nonf u l f i l l men t du r i ng l i f e w er et he r e f o r e t o be expec t ed bu t no t t o be t aken t o o s e ri ous ly .

    T h e C h r i s ti a n s o l u t i o n t o t h e q u e s t i o n s o f h u m a n p o t e n t ia la n d f u l f i l l m e n t u n d o u b t e d l y d o m i n a t e d m e d i e v a l l i f e a n dt hou gh t ( e .g ., B e l l ah , 1964 ; H u i z i nga , 1924 / 1954) , bu t t he r emay have been some conce r n w i t h t h i s - w or l d l y f u l f i l l men t .C h i va l r y w as t he m a i n such i dea l pe r t a i n i ng t o ea r t h l y l if e (e .g .,H a n n i n g , 1 9 7 7 ; T u c h m a n , 1 9 78 ). C h i v a l r y h a d t w o c o m p o -nen t s : hon or ( de r iv i ng f r om m ar t i a l p r ow ess ) and l ove. T o someex t en t , o f cour se , t he se w er e subsu me d un de r C hr i s t ian i t y . T h eC r u s a d e s, f o r e x a m p l e , e p i t o m i z e d t h e a c h i e v e m e n t o f s al v a-t i o n b y m e a n s o f f ig h ti n g . ( I n d e e d , T u c h m a n h a s r e c o r d e d h o wP o p e s w o u l d a b s o l v e e m b a r k i n g c r u s a d e r s i n a d v a n c e f o r a l la t roci t i es . )

    T h e i m p o r t a n c e o f lo v e a s a m e a n s o f p e r s o n a l f u lf il lm e n t i nmed i eva l l if e is d if f icu l t t o gauge . H an n i n g( 1 97 7) d i s cus sed t hepor t r aya l o f cou r t l y love i n 12 t h cen t u r y l i t e ra t u r e . F i ed l e r( 1966 / 1982) , how eve r , obse r ved t ha t mos t med i eva l po r t r aya l so f love w er e pe r i phe r a l t o t he d r am a t i c t hem es , excep t f o r a f ewgr ea t s t o r i e s o f adu l t e ry , w h i ch t yp i ca l l y i dea l ized an i mposs i b l el ove ( e.g. , L ance l o t and G ui neve r e , o r T r i s tan and I so lde ) . S t one

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    S E L F H O O D I N H I ST O R Y 1 6 7( 1 9 7 7 ) h a s a r g u e d t h a t h a r d l i f e , a r r a n g e d m a r r i a g e , p o o rh e a l th , a n d l a c k o f o p p o r t u n i t y m e a n t t h a t t h e e x p e r i e n c e o fp a s s i o n a t e l o v e w a s a r a r i t y f o r a l l b u t t h e p r i v i l e g e d m e m b e r so f a f ew r o y a l c o u r t s , e v e n a f t e r t h e M i d d l e A g e s e n d e d . O n t h eo t h e r h a n d , H u n t ( 1 9 7 0) h a s a s s e r t e d th a t t h e s y s t e m o f a r-r a n g e d m a r r i a g e s d i d h a v e t o c o n t e n d w i t h p r e f e r e n c e s a n d i n -c l i n a t io n s o f t h e y o u n g p e r s o n s ( a l th o u g h t h e e x i s t e n c e o f p r e f -e r e n c e s s t i ll d o e s n o t n e c e s s a r i l y m e a n p a s s i o n a t e l o v e) . M y i n -f e r e n c e i s t h a t m e d i e v a l p e r s o n s d i d o c c a s i o n a l l y fe e l p a s s i o n a t ea t t r a c t i o n s t o e a c h o t h e r , a n d t h e r e w a s s o m e l i m i t e d r e c o g n i -t i o n o f p a s s i o n a t e l o v e a s a p o w e r f u l s ta t e , b u t i t d i d n o t h a v e ac e n t r a l p l a c e i n m e d i e v a l li fe . I n d e e d , a n d o f s p e c i a l i m p o r t a n c ef o r th e d i s c u s s io n o f h u m a n g o a l s o f f u l fi l lm e n t , p e rs o n s w h ow e r e n o t i n l o v e d i d n o t u s u a l l y w i s h t o b e i n l o v e . S t o n e ( 1 9 7 7 )r e c o r d e d t h a t e v e n i n e a r l y m o d e r n E n g l a n d t h e p e r s o n i n l o vew a s r e g a r d e d w i t h c o n d e s c e n s io n a n d s o m e t i m e s d e r i s i o n b y t h er e s t o f s o c ie t y . P a s s i o n a t e l o v e , th u s , w a s n o t i d e a l i z e d a s a n e c -e s s a r y i n g r e d i e n t f o r a f u l f il l e d l i fe , u n l i k e t o d a y .

    D u r i n g t h e e a r l y m o d e r n p e r i o d , a n e w i n t e r e st i n l a te c h i l d -h o o d w a s c h a r a c t e r i z e d b y t h e a t ti t u d e t h a t c h i l d r e n w e r e u n -f o r m e d c r e a t u r e s w h o m i g h t t u r n o u t g o o d o r b a d , d e p e n d i n go n g u i d a n c e ( A r i e s , 1 9 6 2 ) . T h i s v i e w s e e m s t o e m p h a s i z e t h ep o t e n t i a l i t y i n h e r e n t i n t h e c h i l d . T h e s o l i c i t o u s i n t e r e s t i n t h ec h i l d ' s d e v e l o p m e n t f ir s t r e c e i v e d a m o r a l f o c u s , a n d e d u c a -t i o n a l p r a c t ic e s e m p h a s i z e d i n s ti l li n g v i rt u e i n c h i l d r e n . T h em e a n s w e r e o f t e n b r u t a l ; f or e x a m p l e , S t o n e ( 1 9 7 7 ) s a i d t h a tt h e b e a t i n g o f B r i ti s h s c h o o l b o y s r e a c h e d a n a l l - ti m e h i g h d u r -i n g t h is p e r i o d . F o r t h e p r e s e n t d i s c u ss i o n , t h e i m p o r t a n t p o i n ti s th e h e i g h t e n e d b e l i e f i n t h e h u m a n p o s s i b i l it y f o r g r o w t h a n dc h a n g e. T h i s b e l i e f i n p o t e n t i a l a n d d e v e l o p m e n t o u t l a s t e d t h er e l i g i o u s , m o r a l c o n t e x t i n w h i c h i t w a s f i r st a p p l i e d .

