Reviews for The evolving self

The average rating for The evolving self based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-06-06 00:00:00 Jonathan Whitcombe Kegan spent his career at Harvard studying psychological development. The Evolving Self outlines his model for human psychological development. I found the model insightful and the writing tight which is an unusual combination (you usually get one of the two, at best). The book focuses on the process of meaning-making, a lifelong activity that begins in infancy and continues through adulthood, a contrast to Freudian understandings of psychology which tend to be more static and focus on childhood experiences while downplaying the ability for people to continue to evolve through life. The heart of meaning-making is the drawing and re-drawing of the distinction between self and other. I picked up the book after reading a summary which explained that many adults get stuck at Stage 3 (communal) where they identify themselves and what is right/wrong with their immediate community and are unable to transition to Stage 4 (systematic) where they can see justice, responsibility, and principles as something systemic and outside of their immediate social group. This rang true as did the observation that many get stuck in the Stage 4-Stage 5 transition and fall into a nihilistic worldview because they can't transition from a systemic to a more fluid understanding of self and other. I've found Kegan's five-stage framework helpful for better understanding my own choices and the choices around me and understanding how to discuss those choices through a lens that makes sense to them.

Review # 2 was written on 2015-05-16 00:00:00 Nuno Silva I have read this book about five times. It continues to influence my thinking and lead me towards integration, of ideas, theories and the practice of psychology with human evolution.