The Critique Of Maslow’s Notion Of Peak Experience

THE CRITIQUE ON MASLOW’S NOTION OF PEAK EXPERIENCE

Erdy Nasrul[1]

Abstract

Several psychological discussions denoted that psychology today is secular. It can be clearly approved by knowing any psychological matters which are not dealing with religious atmosphere. Peak experience of Abraham Maslow is one of them. Althought Maslow remarked that peak experience is also religious, peak experience must accord to any worldview whether it is religion or anti-religion. Then the question appears of what peak experience resulted because of its accordance with both. This writing infered that the peak experience of Maslow did not result religious causes for any religious matter must be dealing with God not human.

Keywords: peak experience, Maslow,

I. Foreword

Peak experience is the most beautiful moment along the history of human life. It is ecstatic moment or moment of rapture,[2] wherein human is unified with anything he faces; this is an amazing experience, which is available toward justice, and perfect value.[3] For Maslow, these can cause peak experience. It is an experience of peace and quite and being unified with a thing, he faces ecstatically and enjoys any matter served along with his peak experience.

This experience - to Maslow’s notion - was described by many religionists and atheists. William James mentioned it as mystical experience[4] Freud mention it as oceanic experience, which is experiencing moment of childhood. For it can be accepted either by religionists or atheists, it concluded that it can be liberated from any spiritual or metaphysical viewpoints.[5] Moreover, Maslow said: “it is urgent to liberate this experience from any theological, supranatural matters, even if it had been done for thousand years”.[6] It is also legitimated by Calvin S Hall and Gardner Lindzey that it is not to be religious.[7]

It is clear that peak experience is not conected to ‘The Sacred’. Therefore it can be a problem when this experience is used for analyzing mankind metaphysically.

II. A Brief about Maslow

Maslow was the first child, who had 6 brothers. He was born in April 1^st 1908, in non Jewish Brooklyn New York. His parents were uneducated Jewish, who emigrated from Russia.[8]

He always read many books. Along his adulthood, he was attracted by many works of Alfred North Whitehead, Henry Bergson, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Plato, and Spinoza. But the most attractive one is the work of William Graham Summer.[9]

When he was twenty years Maslow married Bertha Goodman, his own niece.[10] After his marriage, Maslow gave many contribution for the develoment of psychology today.

He started learning psychology in Wisconsin University and successfully reached his licentiate degree on bachelor of art in 1930. He reached his master degree on 1931 and doctoral degree or Ph.D on 1934.[11]

When he was student, he analyzed his two professors’ personality. Maslow concluded that both were similarly happy because of their discovery.

Since this analysis inspired Maslow to find something new about human’s personality, then he arranged a research on healthy personality which its sample consisted of sellected people whom are celebrated and high-profile.[12] The main thing, there were certain similar attituds which were found through self actualizing people.[13] Maslow concluded that they were self actualizing people. Furthermore, there were many uniqueness through these self actualizing people. But the most unique one was that they usually had peak experience.[14]

He also met John B Watson, the celebrated figure of behaviourist in the same university. Maslow was so proud of him. His pride is expressed by arranging a doctoral thesis on “some parallels Between Sexual and Dominance Behavior of Infrahuman primates and the Fantasies of patients in Psychoteraphy”, which is supervised by Prof. Harry Harlow.

A year after his graduation, exactly in 1937, Maslow and his own family returned to New York. He started his life working with E L Thorndike at Columbia. It is concentrating to the research on mankind’s sexuality.[15]

He was also proposed to be professor on psychology and teaching full time at Brooklyn College along 1937-1951.[16] This city is called psychology center for Maslow many times found and discussed many psychological matters.

Other honor that he accepted was the permanent membership of Loughlin Foundation at Menlo Park, California.

Maslow was suffering from the heart attack that caused his end of his life in 8 of June 1970.[17]

Along his life, Maslow was considered to be a psycholog, who shifted the paradigm of psychology, which firstly concerns on neurotic research or was too animalistic. Maslow considered a new research on world celebrated figures on account of the development of psychology

Maslow began finding his theory by researching Indian race of Northern Blackfoot through Alberta Canada. This research is funded by the advisory of research on social sciences. Along summer, Maslow spent his times to live with them. Along this living Maslow watched 15 fightings. He successfully watched that their children physically were seldom punished. Their amount was about 800 people, who totally hated white skin for their crime upon children. Maslow discovered that hostility of humankind was not a destiny; it is rather humankind’s creation through their culture and civilization.[18]

Other scientific efforts are his writing which were published, known as journal of humanistic psychology. His beloved wife, Bertha Goodman also wrote a memorial volume included Maslow’s note and his biography entitled Abraham H. Maslow: a Memorial Volume. This is published in 1972, two years after her husband death.[19]

Maslow also arranged books that became contributions and influenced the development of humanistic psychology. His works are:

1. Motivation and personality

It is his first work published in 1950. Maslow explained that human has natural destiny, which is higher than what many people had described. But this assumption is still based on data of experimental psychology and psychoanalysis. However, this book is the starting point of shifting paradigm into humanistic psychology, which is to Maslow’s notion not perfect yet.

2. Toward Psychology of Being

This book is published in 1964. It concerns psychological health more. This psychological health is what Maslow means as the condition of self being integrated. In other word, it is self actualization. In this book, such self actualization is discussed more deeply within its aftereffect. Maslow concluded that self actualization usually causes peak experience. The deeper explanation on peak experience is written in his further book.

3. Religions, Values and peak experiences

It is published in 1964. It explains deeply what the peak experience is. Besides, Maslow also describes that peak experience is an experience, wherein the prophets have felt. This experience is not supernatural or metaphysical again, for such a thing is just beyond the human’s possibility. He denoted that this experience is scientific and able to be analyzed psychologically.

4. The psychology of Science: A Reconnaissance

This is published in 1966. here, anyone can know Maslow’s notion of knowledge and science which both is just human creativity. Here, Maslow criticized any scince that Behaviorism and Psychoanalysis had produced. For Maslow denoted that both denied a great and higher dimensions of humankind. Then, Maslow offered the science of tao, which is defined as the science that is observed directly and really based on empirical reality within recognizing other’s personality.

5. The Farther Reaches of Human Nature

It is published in 1967, about three years before Maslow’s dying. It can be categorized as his final work, for here anyone will find his thoughts seem to be more perfect. Such the concept of self actualization, the hierarchy of need is in the contrary with deficiency need. Onyone, who read it will know how Maslow begins his studies of self actualization.