“The individuation process, as the way of development and maturation of the psyche, does not follow a straight line, nor does it always lead onwards and upwards. The course it follows is rather “stadial”, consisting of progress and regress, flux and stagnation in alternating sequence. Only when we glance back over a long stretch of the way can we notice the development. If we wish to mark out the way somehow or other, it can equally well be considered a “spiral”, the same problems and motifs occurring again and again on different levels.”

—  C. West Churchman

Source: 1940s - 1950s, Theory of Experimental Inference (1948), p. 216; cited by Jolande Jacobi (1983) The way of individuation. p. 34, translation of Der Weg zur Individuation. Rascher, Zürich 1965

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "The individuation process, as the way of development and maturation of the psyche, does not follow a straight line, nor…" by C. West Churchman?
C. West Churchman photo
C. West Churchman64
American philosopher and systems scientist 1913–2004

Related quotes

Vladimir Lenin photo

“Human knowledge is not (or does not follow) a straight line, but a curve, which endlessly approximates a series of circles, a spiral. Any fragment, segment, section of this curve can be transformed (transformed one-sidedly) into an independent, complete, straight line, which then (if one does not see the wood for the trees) leads into the quagmire, into clerical obscurantism (where it is anchored by the class interests of the ruling classes).”

Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) Russian politician, led the October Revolution

Edward de Bono photo

“We may have a perfectly adequate way of doing something, but that does not mean there cannot be a better way. So we set out to find an alternative way. This is the basis of any improvement that is not fault correction or problem solving.”

Edward de Bono (1933) Maltese physician

Source: Six Thinking Hats Revised Edition

“We do learn and develop when we are exposed to those who are greater than we are. Perhaps this is the chief way we mature.”

Madeleine L'Engle (1918–2007) American writer

Source: Two-Part Invention: The Story of a Marriage

William Hazlitt photo

“To get others to come into our ways of thinking, we must go over to theirs; and it is necessary to follow, in order to lead.”

William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer

"A Farewell to Essay-Writing" (March 1828)
Winterslow: Essays and Characters (1850)

George S. Patton photo

“We herd sheep, we drive cattle, we lead people. Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way.”

George S. Patton (1885–1945) United States Army general

As quoted in Pocket Patriot : Quotes from American Heroes (2005) edited by Kelly Nickell, p. 157

African Spir photo

“We can, following the exemple of Kant, consider the moral development and improvement of men, as the supreme goal of human evolution.”

African Spir (1837–1890) Russian philosopher

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 61.

“Reconstruction is merely a special case of economic progress. If we are to understand its problems thoroughly, we must examine what is meant by economic progress and try to discover how it comes about… Economic progress is not altogether easy to define and is even more difficult to measure. Nevertheless, the phrase clearly corresponds to a meaningful idea. We have only to contrast a savage society with our own. In a savage society, the same customs, the same techniques, the same ways of doing everything, from ploughing to praying, are maintained generation after generation, son following exactly in the footsteps of his father and daughter in the footsteps of her mother, without deviating an inch from the well-trodden way. In modern civilized society, on the other hand, there is constant change and flux; we are constantly improving on the methods of our ancestors, and indeed one of the surest ways to discredit anything is to call it "old-fashioned!"”

Kenneth E. Boulding (1910–1993) British-American economist

Source: 1940s, The Economics of Peace, 1945, p. 73

Christian Drosten photo

“We have already gone a long way along this path through vaccination. We must now complete this process so that we can reach the endemic phase in the course of 2022 and declare the pandemic state to be over.”

Christian Drosten (1972) German virologist and university teacher

Source: Christian Drosten (2022) cited in " End is in sight for pandemic in Germany, says top virologist https://www.thelocal.de/20220117/end-is-in-sight-for-pandemic-in-germany-says-top-virologist/" on The Local de, 17 January 2022.

“Over many years of work all over the world, I've lucius allen arned that if we organize in the same way that the rest of life does, we develop the skills we need: we become resilient, adaptive, aware, and creative. We enjoy working together. And life's processes work everywhere, no matter the culture, group, or person, because these are basic dynamics shared by all living beings.”

Margaret J. Wheatley (1941) American writer

Finding Our Way: Leadership For an Uncertain Time (2005)

Related topics