PSY 181 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Noema, Edmund Husserl, Scientific Method

• School: University of Rochester
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSY 181
• Professor: C H R I S T O P H E R N I E M I E C

Document Summary

Existential phenomenological approaches in psychology stress the importance of grasping subjectively what it means to be human. We can only understand human behavior from an internal frame of reference. From an existential perspective, you are at the center of what happens in your life, and you are free. We are not controlled by forces outside of our control. When we exercise our freedom, we bear the ultimate responsibility for our lives, and a lot of people find this responsibility too much to bear and would prefer to let others direct their life. Existential theories seek to reveal the truth about yourself and to facilitate your experiencing of this truth. The truth of your existence cannot be learned objectively; it must be lived subjectively. You are absolutely free to make personal choices. You are in the middle of your existence. You have the responsibility to change your life in any way that allows for your individuation.