    M a c I n t y r e ( 1 9 8 1 ) h a s p r o v i d e d a p o w e r f u l a n a l y s is o f h o wt h e u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f h u m a n p o t e n t i a l d e t e r io r a t e d i n t o c h a o sd u r i n g t h e 1 8 t h c e n t u r y . H e e m p h a s i z e d t h a t t h e t r a d i t i o n a lv i e w o f m o r a l i t y w a s a s a s e t o f r u le s a n d t e c h n i q u e s f o r e n a -b l i n g t h e p e r s o n t o f u l fi l l h i s o r h e r ( f u n c t i o n a l ) p o t e n t i a l . I n h i sv ie w , t h e t r a d i t i o n a l m o r a l s c h e m e h a d t h r e e e l e m e n t s : " u n t u -t o r e d h u m a n n a t u r e , m a n - a s - h e - c o u l d - b e - if - h e - r e a li z e d - h i s -t e lo s , a n d t h e m o r a l p r e c e p t s w h i c h e n a b l e h i m t o p a s s f r o m t h eo n e s t a t e t o t h e o t h e r " ( 1 9 8 1 , p . 5 2 ) . T h e s e c o n d e l e m e n t w a sl o s t, a c c o r d i n g t o M a c I n t y r e , w h e n C h r i s t i a n i t y ( a lo n g w i t h i t sA r i s t o t e l i a n e m b e l l i s h m e n t s ) l o s t i t s h o l d o n s o c i e ty . T h i s o c -c u r r e d t h r o u g h o u t t h e e a r l y m o d e r n p e r i o d ( A u e r b a c h , 1 9 4 6 /1 97 4 ). T h e i n t e l l e c t u a l s re j e c t e d C h r i s t i a n t h o u g h t ( o r , t o k e e pt h e i r j o b s , g a v e i t a m b i g u o u s a n d e v a s i v e l i p se r v i c e ; se e H e g e l ,1 8 2 9 /1 9 6 6 , f o r a f a m o u s e x a m p l e ) , a n d t h e c o m m o n p e o p l ec e a s e d t o u s e t h e i r C h r i s t i a n f a i t h a s t h e c e n t r a l o r g u i d i n g i m a g -e r y f o r u n d e r s t a n d i n g t h e i r l iv e s ( e .g . , F i e d l e r , 1 9 6 6 / 1 9 8 2 ) . M a c -I n t y r e w e n t o n t o s a y th a t t h i s d e v e l o p m e n t c o n v e r t e d m o r a l i t yf r o m b e i n g a s e t o f r u l e s f o r a c h i e v i n g f u l f i l lm e n t o f o n e ' s ( p o -t e n t i a l ) t r u e n a t u r e t o b e i n g j u s t a s e t o f r u l e s w i t h n e i t h e r d i -v i n e l e g i t i m a t i o n n o r t e l e o l o g i c a l b a s i s . T h e a t t e m p t t o e x p l a i nw h y a n y o n e s h o u l d f o l lo w s u c h r u l e s w a s t h e " q u i x o t i c a n d i m -p o s s i b l e " ta s k e m b r a c e d b y t h e m o r a l p h i l o s o p h e r s o f t h a t e r a ,a c c o r d i n g t o M a c l n t y r e . F o r t h e p r e s e n t d i s c u s s i o n , t h e k e yp o i n t i s t h a t t h e m a i n m e a n s o f a c h i e v in g f u l fi l lm e n t , a n d t h em a i n c o n c e p t o f i t, w e r e d i s c r e d it e d .

    M a c I n t y r e c o n t i n u e d t h a t t h e d e m i s e o f t r a d i t io n a l C h r i s t i a nm o r a l i ty , a s u n d e r s t o o d b y m e d i e v a l s, e n t a i le d t h e d e m i s e o f t h ev i e w t h a t a p e r s o n w a s i n e v i t a b l y a n d e s s e n t i a l l y r e q u i r e d t o

    d i s c h a r g e t h e o b l i g a t i o n s o f t h e r a n k a n d s t a ti o n t o w h i c h t h a tp e r s o n w a s b o r n . T h e b l a c k s m i t h ' s s o n , fo r e x a m p l e , w a s n ol o n g e r i n e l u c t a b l y a n d e s s e n t i a ll y t i e d t o a m o r a l d u t y t o b e -c o m e a l o y a l a n d p i o u s b l a c k s m i t h h i m s e lf ; a n d e v e n i f he d i db e c o m e o n e , h e w a s a p e r s o n f i rs t a n d a b l a c k s m i t h s e c o n d , t op u t i t c r u d e l y . I n M a c I n t y r e ' s w o r d s , s t a r t i n g i n t h e 1 8 t h c e n -t u r y " m a n i s t h o u g h t o f a s an i n d i v i d u a l p r i o r to a n d a p a r t f r o ma l l r o l e s " ( 1 9 8 1 , p . 5 6 ) . P e r s o n s t h u s m a y b e p e r m i t t e d t oc h o o s e t h e i r o w n f o r m s o f p o t e n t i a l t o t r y t o f u l fi l l, i n s t e a d o fj u s t a c c e p t i n g w h a t s o c i e t y a s s i g n e d t h e m . A p e r s o n ' s p o t e n t i a lw a s t h u s a n o p e n q u e s t io n , n o t a f i x e d a n d k n o w n m a t t er .C l e ar ly , t h i s d e v e l o p m e n t a l so c o n t r i b u t e d t o m a k i n g h u m a np o t e n t i a l p r o b l e m a t i c .

    T h e R o m a n t i c e r a i s p e r h a p s b e s t k n o w n f o r i t s q u e s t s t o r e -p l a c e C h r i s t i a n s a l v a t io n w i t h v i a b l e, s e c u l a r im a g e s o f h u m a nf u l f i l l m e n t i n l i f e o n e a r t h . T h e i r e f f o r t s f o c u s e d o n w o r k , e s p e -c i a l l y c r e a t i v e a r t , a n d i n n e r p a s s i o n , e s p e c i a l l y l o ve . T h e s e t w ow e r e n o t c o m p l e t e l y s e p a r a t e , o f c o u r se . T h e a m o r o u s e x p l o i tsa n d t h e m e s o f s o m e R o m a n t i c p o e t s a r e w e ll k n o w n , a n d A l t i c k( 1 9 6 5) n o t e d t h a t t h e h e i g h t e n e d b i o g r a p h i c a l i n t e r e s t i n a r t i s t s 'l iv e s d u r i n g t h e e a r l y 1 9 th c e n t u r y a r o s e f r o m t h e c o m m o n b e -l i e f t h a t a r t i s t s li v e d r ic h i n n e r l iv e s .

    T h e R o m a n t i c c o n c e p t s o f h u m a n f u l fi l lm e n t in t e r m s o f p a s -s i o n a t e l o v e a n d c r e a t i v e w o r k , i n t h e c o n t e x t o f a r i c h i n n e rl if e , d e s e r v e f u rt h e r c o m m e n t b e c a u s e t h e y c o n t i n u e t o b e o u rc l e a r es t c o n c e p t s o f h u m a n f u l f il l m e n t t o d ay . I n d e e d , o n e c a nq u e s t i o n w h e t h e r t h e p s y c h o l o g i c a l d i s c u s s i o n s o f s e l f - a c t u a l iz a -t i o n ( c f. M a s lo w , 1 9 6 8 ; R o g e rs , 1 9 6 1 ) h a v e a d d e d a n y t h i n g t ot h e m e x c e p t , p e r h a p s , p s y c h o l o g i c a l h e a l t h , a s in R o g e r s '" o p e n n e s s t o e x p e r i e n c e " i n s t e a d o f n e u r o t i c d e f e n s iv e n e ss .

    WorkC r e a t i v e a r t c a n o n l y b e p r a c t i c e d b y a s m a l l m i n o r i t y o f s o c i-e t y . A c r e a t i v e l y p r o b l e m - s o l v i n g a t t i t u d e c a n , h o w e v e r , b e a p -

    p l i e d in m a n y t a s k s, a s M a s l o w ( 1 9 68 ) h a s p o i n t e d o u t , s o w o r kc o u l d i n p r i n c i p l e b e a p o w e r f u l so u r c e o f f u lf i ll m e n t in m o d e r nl if e . S u c h a n e m p h a s i s o n w o r k c o u l d n o t b e c r e d i t e d t o ( o rb l a m e d o n ) t h e R o m a n t i c s e n t i re l y . I t w a s P u r i t a n i s m ( or , m o r eg e n e r a l ly , P r o t e s t a n t i s m ) t h a t f i r s t t r e a t e d w o r k a s a n e s s e n t i a lh u m a n a c t iv i ty . T h i s e m p h a s i s o n w o r k w a s a P u r i t a n d o c t r i n et h e i n f l u e n c e o f w h i c h f a r o u t l a s t e d i t s r e l i g i o u s c o n t e x t ( c f.W e i n t r a u b ' s , 1 9 7 8 , d i s c u s s io n o f B e n F r a n k l i n ) .

