SELF-ACTUALIZATION AS A TRANSFORMATION OF THE LIFEWORLD: A PHILOSOPHICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION

Abstract

The article presents a philosophical and psychological reinterpretation of the concept of self-actualization through the integration of empirical approaches from humanistic psychology with phenomenological and existential analyses of human existence. It is shown that traditional psychological interpretations of self-actualization primarily focus on describing manifestations of personal development, such as authenticity, creativity, and the realization of potential, yet leave insufficiently clarified the conditions under which such development becomes possible. In this regard, the problem arises of theoretically conceptualizing the prerequisites that determine the accessibility or inaccessibility of human possibilities within the subject’s experience. Based on the phenomenological concept of the lifeworld, the paper proposes an approach in which selfactualization is interpreted not as the direct unfolding of inherent abilities, but as a process of transforming the structure of experience. It is argued that human experience is from the outset organized by a certain horizon of meanings and possibilities that determines what can be experienced as real, significant, or attainable. Within this framework, the hypothesis is advanced that there exists an intermediate stage between a deficiency-oriented mode of existence and self-actualization, associated not so much with behavioral change as with the problematization of one’s own mode of experiencing the world. The paper demonstrates that reflection and intersubjective interaction play a crucial role in revealing the limitations of the lifeworld and in opening the possibility of its reinterpretation. At the same time, it is emphasized that reflection in itself does not guarantee the transformation of experience, as it may remain confined within the same interpretative structure. This raises the question of the conditions under which reflection acquires a transformative character and becomes capable of altering the very horizon of possibilities. The proposed approach allows self-actualization to be understood not merely as the realization of potential, but as a process in which the very mode of human existence is transformed. Such an interpretation opens prospects for further theoretical elaboration of the mechanisms underlying lifeworld transformation and provides a foundation for interdisciplinary research at the intersection of philosophy, psychology, and the social sciences.