fei75766_ch11_345-376.indd 356  02/06/20 12:38 PM
Part III    Humanistic/Existential Theories356
right inone’s beliefs provides temporary security, butitissecurity “bought atthe
price ofsurrendering [one’s] opportunity forfresh learning andnewgrowth” (May, 
1967, p.80).
Philip’s neurotic anxiety wasevident inhisattachment tounpredictable 
and“crazy” women, anattachment thatbegan inearly childhood. During thefirst
2years ofhislife,hisworld wasinhabited primarily byjusttwoother people—his 
mother andasister 2years older thanPhilip. Hismother wasaborderline schizo -
phrenic whose behavior toward Philip alternated between tenderness andcruelty. 
Hissister wasdefinitely schizophrenic andlaterspent some timeinamental hos-
pital. SoPhilip learned early thathehadtoattach himself towomen butalsothat
hehadtorescue them aswell.“Life, then, forPhilip would understandably notbe
free,butrather would require thathebecontinuously onguard oronduty” (May, 
1981, p.30).
Philip’s neurotic anxiety blocked anynewandsuccessful ways ofbehaving 
toward Nicole. Hisapproach seemed tobearecapitulation ofchildhood behaviors 
toward hismother andsister. 
Guilt
Anxiety arises when people arefaced withtheproblem offulfilling theirpotentiali -
ties.Guilt arises when people deny theirpotentialities, failtoaccurately perceive the
needs offellow humans, orremain oblivious totheirdependence onthenatural world 
(May, 1958). JustasMayusedtheterm“anxiety” torefertolarge issues dealing with
one’s being-in-the-world, sotoodidheemploy theconcept ofguilt. Inthissense, both
anxiety andguiltareontological; thatis,theyrefertothenature ofbeing andnotto
feelings arising from specific situations ortransgressions. 
Inall,May(1958) recognized three forms ofontological guilt, each corre -
sponding tooneofthethree modes ofbeing-in-the-world, thatis,Umwelt, Mitwelt, 
andEigenwelt. Tounderstand theform ofguiltthatcorresponds toUmwelt, recall 
thatontological guiltneed notstem from one’s ownactions orfailures toact;
itcanarise from alackofawareness ofone’s being-in-the-world. Ascivilization 
advances technologically, people become more andmore removed from nature, 
thatis,from Umwelt. Thisalienation leads toaform ofontological guiltthatis
especially prevalent in“advanced” societies where people liveinheated orcooled 
dwellings, usemotorized means oftransportation, andconsume food gathered 
andprepared byothers. People’s undiscerning reliance onothers forthese and
other needs contributes toone’s firstform ofontological guilt. Because thistype
ofguiltisaresult ofourseparation from nature, May(1958) alsoreferred toitas
separation guilt, aconcept similar toFromm’s notion ofthehuman dilemma (see
Chapter 8).
Thesecond form ofguiltstems from ourinability toperceive accurately the
world ofothers (Mitwelt ).Wecanseeother people onlythrough ourowneyesand
cannever perfectly judge theneeds ofthese other people. Thus, wedoviolence to
theirtrueidentity. Because wecannot unerringly anticipate theneeds ofothers, we
feelinadequate inourrelations withthem. Thisthenleads toapervasive condition of
guilt, which isexperienced byallofustosome extent. May(1958) wrote that“thisis
notaquestion ofmoral failure ...itisaninescapable result ofthefactthateachofFinal PDF to printer