    T h r e e d e v e l o p m e n t s d u r i n g t h e 1 9 th a n d 2 0 t h c e n t u r i e s s u g-g e s t t h a t t h e p o s s i b i l i t y o f f i n d i n g f u l f i ll m e n t i n w o r k h a s d e -c l i n e d o r b e e n l o st . F ir s t , t h e r e l a t i o n b e t w e e n p r o d u c e r a n dc u s t o m e r h a s b e c o m e i n c r e a s i n g l y i m p e r s o n a l ( H a r r i s , 1 98 1).H a r r i s h a s c o n t e n d ed t h a t t h e p o o r w o r k m a n s h i p a n d u n c o o p -e r a t iv e n e s s o f " s e r v i c e " p e r s o n n e l s t e m s f r o m t h e a p a t h y e n g e n -d e r e d b y t h e l a c k o f o n g o i n g s o c i al b o n d s b e t w e e n w o r k e r s a n dc u s t o m e r s , u n l i k e t h e b o n d s t h a t c h a r a c t e r i z e t r i b a l o r e v e ns m a l l - t o w n s o c i e ti e s .

    S e c o n d , t h e m e a n i n g o f s u c c es s h a s c h a n g e d . L a s c h ( 1 9 7 8)a r g u e d t h a t f o r t h e e a r l y A m e r i c a n s s u c c e s s m e a n t a n i n t e rn a l ,e v e n s p i r i tu a l t r i u m p h , n o t a c o m p e t i t iv e o r a c q u i s it i v e c o u p .V e b l e n n o t e d a s e a r ly a s 1 8 9 9 t h a t " c o n s p i c u o u s c o n s u m p t i o n "w a s n o l o n g e r r e s t r ic t e d t o t h e " l e i s u r e c l a s s. " T h e c o n s u m p t i o no f q u a l i t y g o o d s i s a n i n d i c a t i o n o f w e U - t o - d o s uc c e ss , a n d c o n -s p i c u o u s n e s s i n d i c a t e s t h e p u b l i c a n d c o m p e t i t iv e n a t u r e o f t h ei d e a l s u c c e ss . L a s c h a s s e r t e d f l a t ly t h a t " s u c c e s s i n o u r s o c i e t y

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    168 ROY E BAUMEISTERhas t o be r a t i f ied by p ub l i c i t y" ( 1978 , p . 60 ) . H e sugges t ed f u r -t he r t ha t t he des i r e f o r pub l i c r ecogn i t i on has a l t e r ed f r om ades i r e f o r f ame ( i . e . , r e spec t and r ecogn i t i on f o r one ' s accom-p l i shmen t s ) t o t he des i re t o be a ce l eb r i t y ( i. e.~ t o be kno w n andr ecogn i zed , e spec i a l ly a s a pe r sona l i t y ) . T r i ll i ng ( 1955) m ade as i mi l a r po i n t .

    T h i r d , t h e n a t u r e o f th e w o r k h a s c h a n g e d f u n d a m e n t a l ly ,e v e n w i th i n a g i v e n o c c u p a t i o n . B r a v e r m a n ( 1 9 7 4 ) n o t e d t h a tdivision of labor has t w o mean i ngs . E ven p r i mi t i ve soc i e t i e shave a soc i a l d i v i s ion o f labor b y w h i ch d i f f e ren t pe r sons co n-t r i bu t e d i f f e r en t p r od uc t s and s e r v ice s t o t he soc i e ty . H ow eve r ,B r a v e r m a n a r g u e d , o n l y m o d e r n s o c i e ty h a s p r o d u c e d t h e d e -t a il o r t a sk d i v i s ion o f l abor by w h i ch ea ch t a sk i s subd i v i dedi n t o com pon en t s t ha t a r e a s s i gned t o d if f e r en t pe r sons . T h i s de -v e l o p m e n t, a c c o r d i n g t o B r a v e r m a n , f o ll o w ed f r o m m a n a g e -men t ' s d i s cove r y t ha t p r o f i t s cou l d be g r ea t l y i nc r eased by ap -p l i ca t ion o f t he t heo r i e s o f B abbage ( 1832 / 196 3) . B abbag e ob -s e rv e d t h a t i f o n e m e c h a n i c b u i l t t h e e n t i re p r o d u c t , h e s p e n tm u c h o f h is t im e d o i n g s i m p l e t as k s , b u t h e h a d t o b e p a i d a c -co r d i ng t o a l evel o f sk il l su f f ic i en t t o pe r f o r m t he h a r des t t a sk .B y h i r in g c h e a p l a b o r t o p e r f o r m t h e s i m p l e p a r t s o f t h e j o b ,t h e e x p e n si v e l a b o r o f t h e m e c h a n i c c o u l d b e c o n s e r v e d o n l y f o rthe har d par t s , thus rea l iz ing subs tan t ia l savings. Ho wever , therei s a d r am a t i c bu t h i dden psycho l og i ca l cos t i n t ha t r eo r gan i za -t i on o f labor , a s B r ave r m an exp l i ca t ed w i t h exc r uc i a t i ng t ho r -o u g h n e s s . E v e r y o n e ' s w o r k ( i n c lu d i n g t h a t o f t h e m o s t s k il le dand expens i ve mech an i c s ) beco mes r epe t it i ve and l ose s it s v is i-b l e i den t if i ca t ion w i t h t he p r od uc t i ve p r oces s a s a w ho l e , a s w e lla s w it h t h e p r o d u c t . T h u s , t h e o p p o r t u n i t i e s t o e n j o y a n d t a k ep r i d e i n o n e ' s w o r k a r e d e g r ad e d . B r a v e r m a n m a d e c l e a r t h a tt h i s r eo r gan i za t i on o f w or k pe r t a i ns no t on l y t o a s sembl y - l inemanuf ac t u r i ng bu t t o w h i t e - co l l a r w or k a s w e l l , w i t h equa l l ypern ic ious ef fect s (a l so see Larkin, 1979).

    I n t h e w a k e o f s u c h d e v e l o p m e n t s , w o r k s e e m s t o h a v e u n d e r -gone a sh i f t f r om i n t r i n s i c t o ex t r i n s i c mot i va t i ons . O ne ' s po -t en t ia l i n w o r k becam e conce i ved o f i n t e r m s o f pos s i b il i ti e s f o radvancemen t , p r e s t i ge , and paymen t ( s a l a r y po t en t i a l ) , r a t he rt han i n t e r ms o f in t r i n s i c s a t i sf ac t i on f r om pe r f o r mi n g t he w or kactivi t ies.

    I t d e s e r v e s m e n t i o n t h a t m o d e r n w o r k s c h e d u l e s h a v e i n -c r e a se d t h e a m o u n t o f l ei s ur e t i m e , t h e r e b y o p e n i n g n e w p o s s i-bi l it i es for ful fi l lment . Th e po ss ibi l i ty of creat ive ful f i l lmentt h r oug h l e i su r e ac ti v i ti e s cann o t be d i s co un t ed . S ti ll , a cu r s o r yp e r u sa l o f t h e m o s t p o p u l a r l e i su r e a c t i v i t i e s - -p r o b a b l y m o r et i me i s spen t w a t ch i ng t e l ev is i on t han on a l l o t he r l e i su r e ac t i v i-t ie s com bi n ed - - s oo n d i s cove r s t ha t c r ea t i v i t y i s no t an e s sen ti a lor pervas ive fea ture .Love

    O u r mo der n cu l t u r e r ega r ds pas s i ona t e l ove a s a cen t r a l con-ce r n and pow er f u l i dea l o f pe r sona l f u l f i ll men t . L ov e has com et o b e r e g a r d e d a s t h e p r i m a r y a n d o f t e n th e o n l y p r o p e r b a s isf o r mar r i age , con t r a r y t o ea r l i e r a t t it udes ( c f . S t one ' s , 1977 , ex -t ens ive d i s cus s i on o f t he evo l u t i on o f c r i te r i a f o r m a t e cho i ce ) .A n d a pe r son w ho goes t h r ou gh l if e w i t hou t l ove w il l t yp i ca l l ybe r ega r d ed a s un f u l f il led .

