Comparing Carl Rogers (Phenomenal Field), Martin Heidegger (Existentialist Dasein), and George Kelly (Personal Construct Theory)
Carl Rogers' concept of the phenomenal field, Martin Heidegger's interpretation of the existentialist vision of the dasein, and George Kelly's Personal Construct Theory are all concerned with two factors that shape human life. These two interests both correlate and differentiate the three theoretical approaches to understanding human existence.
The first shared interest is the phenomenology of human existence [e.g., the physical objects in the world, the conditions of life, other people, and so forth). This shared interest creates a correlation between the theories of Rogers, Heidegger, and Kelly. There is little differentiation among them with respect to the nature of the phenomenological characteristics of life on earth.
The second shared interest is the process of human personality development that occurs through perceptions of, responses to, and interactions with the conditions of their existence by humans. It is the latter shared interest [the process of personality development] that tends to differentiate the theories of Rogers, Heidegger, and Kelly from one another. Differentiations exist in relation to both (a) how human understand and react to the phenomenology of their lives and (b) the authenticity of the personality that evolves from these understandings and reactions.
Even at these points of differentiation (responses to the phenomenology of existence, and the authenticity of the evolved personality), however, there exists a factor that is common to all three theoretical approaches. The common factor is human choice. Rogers, Heidegger, and Kelly human choice is possible and that such choices affect the character of the personality that develops.
Rogers refers to the self-actualizing tendency of the human organism. Through the process of self-actualization, according to ...