The Dialogical Self of Taoistic Dynamics: How scientists and practitioners can trigger the discovery of a harmonious self.

Abstract

In the present paper, I relate the Dialogical Self Theory with the philosophy of Taoism. For that purpose, I instance the premises of Taoism such as that human being use open ideograms (signs and symbols) that grow constantly in their meaning, that the meaning of life can be only unraveled if the unity of opposites is integrated in one's worldview and that the human being listens to his natural intuition and does not force himself to do things (wuwei = effortless action which has its origins in Laozi's TaoTeChing). When those premises are applied to the Dialogical Self Theory, psychologists can help people to develop a harmonious self because the self is operationalized as an open system that is constantly in flux of meaning. Hidden I-positions might be shifted to the foreground while helping the human being to listen to a multitude of positions and to not act in a rigid fashion. In order for scientists and practitioners to use the insights of what I call the Dialogical Self of Taoistic Dynamics, I propose an open interview guide that could help people to realize their harmonious pluralistic self.