    T h e m a i n d r a w b a c k o f lo v e as a v i a b l e f o r m o f f u lf i ll m e n t i st h e i m p e r m a n e n c e o f p a ss io n . F i e d l er ( 1 9 6 6 / 1 9 8 2 ) o b s e r v e dt h a t a l th o u g h m a n y n o v e l s e n d w i t h m a r r i a g e a n d p r o m i s e s o f

    eve r l a s t i ng happ i nes s , no one has been ab l e t o make a goodnove l abou t a hap py mar r i age . M ar i t a l b l is s is du ll , no t pa s s i on -ate , a t l eas t to readers o f novels . Fiedler ' s sug ges t ion i s cons i s -t e n t w i t h b e h a v i o r a l d a t a i n d i c a ti n g t h a t f r e q u e n c y o f se x u a li n t e r cour se d i m i n i shes subs t an t i a l l y ove r t i me , even i n happymar r i ages ( e .g . , Mann , B e r kow i t z , S i dman , S t a r r , & Wes t ,1974).

    P a s s i o n a te l o ve m a y b e a v i a b l e c o n c e p t o f h u m a n f u lf il lm e n t ,bu t i t is no t on e t ha t i s conduc i ve t o p r o l on ged and s t ab le s a t is -fac t ion.

    OthersT w o s p e c u la t iv e c o m m e n t s a b o u t n e w c o n c e p t s o f f ul f il lm e n t

    dese r ve men t i on . D ur i n g t h i s pa s t cen t u r y , in t e r pe r sona l r ecog-n i t i on has come t o s eem l i ke a f u l f i l l i ng goa l ; a s pe r sona l i t yc o m e s t o t a k e p r e c e d e n c e o v e r a c h ie v e m e n t , e v e n t h e t a l k - s h o wce l eb r i t y so r t o f r ecogn i t i on bec om es des ir ed ( L asch , 1978) .A dd i t i ona l ly , f u l f il l men t f o r man y s eem s t o be a m a t t e r o f p l ea s -an t s ensa t i ons . T h i s m od em degr ee o f hedon i s t ic s e l f -i ndu l -g e n c e m a y b e a t t ri b u t a b l e t o t h e s t i m u l a t i o n o f a p p e ti te st h r o ugh adve r t i s ing ( Po t te r , 1954) and t he dec l i ne o f t he capac -i t y f o r se l f -den i a l ow i ng t o i ndu l gen t pa r en t i ng ( Whee l i s, 1958) .

    ConclusionT h e c u r r e n t p r o b l e m a t i c n a t u r e o f p o t e n ti a l a n d f u l f il lm e n t

    s e e m s t o h a v e t a k e n s h a p e a r o u n d t h e s t a r t o f th e 1 9 th c e n t u ry .T h e t h r e e p r o b l e m s m e n t i o n e d a t t h e b e g i n n i n g o f t h is s e c ti o n( conce p t s o f fu l f il l men t , m e t hod s o f fu l f i ll men t , and t o l e r ancef o r n o n f u lf i ll m e n t ) b e c a m e a c u t e t h e n . O n c e t h e g u i d i n g c o n -c e p t s o f C h r is t ia n s a l v a ti o n a n d h e a v e n l o st t h e ir d o m i n a n t a p -p e a l, t h e y w e r e r e p l a c e d b y s e c u l a r c o n c e p t s o f h u m a n p o t e n t ia land f u l f i l l men t . Se l f - ac t ua l i za t i on i s an appea l i ng bu t vaguet e r m , r e f l ect i ng soc i e t y ' s de s i r e f o r (bu t l a ck o f ) su ch conc ep t s .L o v e a n d c r e a ti v e w o r k s e e m t h e b e s t r e c o g n i z e d i m a g e s o f s ec -u l a r f u l f i ll men t , bu t t he o ppo r t un i t i e s f o r t he l a t t e r have beend e g r a d e d b y t h e c h a n g e d n a t u r e o f w o r k .

    T h e r e j e ct i o n o f t h e m e d i e v a l C h r i s ti a n n o t i o n o f h u m a n f u l-f i ll men t a l so en t a i l ed t ha t m or a l , v i r t uo us beha v i o r ceased t o bec o n s i d e r e d a s t h e m e a n s o f a c h i e v in g f u l fi ll m e n t, a s M a c I n t y r e( 198 l ) ha s desc r i bed . S i nce t hen , t he p r ob l em o f f ind i ng meth-ods of r each i ng f u l f i l lmen t ha s no t b een so l ved . L ove , f o r t u -na t e ly , s eems t o occ ur spon t aneous l y , so t ech n i que s o f fa l li ng inl o ve a r e n o t n e e d e d , a l t h o u g h s o m e m i g h t w e l c o m e t e c h n i q u e sf o r p r o l ong i ng t he pas s ion . O t he r t ha n t ha t , t he r e i s subs t an t i a lunce r t a i n t y . T he w r i t i ngs abou t s e l f - ac t ua l i za t i on c i t ed aboveseem t o have even l es s t o s ay abo u t t he t echn i qu es o f s e lf - ac tua l -i za t i on t han abo u t i t s cha r ac te r i s ti c s .

    T h e h u m a n w i ll in g n e s s t o t o le r a te t h e f r u s t r a t i o n a n d d i s a p -po i n t me n t o f f e lt nonf u l f i l lmen t a l so d i mi n i shed w i t h t he r e jec -t i on o f the C hr i s t i an i mage o f s a l va t i on a s l i f e 's f u l fi l lmen t , f o rc i ti z e n s o f t h e R o m a n t i c e r a b e g a n t o d e m a n d s a ti s fa c t io n s i nt h i s l if e i n s t ead o f t he nex t . ( I t is en t i r e ly p l aus i b l e t ha t pe r sonscan f ee l un f u l f i l l ed and f r us t r a t ed w i t hou t hav i ng a c l ea r con-cep t o f w h a t f u l f i l lmen t w ou l d be . ) A s a r e su lt , peop l e bega n t ov i ew soc i e t y a s oppr e s s ive and r ep r e ss i ve . T h i s conf l i c t be t w eent he i nd i v i dua l and soc i e t y is a ma j o r t hem e o f t he nex t s ec t i onof th i s ar t i c le .

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    SELFHOOD IN HISTORY 169R e l a t i o n B e t w e e n I n d i v i d u a l a n d S o c i e t y

    T h e m e d i e v a l p e r so n ' s r e la t io n t o t h e c o m m u n i t y w a s s t a bl eand unpr ob l ema t i c . When t he a t t i t udes t ha t sus t a i ned t h i s s t a -b i l i t y w e r e u n d e r m i n e d a n d a b a n d o n e d , p e o p l e b e g a n t o f e e lt ha t soc i e t y a s a w ho l e w as i nd i f f e r en t o r even hos t i l e t o t hei nd i v i dua l ' s be s t i n te r e s ts . T h i s conf l i c t be t w een i nd i v i dua l an dsoc i e t y has been v i ew ed i n s eve r al d i f fe r en t w ays du r i n g t he pas tt w o cen t u r i e s .

