Alfred Adler
(1870-1937)
was a
psychiatrist,
one of the
first
members of
the small
group of
physicians
who met at
Freud's
house on
Wednesday
nights to
discuss
psychological
issues.
However,
when the
theoretical
and personal
differences
between
Adler and
Freud arose,
Adler
abandoned
Freud's
circle and
established
an opposing
theory,
which became
known as individual
Psychology.
While still
a member of
Freud's
restricted
circle, he
converted to
Protestantism.
Although,
apparently,
he did not
maintain
deep
religious
convictions,
nor did he
explicitly
refer to the
dimension of
the Spirit,
his theory
is largely
identified
with
Spiritist
principles.
That is why
we have
decided to
establish a
dialogue
between his
ideas and
Kardecian
thinking.
In summary,
the Adlerian
theory says
the
following:
all people
are born
with an
innate
tendency
towards
completeness
and
wholeness.
Even babies
have an
innate drive
for growth,
for
completeness,
or for
success.
People, due
to their
nature, are
continually
driven by
the need to
overcome
feelings of
inferiority
and are
attracted by
the desire
for
completeness.
The feeling
of
inferiority,
identified
in all
creatures,
arises
because of
the
fragility
and
dependence
of the child
at birth.
The physical
deficiencies
of the
individual –
natural in
the first
years of
life -
activate
inferiority
complexes,
which
motivate the
person to
fight for
superiority
or success.
Individuals
who are not
psychologically
healthy
struggle for
personal
superiority,
while those
who are
psychologically
healthy seek
success for
all mankind.
In his
theory,
Adler
therefore
identified
two main
ways of
overcoming
the
inferiority
complex. The
first is the
unproductive
socially
attempt to
attain
personal
superiority;
the second
involves
social
interest and
aims at
success or
perfection
for all.
Some people
struggle for
superiority
with little
or no
concern for
others;
their goals
are personal
and their
efforts are
motivated,
in large
part, by all
that they
can achieve
for
themselves.
Assassins,
thieves,
crooks,
family or
social
parasites
are obvious
examples of
people
struggling
for personal
gain. Some
people
create
intelligent
disguises
for their
personal
struggle and
may,
consciously
or
unconsciously,
hide their
self-centered
posture
behind the
mantle of
social
concern.
In contrast
to people
struggling
for personal
gain, there
are those
psychologically
healthy
individuals
who are
motivated by
the social
interest and
success of
all mankind.
These
individuals
are
concerned
with goals
that go
beyond
themselves,
are able to
help others
without
demanding or
expecting a
reward and
have the
ability to
see others
not as
opponents
but as
people with
whom they
can
cooperate
for social
benefit.
Success
itself is
not obtained
at the
expense of
others, but
it is a
natural
tendency to
move toward
completeness
and
perfection.
People
struggle for
personal
superiority
or
collective
success to
compensate
for feelings
of
inferiority,
but the way
they
struggle is
the result
of their own
personality.
Personality
is built
from raw
materials
provided by
heredity and
the
environment.
However,
these forces
are not
responsible
in an
absolute way
for people's
way of
thinking,
feeling and
acting.
Personality
is the
product of
a creative
force,
i.e., a
person's
ability to
freely shape
its behavior
and build
its own
personality.
Even if the
creative
force is
influenced
by the
forces of
heredity and
the
environment,
it is
ultimately
responsible
for people’s
personality.
The forces
of nature
and
education
can never
deprive a
person of
being able
to establish
a single
goal or
choose a
style to
achieve the
goal. Each
person uses
heredity and
the
environment
as bricks
and cement
to build its
personality,
but the
architectural
design
reflects
that
person's own
style. The
creative
force makes
each person
a free
individual;
it is a
dynamic
concept that
implies
movement,
and this
movement is
the most
relevant
feature of
life. All
psychic life
involves
movement
toward a
goal,
movement
with a
direction.
And finally,
a last basic
principle of
Adler: the
value of all
human
activity
must be seen
from the
point of
view of
social
interest.
Social
interest is
the natural
condition of
the human
species and
the bond
that
connects it
to society.
The natural
inferiority
of
individuals
needs their
union to
form a
society.
Without the
protection
and
nourishment
of a father
or mother, a
baby would
perish.
Without the
protection
of the
family or
the clan,
our
ancestors
would have
been
destroyed by
animals that
were
stronger,
more
ferocious or
endowed with
sharper
senses.
Social
interest,
therefore,
is a
necessity
for the
perpetuation
of the human
species and
collective
well-being.
Social
interest was
the
criterion
that Adler
used to
measure
psychological
health.
According to
him, social
interest is
the only
scale to be
used in
judging a
person's
value.
Healthy
individuals
are
genuinely
concerned
about people
and have a
successful
goal that
encompasses
the
well-being
of all.
Social
interest,
for Adler,
is not
synonymous
with charity
and
altruism,
although
acts of
philanthropy
may be
linked to
social
interest. A
woman,
recalls
Adler, can
regularly
donate large
sums of
money to the
poor, not
because she
feels in
tune with
them, but
rather
because she
wants to
maintain
herself
separated
from them.
Some aspects
can be
highlighted
in the above
summary,
because they
surprisingly
identify
themselves
with
Spiritist
ideas: the
attribute of
perfectibility,
the basic
differences
in the human
lifestyle,
the presence
of the
Spirit in
the
construction
of the
personality
and the
principle of
human
solidarity
as a vital
necessity.
