p 108 Berger mentions that there is a secularization of consciousness - existentialism and Maslow's work would fit directly into this process. How does this compare with the idea of historicity? I should be on the lookout for an overstatement of the case for secularization as Christianity is alive and well in the present. That then may be one of the hallmarks of scholarship on secularization in the 1960s: that it overemphasized the death of God and the decline of Christianity in America and Europe. This would be worth discussing in the thesis.
p 109 Berger argues that the "original "carrier" of secularization is the modern economic process, that is, the dynamic of industrial capitalism" This is important, but my concern is the secondary effects that this process has on religion, psychology, and philosophy.
p 110 Berger highlights one of the main features of his argument: "We are interested however in the question of the extent to which the Western religious tradition may have carried the seeds of secularization within itself".
p 113 Berger maintains that the roots of secularization began in the old testament, predating Protestantism. He then continues on to make the point that the Ancient cultures such as Israelites were cosmological in nature. Here then is Abzug's argument in Cosmos Crumbling: the cosmos began to crumble in Antebellum reform America. So by the time Maslow had come onto the scene had this process completed? I would maintain that the disenchantment of the world was arrested in intellectual terms: Heidegger left room for religion in his philosophy, Maslow sought to establish a secular yet sacred connection to the world, Levinas argued for the presence of the Other having a divine injunction, Santer makes room for God as well.
Thesis thoughts: On page 123 Berger mentions in regards to the disintegration of the Catholic universe, the secularizing potential inherent in the social formation of the church was released. This potential came from the division of the world into sacred and profane realms. When the sacred realm began to dissolve a secular, profane structure was there to fill the void. So then, what parts of the cosmos were disintegrating during the 1950s and 1960s? How is this reflected in Maslow's thought and writing? Berger has the advantage of a relatively stable constellation of alternatives to Catholicism in the West. The eruption in the 1960s psychological theorizing and thinking largely replaced religious thinking. The dialectic of history swung wildly in the religious realm, oscillating between Neo-Orthodox interpretations of Christianity, Catholic Modernism (Vatican II - Masses in the Vernacular), Radical humanism (existentialism), a turn to toward Eastern religious traditions, expansion of religious cultism(?), and the birth of modern movement of psychotherapies (psychoanalysis, Attachment theory, object relations theory, Neo-Freudian Psychoanalysis, Client-Centered Therapy - Rogers, see Persuasion and Healing). Religion had properly entered into a phase of modernist pluralism of religious thought and experimentation. How can I make this context come alive in intellectual bio of maslow? I plan to look cosmos crumbling to see how abzug constructed his argument in a biographical form. One things is clear: there was a widely felt crisis of meaning, the expression of which came in many forms: existentialism, Neo-Orthodox christianity, a resurgent biblical literalism in the 70s (find source), therapeutic experimentation, drug related experiences designed to chemically bring enlightenment, etc. The arc of the crisis then is an eruption of social discontent not with economic conditions, but with internal states of being.
124 Berger expresses the view of many intellectuals of the 1960s in regards to religion: "Probably for the first time in history the religious legitimations of the world have lost their plausibility not only for a few intellectuals and other marginal individuals but for broad masses of entire societies" This is to some extent overstatement given the religious revivialism that was the reaction to the counterculture of the 1960s (get sources). He then turns on page 125 to the question of the meaning of life being asked by broad groups of individuals, both normal and exceptional. I need to focus on Maslow's biographical details and examine where he experienced crisis. Milton theorizes that Maslow suffered from a depression and anomy. Is this in fact true? I guess there is a further question of why did Maslow not experience the crisis of anomy and anxiety that so many others reported? If he didn't that would be remarkable for someone in his field. That he was in psychoanalysis would seem to indicate that he was searching for some sort of salvation or healing. Am I to assume that his psychotherapy worked in the manner in which Freud hoped it would: to strengthen the individual ego against the demands of society as well as to assist the individual in working through conflicts from childhood.
In a broad sense Maslow sought to create a psychology to fill the void left by religion. He embodied this seeking in both his personal and professional life, attempting to create harmony between his personal and professional life. He had the advantage of teh relative freedom of thought and work afforded to he as an independent academic. He shared Freud's hope that a science of the psyche or soul would replace religion. His excitement over the prospect of such a creation animated his life, giving it purpose and meaning. He never lived to see the reaction against the excesses of the 60s (Find sources).
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