    Review of ResearchT he med i eva l men t a l i t y be l i eved t he soc i a l h i e r a r chy t o be

    f i xed and l eg i t i ma t e . N i sbe t ( 1973) r eco r ded t ha t med i eva l so -c i a l ph i l osoph y w as w ho l l y dom i na t e d b y S t. A u gus t i ne ' s exp l a -na t i on t ha t G od had a s s i gned each pe r son a f i xed p l ace i n t hec o m m u n i t y . T h e c o m m u n i t y w a s c o n s id e re d t o b e a s m u c h as t ab le un i t y a s any l i v i ng o r gan i sm i s. N o pe r son shou l d t he r e -f o r e des i r e t o change h i s o r he r s ta t i on , any mo r e t han a f i nge rs h o u l d w i s h t o b e t h e b o d y ' s e y e (t o u s e A u g u s t in e ' s f a m o u ss im i le ) . E a c h l i n k i n t h e " g r e a t c h a i n o f b e i n g " ( a c o m m o nphr ase ) w as i mpor t an t . N i sbe t ( 1973) unde r sco r ed t he pe r -ce i ved s tab i l it y o f t he sys t em o f soc i a l r e l a ti onsh i ps by o bse r v -i n g t h a t r e v o l u t io n f o r th e p u r p o s e o f p o l it ic a l r e f o r m w a s u n -know n i n Wes t e r n h i s t o r y un t i l t he 18 t h cen t u r y ( a l so s eeB ur ke , 1978 , pp . 154- 155) .

    E ach pe r son w as equa t ed w i t h h i s o r he r p l ace i n t he soc i a lh i e r a r chy ( see ea r li e r d i s cus s i on o f M ac l n t y r e , 1981) . T he s amesen t i men t i s expre s sed by t he p r i mi t i ve an d ea r l y c i v i li z ed equa -t i on o f dea t h w i t h ex il e: T he pe r son ' s ve r y be i ng i s un t h i nkab l eapa r t f r om t he ac t ua l con t ex t o f soc i a l r o l e s a s s i gned t o t ha tpe r son by G od , soc i et y , and f ami ly . T he l ack o f any subs t an t i a lsense of an inn er se l f (e .g . , Tr il ling, 1971) was a fur th er reas onw hy med i eva l s equa t ed t he pe r son w i t h t he pub l i c , v i s i b l e ac -t i ons and a spec ts .

    T h e e n d o f t h e M i d d l e A g e s w a s m a r k e d b y i n c r e a s in g s o c i a lmob i l i t y , e spec i a ll y i n r ega r d t o t he g r ow t h o f a m i dd l e c l a ss .T he soc i a l h i e r a r chy ceased t o be f i xed . T he i n s t ab i l i t y i n -c r e a s ed t h r o u g h o u t t h e e ar l y m o d e r n p e r i o d . C o m m o n e r s e v e nbegan t o ga i n acces s t o t he a r i s t oc r acy , t h r ough i n t e r mar r i age ,a l t hough t he a r i s t oc r a t s r e s i s t ed and r e sen t ed such p r e t ens i ons( Senne t t , 1974 ; S t one , 1977) . I t i s no t su r p r i s i ng t ha t conc ep-t i ons o f i nd i v i dua l i ty beca me a r t i cu l a t e a nd i n f l uen t i a l du r i ngt he ea r l y mode r n pe r i od . Sepa r a t i ng t he pe r son f r om t he f i xedp l ace i n the soc i a l ne t w o r k r equ i r e s on e t o t h i nk o f t he pe r sona s t h e b a s i c u n i t , n o t t h e c o m m u n i t y ( c f . M a c I n t y r e , 1 9 8 1 ;W ei n t r aub , 1978 ; a l so A r en d t ' s , 1951 , d i s cus s i on o f H obb es ) .T he i nd i v i dua l ' s i n t e r e s ts co u l d be i n conf l i c t w i t h t hose o f soc i -e t y , some t h i ng t ha t t he med i eva l m i nd w ou l d have den i ed i npr inciple .

    T h e r u p t u r e b e t w e e n t h e i n d iv i d u a l a n d s o c i e t y w a s m o r et h a n a c o n c e p t u a l a d v a n c e o f t h e p h i lo s o p h e rs . I t s e e m s t o h a v ehad a s t r ong behav i o r a l co r r e l a t e i n t he deve l op men t o f p r i vacy .N o w a d a y s , w e t e n d t o r e g a r d p r iv a c y a s a f u n d a m e n t a l h u m a nr i g h t a n d a u n i v e r s a l h u m a n n e e d . T h e m e d i e v a l E u r o p e a n ,how eve r, ap pa r en t l y g o t a l ong w i t hou t p r i vacy ; indeed , i t mayneve r have occur r ed t o h i m o r he r t o w an t i t . A r i e s ( 1962) a s -s e r t ed t ha t " i n f ac t, un t i l t he end o f t he s even t een t h cen t u r y ,nob od y w as eve r l e ft a l one? ' A r i e s ( 1962) and S t one ( 1977) de -s c r i bed t he a r ch i t ec t u r a l i nnov a t i ons o f t he ea r l y mode r n e r a a s

    new l y conduc i ve t o p r i vacy . T he des i r e f o r and cu l t i va t i on o fp r i vacy r e f l ec ts an a t t i t ude t ha t t he r e i s some p a r t o f li fe t ha tdoes n o t be l ong t o p ub l i c soc i et y .

    T h e i n c r e a s i n g s e p a r a ti o n o f p u b l i c a n d p r i v a t e d o m a i n s o fe x p e r ie n c e w a s a s o r t o f u n e a s y t r u c e t h a t l a i d t h e f o u n d a t i o n sf o r a con cep t o f s e l f a s be i ng i n conf l i c t w i t h soc i e ty . Senne t t( 1 9 7 4 ) h a s a d v a n c e d t h e i m p o r t a n t b u t c o n t r o v er s ia l t he s is t h a t18 t h cen t u r y c i t i z ens va l ued pub l i c l i f e ( a s soc i a t ed w i t h t heh i ghe r va l ues o f c i v i li z a t ion and cu l t u r e ) mo r e h i gh l y t han p r i -va t e li fe ( a s soc i a ted w i t h n a t u r a l f unc t i ons ) , a l t hough t ha t va l ueh i e r a r ch y w as r eve rsed by t he end o f the 19 t h cen tu r y .

    T h e t r a n s i t io n t o t h e 1 9 th c e n t u r y w a s m a r k e d b y a s h a r p lyi nc r eased s ense o f conf l i c t be t w een i nd i v i dua l s and soc ie t y . In -d e e d , a m a i n t h e m e o f 1 9 th c e n t u r y l i te r a tu r e w a s t h a t o f t h eindivid ual versus socie ty (An derso n, 1971; P/ i t z , 1979; Sypher ,1962; Tr i l l ing, 1950). Th e increas in g asser t ion o f the individu ali s some t i mes a s soc i a t ed w i t h t he i nc i p i en t dec l i ne i n t he s enseof com m un i t y ( A nde r son , 1971 ) . B ehav i o r a ll y , t he i nd i v i dua l ' sr epud i a t i on o f ex i s t ing soc i e t y f oun d expr e s s i on i n the num er -ous r ebe l l i ons a i med a t po l i t ic a l r e f o r m ( N i sbe t, 1973) .