The
attribute of
perfectibility
In Posthumous
Works one
can read
Kardec’s
following
text:
We do not
know the
origin and
the way the
Spirits were
created; we
only know
that they
are created
simple and
ignorant,
that is,
without
knowledge
and not
knowing what
is good and
what is
evil, but
they are
perfectible
and with
equal
capacity to
acquire and
to know
everything,
in time.
We can admit
from the
text that
the Spirit
is created
with three
attributes:
simplicity,
ignorance,
and
perfectibility.
Simple,
because it
is unique,
formed of a
single,
homogeneous
part. It is
ignorant,
because it
has no
experiences,
and no
knowledge or
acquisitions.
Perfect,
because it
is endowed
with the
potentiality
of progress,
an intimate
development
project, and
a purpose
towards more
diversity.
It seems to
us that
Adler
intuitively
refers to
the
Kardecian
attribute of
perfectibility
in admitting
an innate
tendency in
all
creatures to
completeness
and
wholeness.
According to
him, this
tendency,
identified
in childhood
with the
natural
fragility of
the baby,
gives rise
to an
inferiority
complex that
will guide
his psychic
life.
Life styles
Adler admits
that the way
in which the
individual
will deal
with his
inferiority
complex will
define his
lifestyle
and the
richness (or
not) of his
existence,
proposing
two very
distinct
types: the
self-centered,
selfish, and
occupied
solely with
his
interests
and the one
centered on
collective
well-being,
solidarity
and
altruism.
This theory
of two
personalities
at the ends
of an
existential
spectrum is
seen in
Kardec:
The carnal
man - more
bound to the
corporeal
life than to
the
spiritual
life –
experiences
material
pains and
enjoyments
on Earth.
His
happiness
consists in
the fleeting
satisfaction
of all his
desires. His
soul,
constantly
concerned
and
distressed
by the
adversities
of life, is
in permanent
anxiety and
torture.
Death scares
him because
he doubts
the future
and because
he has to
leave all
his
affections
and hopes
behind in
this world.
The moral
man - who
has placed
himself
above the
false needs
created by
passions -
in this
world
already
experiences
joys that
the material
man does not
know. The
moderation
of his
desires
gives the
Spirit
calmness and
serenity.
Happy for
the good he
does, he
experiences
no
disappointments
and the
inconveniences,
which slide
over the
soul, leave
no painful
impression.
(The Book of
Spirits,
item 941).
Carnal man
and moral
man, in the
denomination
of Kardec,
can be
metaphorically
considered
like the two
ends of a
spectrum.
Among them
are the vast
majority of
souls
reincarnated
on Earth.
Building
personality
Adler did
not define
what the creative
force consists
of, and was
criticized
for it.
According to
critics, the
term creative
force is
especially
illusory, a
magical
force, that
takes the
raw
materials of
heredity and
the
environment
and molds a
unique
personality.
Such a
concept,
according to
critics is
simply
fiction and
cannot be
studied in
the
scientific
arena.
We believe
that the
concept of creative
force is
identified
with the
very concept
of Spirit,
of the
Kardecian
thought.
Genes and
environment
cannot
explain
everything
we are. In
the
structure of
our
personality
we have to
consider the
powerful
influence of
the Spirit,
which brings
into
corporeity
its history,
its
tendencies,
its likes
and its
inclinations.
According to
the Encoder
of
Spiritism,
the various
faculties of
an
individual
are
manifestations
of the same
cause - the
soul - i.e.,
the
incarnate
Spirit (The
Book of
Spirits,
item 366).
Since the
qualities of
the soul are
those of the
incarnated
Spirit, the
good man is
the
incarnation
of a good
Spirit and
the evil man
is that of
an impure
Spirit (Book
of Spirits,
Introduction,
item VI).
Kardec adds
that
intelligence
is also an
essential
attribute of
the Spirit
and that the
Spirit is
reflected in
the body,
which is
shaped by
the
qualities of
the Spirit.
Examining
the
instinctive
predispositions,
Kardec
comments
that the
source of
the innate
faculties is
in the
reincarnated
individuality,
for the soul
brings, by
uniting
itself with
the body,
what it has
acquired,
its good or
bad
qualities Spiritist
Magazine,
1860, page
209). The
soul is the
intelligent
being; in it
is the seat
of all
perceptions
and
sensations;
it feels and
thinks for
itself; it
is
individual,
distinct,
perfectible,
preexisting
and
survivable
to the body
(Spiritist
Magazine, 1866,
page 21).
Human
Solidarity
Fraternity
and concern
for
collective
well-being
are very
strong
points in
Kardecian
thought, as
Adler
thought, in
presenting
the concept
of social
interest.
Kardec was
emphatic in
this regard.
Man is worth
for what he
does for the
benefit of
his neighbor
and his
community.
When he
inquired of
the Spirits
about the
most
meritorious
of all
virtues, he
received the
following
reply:
There is
virtue
whenever
there is
voluntary
resistance
to the
dragging of
bad
tendencies.
The
sublimity of
virtue,
however,
lies in the
sacrifice of
personal
interest,
for the good
of others,
without
hidden
thoughts.
The most
meritorious
is the one
based on the
most
disinterested
charity. (The
Book of
Spirits,
item 893)
Author's
Note:
Information
about Alfred
Adler was
taken from
the book Theories
of
Personality,
by Jess
Feist,
Gregory
Feist and
Tomi-Ann
Roberts,
Eighth
Edition,
Artmed,
2015.
Translation:
Eleni
Frangatos - eleni.moreira@uol.com.br
