Friday, April 7, 2023

Stages of Life

 I was reading one of my favorite philosophy books recently.  The author was recounting the many stages identified by past philosophers and others who have spent time naming the many stages of life, and how they can be identified.  Kierkegaard saw 3 stages, Rousseau named seven, and so on.  I have often spoken of the stages I've found myself in as I have passed through my arc of life.  

Freud:  5 stages

Piaget:  4 stages

Erik Erikson: 8 stages

Carl Jung: 5 stages

Daniel Levinson: 4 stages, but with smaller steps in each

One of the interesting aspects of this is the naming of the stages, since we live life on a daily basis without a map or landmarks to measure our passage from stage to stage.  We see life around us and draw conclusions from our experiences, only later applying them to our own lives.  Or, it seems that way to me.

Look up the stages of Freud, Jung, Erik Erikson, and others.  The stages they talk about are a fascinating mix of perspectives.  I will go over some of them in the introduction at the meeting.

No comments:

Post a Comment