    A n i nd i v i dua l can on l y be i n conf l i c t w i t h soc i e t y a s a w ho l ei f i nd i v i dua l s a r e und e r s t oo d t o ex i s t apa r t f r om t he i r soc ia lpos i t i ons ( see p r ev i ous d i s cus s i on o f M ac l n t y r e , 1981 ; a l soW ei n t r aub , 1978) . T ha t i s one r ea son t he appe a r ance o f t he newc o n c e p t o f i n d i v id u a l i ty c o i n c i d e d w i t h r e c o g n i t i o n o f s u c hconf l i c t . I t mus t be emphas i zed t ha t t he t r ad i t i ona l sys t em o fsoc i a l r ank and h i e r a r chy , hav i ng a l r ead y l os t some o f it s st ab il -i ty , los t i t s perceived legi t imacy as wel l . That "a l l men are cre-a t ed equa l , " a no t i on l abe l ed a " s e lf - ev i den t t r u t h" i n t he r evo-l u t i o n a r y m a n i f e s to o f t h e A m e r i c a n c o l o n is t s (1 7 7 6 ), w o u l dhave been i nconce i vab l e t o t he med i eva l men t a l i t y i n t he s enset he co l on i s t s a s s e r t ed i t . T he med i eva l men t a l i t y t ook f o rg r an t ed t ha t t he a r i s t oc r a t w as a be t t e r pe r son t han t he peasan tand t h a t t he i neq ua l i t y w as l eg i t i ma t ed by d i v i ne w i ll .A s econd , r e l a t ed r ea son f o r t he i nc r eas i ng s ense o f conf li c tb e t w e e n i n d i v id u a l a n d s o c i e ty p r e s u m a b l y h a d t o d o w i t h t h esecu l a r i za t i on o f con cep t s o f f u l fi l lmen t . T he des i r e f o r f u lf il l-m en t dur in g thi s l ife , ins tead of in heaven ly af ter li fe , mu st havei n t ens i f i ed d i s con t en t a r i s i ng f r om f r us t r a t i on and nonf u l f i l l -m e n t d u r i n g l if e. B e g i n n i n g p e r h a p s w i t h R o u s s e a u a n d c o n t i n -u i n g t h r o u g h o u t t h e R o m a n t i c p e r i o d , th e f o r m s o f s o c ie t y w e r eb l am ed f o r pe r sona l non f u l f i ll men t . A nd e r son ( 1971) , f o r ex -a m p l e , s u m m a r i z e d a c e n tr a l t h e m e o f H a w t h o r n e ' s n o v e l s a sf ol low s : "T h e soc i a l cond i t i ons deny m en t he ch ance t o be f u l l ym e n a n d w o m e n t h e c h a n c e t o b e f u ll y w o m e n " ( p . 85 ). I n d e e d ,p r o m o t i n g t h e i n d i v i d u al a g a i n s t t h e o p p r e ss i ve e n c r o a c h m e n t so f s o c ie t y w a s a m a j o r c o n c e r n o f w r it e rs a n d t h i n k e rs t h r o u g h -ou t t he 19 t h cen t u r y . P i i t z ( 1979) l i s t ed t he "key concep t s " o fA m er i can w r i t e rs o f t he p r ev i ous cen t u r y a s " s e lf - r e li ance , non -conf o r mi t y , t he r e j ec t i on o f t he pas t, t he den i a l o f t he i mpe r -a t iv e s o f s o c i e t y . . , r a d i c al i n d i v i d u a l is m " ( p . 33 ).

    T h e r e s p o n s e t o t h e p e r c e p t i o n o f c h r o n i c c o n f l ic t b e tw e e ni nd i v i dua l and soc i e t y evo l ved t h r ough t w o ove r l app i ng s t agesdur i ng t he 19 t h cen t u r y . I n t he f i r s t , t he R omant i c he r o s t r ug -g l ed w i t h soc i e t y to w i n f r eed om t o r eac h f u l f i ll men t . A pp a r -ently , l ife me an t l i fe in socie ty; there was no a l ternat ive (cf. An-de r son , 1971) . T h e i nd i v i du a l ' s so l e hope l ay in t he pos s i b i li t yo f i mp r ov i n g o r t r ans f o r m i ng soc i a l cond i t i ons . ( B e l i e f i n t hepos s i b i li t y o f ach i ev i ng f u l f i ll men t i n an i mp r ove d soc i e t y w ase v i d e n t i n t h e n u m e r o u s u t o p i a n e x p e r i m e n t s a n d w r i t i n g s o f

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    170 R O Y E B A U ME I ST E Rt h e 1 9 th c e n tu r y . ) W h e n t h e s t r u gg l e b e c a m e t o o m u c h , t h e R o -man t i c he r o s i mpl y d i ed , a s i n t he ce l eb r a t ed su i c i de o fG o e t he ' s y oun g Wert he r.

    T o w a r d m i d c e n t u r y , t r a n s c e n d e n ta l i sm e m e r g e d a s a d o m i -nan t t he me i n A me r i can l e tt er s. A s t he i r name i mpl i e s , t he t r an -scenden t a li s ts sough t t he i r f u l f il l men t n o t i n ev e r yday soc i a l l if eb u t i n p r iv a t e e x p e ri e n c e t h a t c a r r i e d t h e m b e y o n d t h e o p p r e s -s iv e a n d m u n d a n e c o n d i t io n s o f s o ci et y . T h e y k e p t t h e R o m a n -t i c va l ues o f pe r sona l v i r t ue , r e sour ce f u l nes s , an d des i r e f o rf r eedom, b u t t hey ad ded a w i l li ngnes s t o go it a l one . I f E m er sonw a s th e m o v e m e n t ' s m o s t r e s p e c t ed a n d a r t ic u l a t e t h i n k e r a n dW h i t m a n i ts m o s t e x t r e m e e m b o d i m e n t , T h o r e a u f u lf il le d it sa r che t ypa l i dea l mo s t v i v id ly . B y cu l t i va t i ng h i s c r ea t i v i t y andunde r s t and i ng w hi l e l i v i ng a l one i n t he w oods , he s eemed t op r ove t ha t t he w ay t o pe r sona l f u l f il l men t l ed aw ay f r om l if e i nsociety.

    T r a n s c e n d e n ta l is m d i d n o t i n d u c e l a rg e n u m b e r s o f p eo p l et o e schew soc i a l l if e a l toge t he r. A s t he e r a ' s a cc l a i m o f E m er sonsuggest s, peo p l e w an t ed ( o r w er e con t en t w i t h ) on l y l i m i t ed andoccas i ona l tr anscendence . Soc i e t y w as r ega r ded a s so r t o f a nec -e s sa r y evi l. E m er son ' s so l u t i on w as t o l ive i n soc i e t y bu t s eekful f i l lment in pr ivate , personal l i fe . In a sense , th i s view re-ga r ded soc i e t y a s t o l e r ab l e bu t no t s a t i s f y i ng . I t con t r a s t ssha r p l y w i t h t he v i ew i n ea r l y 20 t h cen t u r y l i t e r a t u r e , w h i cha t t acked soc i e t y a s no t ju s t unsa t i s f y i ng bu t i n t o l e r ab l e a s w e ll .

    O t he r h i s t o ri ca l ev i dence conf i r ms t he pe r c ep t i on o f conf li c tbe t w een i nd i v i dua l an d soc i e t y and t he r e t r ea t f r o m p ub l i c l if e.B y t he V i c t o r i an e r a , p r i va t e l if e ( home an d f am i l y ) beca me t hep r e e m i n e n t v a l u e a n d p r i z e d r e f u ge , a h a v e n a m i d s t t h e t h r e a t-en i ng unce r t a i n t i e s o f pub l i c l if e (Fass , 1977 ; H o ugh t on , 1957 ;D . W. H ow e , 1976 ; Senne t t , 1974) . T he f a mi l y ' s age -o l d p r i-m a r y f u n c t i o n a s a n e c o n o m i c u n i t f o r m a n a g i n g t h e b u s i n e sso f su r v iva l w as d i mi n i sh ed by u r b an i ndus t r i a l l if e and w as r e -p l a c e d b y t h e f u n c t i o n o f p r o v i d i n g in t i m a t e , e m o t i o n a l r e -l a t i ons among t he f ami l y member s ( B ur ges s & L ocke , 1945 ;Fas s , 1977) . Senne t t ( 1974) a r gued t ha t t he a l mos t ax i oma t i cemp has i s on i n t i ma t e r e l a t i onsh i ps a s neces sa r y f o r p sycho l og i -cal heal th (e .g . , Er ikson, 1950; Sul l ivan, 1953) i s a hi s tor ica l lyr e l a ti ve p r od uc t o f t he dec l i n i ng pa r t i c i pa t i on i n pub l i c l if e.

