CARL ROGERS AND PHILOSOPHICAL PHENOMENOLOGY

This study examined the relationship of Carl Rogers' theory of therapy and personality to philosophical phenomenology. The study was undertaken to determine whether Rogers' theory is philosophically defensible, making a distinct contribution to American psychology.; An examination was made of philosophical phenomenology through the classical phenomenologist Edmund Husserl and the existential phenomenologists Martin Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty. A concise summary of philosophical phenomenology was outlined to determine the parameters of the phenomenological movement. These data were used in relationship to Carl Rogers' theory statements as found in Client-Centered Therapy (1951) and Koch's Psychology: The Study of a Science (1959). A phenomenological analysis was made of Rogers' theory of therapy and personality leading to an explication of his theory statements in relation to both classical and existential phenomenology.; The results of this study seem to indicate that Rogers' theory statements are closely related to Husserl's classical phenomenology; Rogers' theory, then, has a phenomenological base. In relation to existential phenomenology, this study seems to indicate that although Rogers' theory contains several aspects of existential phenomenology, it is more closely related to classical phenomenology than to existential phenomenology.; The study points out the following implications for counseling: (1) American psychology needs to continue to revitalize its metaphysical roots, with philosophical phenomenology as the connecting link between the practice and theory of counseling. Psychologists and philosophers share common connections. (2) Counseling is broader than experimental psychology and statistical studies. Phenomenology is preparatory to experimental psychology. There is a continuing need for a phenomenological system of psychology. (3) Carl Rogers' theory of therapy and personality makes a unique contribution to American psychology. Because of his phenomenological emphasis, counseling today continues to strive to look at all the phenomena, that is, all the data, of experience.