Does Maslow’s ultimate motivation really exist?

Posted on August 22, 2013

By Gary Jaffer

Many of my readers, who know me well, are aware that I have been a student of philosophy for many years. The philosophy I study is one of unity of existence and the aim of this study is to discover the nature of that existence. Interestingly this involves the consideration of probably the most profound and common question to arise from any genuine philosophical discussion – Who am I?

It is said even back many hundreds of years BC that there was an inscription on the entrance to the Temple of the Delphic Oracle, it was; “Know Thyself!” So it would seem that the “who am I?” question is one that needs some careful consideration.

Recently, when I was asked to speak to a small group of business leaders about philosophy and business, I wondered how I might find a connection beyond the most common area of ethics. I have always been taken by Maslow’s theory on the hierarchy of needs that was first published in 1943. The theory and its accompanying diagram is probably one of the most recognised images in so many fields of study from business management through to medicine.

It occurred to me that many successful business people are well embedded at the esteem level – confidence, achievement, respect and esteem of others. But are business leaders looking to explore beyond this, to the level of “Being Needs”. The interesting part is that as business people we seem all too often so caught up in DOING that we fail to BE – we are not called human doings!! Then what does it mean, to BE! Hamlet’s soliloquy questioning life comes to mind.

Maslow describes self actualization as “…the desire for self-fulfillment, namely, to the tendency for him to become actualized in what he is potentially.”

So are we actualizing our potentiality – do we feel like we are playing the role we are meant to be playing? Maybe it feels like we are playing somebody else’s role or worse still, as I remember often feeling, are we just making it up as we go?

Pursuit of the truth of our existence is indeed the discovery of what we are potentially. This can lead to the experience of feeling more fulfilled, more settled in ourselves, with knowledge of who we are and even more importantly, being guided by that knowledge?