The creative act is the outcome (synthesis) of various dialectics (conflicts, contradictions, and tensions see also Krueger, 2015). May is also remembered as an existential psychologist, which could mean a lot of things beyond a penchant to cite Kierkegaard & Nietzsche. He objects to the view that creativity is born of neurosis or complexes of inferiority. May refers to himself as a psychoanalyst, but what he says about psychoanalysis is critical. Indeed, May’s style of thinking and writing is similar to these humane psychologists, yet there is a difference in emphasis and approach. I expected to find in May a humanist much like Maslow or Rogers. So I opened up his Courage to Create (1975), a slim volume of essays May published during the 50s and 60s. Now in my post-positivist stage, and with an interest in the psychology of creativity, Rollo is back on my radar. I never read any of his books because I thought of myself as a positivist. His works were not on the syllabus, though, because they did not adhere to the positivist scientific standards of the time. When I was in college, Rollo May was still a household name among those interested in clinical psychology.
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