The Inner World of Man

The variety of and adjustability in behavioral patterns found in man makes the human creature one of the most elusive subjects as far as research is concerned. The various angles from which man has been looked at has repeatedly lead to new insights and theories.

In the end each theory in psychology is an attempt to understand man in his state as a human being here and now. Every theory is a specific framework of thought from which questions about man's inner functioning is posed and the answers sought.

Such theories also serve another important purpose. It offers a view of the human inner self - a basic prerequisite for therapy - to the counsellor. The premise on which this standpoint is based is that every counsellor grounds his/her counselling on an underlying premise. The nature of this view of the human mentality determines the manner in which each specific person is dealt with and the objective whereto the person in question is guided.

The intent with the lectures that follow is not to construct a full blown theory concerning man's inner being. Within the ambit of this study, psychological theories will be utilised insofar as they complement and clarify the theological view of man, as spelled out in the foregoing pages. As such this view of man should form a comprehensive set of principles that would continuously shape the
need for functional counselling. The functioning of the cognitive part of man's inner life will be given particular attention - especially in view of the fact that the latter constitutes the principal angle of approach in Functional Intelligence.

For clarity's sake the material is presented in the form of statements about each aspect that is addressed.
Firstly, the fact that man functions as an entity, but then manifests as an entity that has various clearly-distinguishable dimensions, needs looking into. Thereafter we will also give attention to the following assertions:

•     Man is a unitary entity

•     Man is a psycho-physical entity

•     Man is a cognitive being

•     Man is an emotional being

•     Man is a conative being