    T he E mer son i an i dea t ha t f u l f i l l men t cou l d be ob t a i ned i npr ivate l i fe , in peaceful coexis tence wi th publ ic socie ty , seemsi n t r i n s i ca l l y p l aus i b l e , bu t i t van i shed ab r up t l y f r om se r i ousw r i t i ng a t t he s t a r t o f t he 20 t h cen t u r y . A l i ena t i on be cam e t hem ajo r them e in l i t era ture (Klein , 1964; Pi i t z , 1979) . Speci f icmean i ngs o f a l i ena t i on v a r y am on g d i f f e ren t t heo r i s t s (s ee , e s -pecia l ly , S eem an, 1959), bu t i ts genera l sense in ear ly 20th cen -t u r y l i te r a tu r e m a y p e r h a p s b e e x p r e ss e d a s a m i x t u r e o f p o w e r -lessness ( fut i l i ty) , meaninglessness (empt iness) , and nonful -f i l lment ( f rus t ra t ion) .

    I f one a s sum es t ha t t he l i t e r a r y emphas i s on a l i ena t i on r e -f l ec t ed a m a j o r a spec t o f t he co n t em po r a r y co l l ec t ive psyche , itmus t be i n f e r r ed t ha t t he ea rl y 20 t h cen t u r y c i t i z ens s aw t hem-sel ves a s u t t e r ly i n t he g r i p o f soc i a l f o r ces and pow er s t ha t w e r ei nd i f f e r en t t o t hem pe r sona l l y . T h i s s eems en t i r e l y p l aus i b l ef r om a soc i o l og i ca l s t andpo i n t . T he t r ans i t i on t o i ndus t r i a l , u r -ban l if e f o r t he m a j o r i t y o f pe r sons en t a i l ed s e r i ous econ om i ci n t e r dependence . Se l f -su f fi c iency w as obso l e t e , and ec ono mi cdepr es s i ons (such a s occur r ed i n t he 1890s and 1930s ) t h r ea t -ened pe r sona l su r v i va l . T he i nd i v i dua l ' s u t t e r dependency ons o c ie t y w a s n o t y e t t e m p e r e d b y g o v e r n m e n t s o c ia l p r o g r a m s

    such a s w e l f ar e and soc i a l s ecu r i t y no r by co r por a t e gu a r an t eeso f o b s e c u r i ty a n d r e t i r e m e n t p e n s i o n s.

    I t appea r s t ha t soc i e t y w as s ti ll pe r ce i ved a s a ba r r i e r t o l iv i ngmea n i ngf u l an d f u l f il led l ive s, bu t t he chan ce t o e scape i n t o p r i -va t e f u lf i ll men t s apa r t f r om so c i e t y had som ehow bee n l os t. I nt e r ms o f the p r e sen t d i s cus s i on o f the i nd i v i dua l ' s r e l a t ion t osoc i et y , t he ba l anc e o f pow er i n t ha t conf l i c t s eems t o havesh i f t ed heav i l y i n soc i e t y ' s f avor a t t he s t a r t o f th i s cen t u r y .

    T w o o t he r f ea t u r e s o f ea rl y 20 t h cen t u r y w r i t ing a r e cons i s -ten t wi th thi s analys i s . Fi rs t, i f the indiv idual w as a t socie ty ' smer cy , t hen t he s e l f - r e spec t o f t he i nd i v i dua l w ou l d p r e su ma b l ysu ff er . T h i s s eem s t o have occu r r ed . W her eas t he ( s ecu l a r ) su -p r eme be i ng o f 19 t h cen t u r y l i t e r a t u r e w as " t he i mper i a l s e l f "( A nde r son , 1971) , 20 t h cen t u r y w r i t e r s ceased t o r ega r d t he s e lfa s hav i ng "u l t i m a t e va l ue and sub s t ance" ( Syphe r, 1962). P i i t z( 1979) and S yphe r quo t ed a l i ne f r om M us i l ' s nove l a s rep r e sen -t a ti ve o f the n ew a t t i t ude t ow ar d s e l f hood : "T he cen t e r o f g rav -i t y no l onge r li es i n t he i nd i v i dua l bu t i n t he r e l a t ions be t w eent h i n gs" T hu s , soc i e t y ho l ds t he pow er , and t he i nd i v i dua l i s r e -d u c e d t o a " m e r e f u n c t i o n a r y " ( S y p he r , 1 96 2) . L a n g b a u m( 1979) gave a s i m i l a r ly b l eak acc ou n t o f t he s t a t us o f t he s e l f i n20 t h cen t u r y l i t e r a t u r e , a l t ho ugh he s aw ea r l y s igns o f t he l o s so f s e lf a l r e a d y i n t h e V i c t o r ia n p o e t r y o f M a t t h e w A r n o l d . S y -phe r ' s t he s i s o f t he deva l ua t i on o f s e l f hood a l so meshes w i t hA l t i c k ' s (1 9 6 5 ) d i s cu s s i o n o f t h e n e w l y u n s y m p a t h e t i c a n d e v e ni conoc l a s t i c t rends i n b i og r aph i ca l w r i t i ng ea r l y i n the 20 t h ce n -t u r y .

    Second , i f pe r sons f ee l t hemse l ves a s so c i e t y ' s r a t he r he l p l e s sv i c t i ms , t he i r hos t i l it y t ow ar d soc i e t y shou l d i nc r ease . I nd eed ,20 t h cen t u r y w r i te r s ac t i ve ly and b i t t e rl y ch r on i c l ed t he f au l tsand i nadequ ac i e s o f ex i s ti ng soc ie t y . T he ze s t t o expose and a t -t ack soc i a l ev i ls becam e an end i n i ts el f, exempl i f i ed by muck-raking i n j ou r na l i sm and i n nove l s such a s S i nc l a i r ' s The Jun-gle. T hi s hos t i l i t y t ow ar d soc i e t y con t r a s t s w i t h t he appa r en tpas s i v i ty o f t he 19 t h cen t u r y au t hor s on soc i a l i ssues ( A nde r son ,1971 ; Tri l l ing, 1971).

    T h e d e g r e e to w h i c h t h e m o d e r n i n d iv i d u a l i s i n e l u c ta b l y i m -mer sed i n soc i e t y has p r o m pt e d som e w r i t e rs t o sugges t t ha t t hec h a n c e s o f a c h ie v i n g t r u e i n d i v id u a l i ty a r e d i m i n i s h i n g , t h u sr eve r s ing t he cen t u r i e s - l ong tr end t ow a r d i nc r eased i nd i v i dua l -i ty ( A d o r n o , 1 9 5 1 ; F r o m m , 1 9 4 1 / 1 9 6 9 ; H a b e r m a s , 1 9 7 3 / 1 9 7 5 ;L a n d m a n n , 1 97 1 ). A s i m i l a r p o i n t m a d e b y o t h e r o b s er v e rs ist h a t p e r s o n a l i ty t y p e s h a v e i n c r ea s i n g ly e m p h a s i z e d c o n f o r m -i ng t o t he e xpec t a t i ons o f o t he r s i n s t ead o f f o l low i ng s tr i c tl yinterna l mot iv at ion s (e .g . , Fr ieden berg, 1959; May, 1953;R i e sm an , 1950 ; Whee l i s , 1958). Su ch deve l opme n t s can be a t -t r i b u t e d t o a v a r i e ty o f fa c to r s , i n c l u d in g e c o n o m i c i n t e rd e -p e n d e n c e , m a s s - p r o d u c e d g o o d s , t h e i n fl u e n c e o f n e w s m e d i aand expe r t s w h o te l l pe r sons w ha t t o t h i nk ( e .g ., F r o mm , 19411 9 6 9 ; L a n d m a n n , 1 97 1 ), t h e m a n i p u l a t i o n o f d es i re b y a d v e r -t i s ing (e .g . , Henry, 1963; Pot ter , 1954) , and the bureaucrat iza-t i on o f w o r k t ha t r equ i r e s soc i a l sk il ls an d co mp a t i b i l i t y w i t ho t he r s ( e .g . , K e t t , 1977 ; W hyt e , 1956).

