Journal of Humanistic Psychology

Rollo May's life, so rich in its contribution to the field of psychological theory and practice, must be understood within the context of the cultural tradition of his boyhood and early manhood, that of the small town, Protestant Midwest. If Tillich, Adler, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Kierkegaard, and others shaped May's mature intellectual life, it is also true that the basic precepts of his upbringing and his first career choice-that of the ministry with its ethic of helping and healing-determined the way May would apply his later understandings within the sphere of the world.

This article addresses the problem of embodiment in terms of the objectified body, the mute body, and meaningless action and seeks to restore a language of embodiment and an embodied language in terms of the conscious body, action language, and action hermeneutics.

Our article "Deconstructing the Lone Genius Myth: Tbward a Contextual View of Creativity" in JHP (1995) seems to have elicited an inmmediate-and quite critical-comment in an article in thatvery same issue. We therefore feel it necessary to reply to the criticisms made by Carl Hale (1995) because we believe he has fundamentally misrepresented our argument; we also address some of rlbm Greening's (1995) editorial comments of that issue, which we feel may give rise to some further confusion over the nature of our argument.

Montuori and Purser (1995), in "Decontructing the Lone Genius Myth," and Hale (1995), in "Psychological Characteristics of the Literary Genius," are perhaps closer together than one might think. The first authors do not deconstruct the lone genius, but rather the lone aspect of this genius, with attention to the context for creativity. Hale does not deem context unimportant but emphasizes situations in which the creator might stand more in reaction to than in resonance with parts of that context. Nonetheless, Montuori and Purser's view of context is more expansive and interconnected and stems from an important social critique. The present comment uses chaos theory as both model and metaphor for creative innovation, highlighting the uniqueness of individuals and their contributions and, at the same time, acknowledging the intricate interdependence and sensitivity that can occur within the context for creation. Viewing the "genius" in this framework may, however, require attention to other issues not elaborated upon in these articles, including mood disorders and creativity, thought disorder and normalcy, and a greater acceptance of our own personal divergence and deviancy.

This critique examines Jung's theory of archetypes, which underpins much of his other work. The critique focuses on Jung's belief that the origins of archetypes (and their basis in the collective unconscious) transcend the individual, in that they reflect an ancestral or universal essence. The critique also examines a related notion of Jung's, that the collective unconscious unites us with the world around us in an immediate paranormal or synchronistic sense. These notions of Jung's are found to be seriously flawed. In spite of this, the critique suggests that Jung's belief in the genetic basis of certain unconscious content holds some promise. With this in mind, suggestions are made concerning needed modifications in Jung's theory and concerning the kind of evidence required for its support.

Although adult development and adult education researchers and theorists are sympathetic to the contributions of Carl G. Jung (1875-1961), there is little evidence in the literature of attention to the intricacies of Jung's plan for achieving individuation, the primary developmental task of adulthood, in his view. Jung's scheme involves a close attention to dream material and integration of the meanings they contain. Rigorous attention to, and integration of, unconscious material is the process by which adults begin to achieve individuation. In Jung's view, it is this difficult path that leads eventually to the improvement of society in general, through the advancement of individual adults who are willing to come to terms with the unknown psychic background.