| In 1956, well-known humanistic psychologist, Carl Rogers, wrote a critical review of Reinhold Niebuhr's Self and the Dramas of History. In this review, Rogers expressed strong disagreement with Niebuhr's thesis that pride is the primary problem of the human condition. Instead, Rogers' experience had convinced him that self-contempt or feelings of inadequacy constitutes the core human dilemma. While Niebuhr, the most influential 20th century American theologian, diagnosed the over-valued self as the principle problem, Rogers, the most influential American psychotherapist, pointed toward the under-valued self as the central problem. How could two astute observers of human nature come to such different conclusions?;This study explores the relationship between pride and self-contempt in the perspectives of Niebuhr, his feminist critics, and Carl Rogers. It then examines the work of Karen Horney, and suggests that her perspective may offer a way out of the deadlock between Rogers and Niebuhr. Horney's thesis is that pride and self-contempt are not polar opposites, but instead, represent two sides of a single process. Horney rather brilliantly portrays the "pride system" operating behind what appears to be merely an under-valued self. Similarly, she analyzes the self-rejection and self-contempt involved in arrogance and self-inflation.;As an exploration in theology and psychotherapy, this study hopes to provide a more satisfactory perspective on the problems of pride and self-contempt. |