    A f t e r t he Second Wor l d War , t he postmodern A mer i can f i c -t i o n m o v e d a w a y f r o m t h e s t a n c e o f p u r e r a g e a n d r e b e l li o n .A l i ena t i on w as st il l a t heme , bu t i t w as no l onge r t he m a i n po i n t .Pos t mo de r n f i c ti on show ed a new i n t e re s t i n w ha t K l e i n ( 1964)calls accommodation, w h i c h t o o k t h e f o r m o f a lt e r n a ti o n b e -t w een ad j us t i ng o nese l f t o f it i n t o soc i e t y and a t t emp t i ng t o a s -s e r t onese l f . A ccommoda t i on r ep r e sen t ed a p r e f e r ence f o r l i f e

  • 8/3/2019 Baumeister Self as Problem

    9/14

    S E L F H O O Dw i t h c o m p r o m i s e o v e r p e r p e t u a l a n d f u t il e r e b e ll i o n . O f c o u r s e ,t h e r e w e r e m i s g iv i n gs ; t o s o m e , a c c o m m o d a t i o n a s p r a c t i c e d i nt h e s u b u r b s l o o k e d a l o t l i k e m e r e s u r v i v a l b y c a m o u f l a g e ( S y -p h e r , 19 6 2) . I t d e s e r v e s m e n t i o n t h a t t h e a c c o m m o d a t i o n m o v e -m e n t K l e i n d e s c r i b e s e n t a i l e d a p a r t i a l r e t u r n t o a c c e p t i n g s o c i-e t y a s i t i s . I . H o w e ( 1 9 5 9 / 1 9 6 9 ) a n d R o t h ( 1 9 6 1 / 1 9 6 9 ) s u g -g e s t e d t h a t p o s t m o d e r n w r i t e r s d o w n p l a y e d s o c i a l c r i t i c i s mb e c a u s e t h e y f o u n d i t d i t ~ c u l t e n o u g h j u s t t o u n d e r s t a n d t h en e w m a s s s o c i e ty a n d t o p o r t r a y m o d e r n l if e c r e d ib l y .

    I n t h e l i t e r a t u r e o f t h e 1 9 6 0 s, a c c o r d i n g t o P i i t z ( 1 9 7 9 ) , t h e" s t r u g g le f o r i d e n t i t y " t o o k t h e f o r m of myth-making. I n m y t h -m a k i n g , t h e p r o t a g o n i s t p r o j e c t s s e lf - m a d e s c h e m e s o f c o h e r -e n c e o n t o t h e w o r l d . M y t h - m a k i n g i s r e m i n i s c e n t o f t r a n s c e n -d e n t a l i s m i n s e v e r a l w a y s , m o s t n o t a b l y t h e p a s s i v e a c c e p t a n c eo f s o c i e t y ' s g e n e r a l n a t u r e a s g iv e n a n d t h e r e l i a n c e o n i n t e r n a lr e s o u r c e s t o p r o v i d e l if e w i t h c o h e r e n c e ( m e a n i n g ) a n d f u l fi l l-m e n t .

    T h u s , t h e r e c e n t t r e n d s s u g g e s t t h a t t h e i n d i v i d u a l h a s a c -c e p t e d t h e s t a te o f b e in g i m m e r s e d i n a n d d e p e n d e n t o n s o c i e tya n d i s s t r u g g l i n g t o f i n d m e a n i n g a n d f u l f i l l m e n t w i t h i n t h o s el i m i t a t i o n s .

    Conclus ionT h e r e l a ti o n o f t h e m e d i e v a l p e r s o n t o h i s o r h e r s o c i et y w a s

    u n p r o b l e m a t i c o w i n g t o t w o f u n d a m e n t a l , r e l a t e d a t ti t u d e s .T h e f i rs t w a s t h e d e n i a l t h a t t h e p e r s o n e x i s t e d a p a r t f r o m h i so r h e r p o s i t i o n i n s o c i e ty . T h e s e c o n d w a s f a i t h t h a t i f o n e f u l -f i l le d o n e ' s a l l o t t e d r o l e i n s o c i e t y , o n e ' s l i fe w o u l d h a v e m e a n -i n g , h i g h e r v a l u e , a n d f u l f i ll m e n t , b e c a u s e t h e s o c i a l o r d e r h a di t s d e s i g n (a n d p u r p o s e ) a n d l e g i t im a c y f r o m G o d .

    T h e r e l a t i o n o f t h e s e l f t o s o c i e t y b e c a m e a p r o b l e m w h e nt h e s e t w o b a s i c a t t i t u d e s w e r e d e s t r o y e d . T h e f i rs t a t t i t u d e w a su n d e r m i n e d b y t h e r i s e i n s o c ia l m o b i li t y , w h i c h d e t a c h e d t h ei n d i v i d u a l fr o m t h e s o c i a l s t a t io n t o w h i c h h e o r s h e w a s b o r n ,a n d b y t h e g r o w t h o f in t e r n al i ty . (T h e r e m a y h a v e b e e n a d d i -t i o n a l c a u s e s. ) T h e s e c o n d a t t it u d e w a s u n d e r m i n e d a s h u m a n -i t y c e a s e d t o l i v e b y C h r i s t i a n f a i t h a n d i m a g e r y , b e c a u s e t h ed i v i n e l e g i ti m a c y o f th e s o c i al o r d e r w a s r e p u d i a t e d , a n d b e -c a u s e t h e r e w a s n o l o n g e r a n y b a s i s f o r h a v i n g f a i t h t h a t f u l fi l l-m e n t a n d r e w a r d w o u l d b e t h e i n e v i t a b l e r e su l t o f d o in g w h a ts o c i e ty b id . T h e s e c o n d a t t i tu d e w a s a l s o u n d e r m i n e d b y t h ef a c t t h a t s o c i e t y g r a d u a l l y c e a s e d g iv i n g e a c h p e r s o n a n u n -e q u i v o c a l m e s s a g e a b o u t h o w t o l i v e a n d w h a t t o d o ; l i b e r a l r e -f o r m s p r e s e n t e d p e r s o n s w i t h a n i n c r e a s in g a r r a y o f o p t i o n s.T h e c o l l a p se o f th e s e t w o a t t i tu d e s , a n d t h e r e s u l t a n t p r o b l e m -a t i c n a t u r e o f t h e r e l a t i o n b e t w e e n i n d i v i d u a l a n d s o c i e ty , w e r ef u r t h e r a g g r a v a t e d b y t h e i n c r e a s i n g d e m a n d f o r f u l f il l m e n t int h i s l if e in s t e a d o f i n t h e n e x t , b e c a u s e s o c i e t y w a s b l a m e d f o rt h e w i d e s p r e a d f e e l in g s o f n o n f u l f i l l m e n t .

    T h e p r o b l e m o f t h e i n d i v i d u a l ' s r e l a t io n t o s o c i e ty t h e ne v o l v e d t h r o u g h f o u r s t a g es . B e l i e v in g t h a t s o c i e t y p r e v e n t e dt h e m f r o m r e a c h i n g f u l f i l l m e n t , in


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