Prologue: Construction and Development PART ONE: EVOLUTIONARY TRUCES 1. The Unrecognized Genius of Jean Piaget 2. The Evolution of Moral Meaning-Making 3. The Constitutions of the Self PART TWO: THE NATURAL EMERGENCIES OF THE SELF 4. The Growth and Loss of the Incorporative Self 5. The Growth and Loss of the Impulsive Self 6. The Growth and Loss of the Imperial Self 7. The Growth and Loss of the Interpersonal Self 8. The Growth and Loss of the Institutional Self 9. Natural Therapy REFERENCES INDEX
Robert Kegan has created a new perspective of personality development, focusing on the dynamics of the evolving self. The perspective integrates two universal human processes--meaning-making and social development--into a scheme that can be used to derive testable generalizations and simultaneously inform the practice of therapy. A very tall order which he fulfills admirably. -- Chris Argyris Kegan has written a vigorous, exhilarating, and brilliant book. If it is read with the same grace and modesty and aliveness with which it is written, it could make psychotherapy more useful, psychology richer, and speculation on the nature of being human infinitely more rewarding. -- Robert L. Grossman A major contribution to the human development literature. Like Freud, Kegan's literary style matches the brilliance of his insights. -- William R. Torbert, Boston College
Robert Kegan is William and Miriam Meehan Professor of Adult Learning and Professional Development at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Kegan’s great contribution is his description of the powers and
difficulties entailed in each of these bases for conducting
relations with self and others and his systematizing of
considerations involved in changing from one basis to another…
Kegan’s is indeed a provocative contribution!
*American Journal of Education*
Kegan acknowledges a debt to Piaget, Kohlberg, and the
psychoanalytic object-relations theorists. He regards his theory as
a synthesis and extension of their views, resulting in a
developmental theory that presents a unified conceptualization of
affective, cognitive, and moral development. Individual chapters
are devoted to each of six developmental stages—their growth and
loss. The last chapter explores the implications of the theory for
psychotherapy and for implementing growth in everyday life… The
theory is elegant… There is much food for thought and many
hypotheses for research in Kegan’s book. If one has not appreciated
the importance of meaning-making as a central concept in
personality theorizing, the book might even propel one into the
next stage. More likely, the reader will…obtain some important new
insights. All in all I recommend the book highly.
*Contemporary Psychology*
A landmark book… [It] proposes to integrate thought and emotion in
human development and I responded to it on this double level.
Breathlessly I encountered all the disparate ideas I had had about
human development in the last ten years, all under one single
solidly constructed theoretical roof… It is a book about
meaning-making which revises one’s own meaning-making in very
profound ways.
*Review of Psychoanalytic Books*
Replete with literary allusions and personal anecdotes, this
scholarly and appealing discourse represents a fascinating
appraisal of the evolution of the self, devoting particular
attention to the role of environmental forces which may have
crucial impact on the individual. It evaluates, compares, and
contrasts the contributions of Piaget, Erikson, Freud, Kohlberg,
and others in a refreshing and informative fashion. Written by a
clinician, the book also proposes a thought-provoking metatheory of
therapy and considers the topic of depression from an evolutionary
orientation. [This work is] well articulated and comprehensive in
scope.
*Library Journal*
Robert Kegan has created a new perspective of personality
development, focusing on the dynamics of the evolving self. The
perspective integrates two universal human processes—meaning-making
and social development—into a scheme that can be used to derive
testable generalizations and simultaneously inform the practice of
therapy. A very tall order which he fulfills admirably.
*Chris Argyris*
Kegan has written a vigorous, exhilarating, and brilliant book. If
it is read with the same grace and modesty and aliveness with which
it is written, it could make psychotherapy more useful, psychology
richer, and speculation on the nature of being human infinitely
more rewarding.
*Robert L. Grossman*
A major contribution to the human development literature. Like
Freud, Kegan’s literary style matches the brilliance of his
insights.
*William R. Torbert, Boston College*
If one could only buy one book on child development, The Evolving
Self would bet the book to buy… It reflects the state of the
art.
*George E. Vaillant, M.D.*
Here is a bright, ambitious mind, integrating old ideas from such
diverse sources as Freud, Piaget, Erikson, and Kohlberg into an
original synthesis. Kegan seems to be the first Neo-Piagetian who
is able to look at the evolving person as more than a succession of
systems but as a whole human being.
*Ernest S. Wolf, M.D.*
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