Educating for Eupsychia: Maslow’s Unfinished Agenda and Aldous Huxley’s Role in Its Advancement

Abstract

Although Abraham Maslow never specified how eupsychia (his paradigm for the best possible human society) might be achieved, he was inspired in the 1960s by Aldous Huxley’s notions that major changes in education were vital for its attainment: in Maslow’s view, spurring personality growth and fulfillment and ultimately leading to self-actualization on a societal level. In this light, Maslow’s scattered writings on the necessity for revisioning education provide meaningful direction for realizing the eupsychian ideal. Drawing particularly on his enthusiasm for revamped pedagogy as presented in Huxley’s utopian novel Island and related writings, we highlight three elements that Maslow deemed crucial: valuing children’s constitutional and temperamental differences, incorporating somatic and movement education including dance, and, related to peak experiences, fostering a sense of wonder. We also add a fourth element that Maslow was beginning to embrace at the time of his death—eudaimonic education comprising aspects such as volunteerism, mentoring, and civic engagement.