Humanistic Psychology's metaphysical foundation as seen by existential phenomenology

Abstract

This article aims to indicate the metaphysical ontology underlying American Humanistic Psychology in order to correct a misunderstanding present in the published literature that the Third Force in Psychology in existential phenomenological. To do so, it rebuilds the historical context in which the Humanistic Psychology appears in the USA and the questions it tries to answer, emphasizing its position relative to scientific knowledge. Next, it shows the confusion between humanistic and existential-phenomenological psychologies in the scientific literature. The third step is to expose in Martin Heidegger's oeuvre, Being and Time, the requirements of existential phenomenology, in order to evaluate the Rogerian ontology according to them. Carl Roger's psychology is indicated as paradigmatic Third Force Psychology. It concludes that Humanistic Psychology is not existential phenomenological because it substantivizes human existence.