Zelfontplooiing: een vorm van secularisatie?

Samenvatting

If lifestyle magazines are advocating ‘self-actualization,’ what is it that they are promoting? And how compatible is a life revolving around actualization of the self with a life devoted to Christian discipleship? Drawing on a variety of empirical case studies and theoretical resources, this article suggests to conceive of self-actualization as a narrative template that offers people a script in broad outline for living a life committed to growth and development of self-defined selves. As such, self-actualization encourages people to conceive of themselves in thoroughly ‘secular’ terms, with the adjective referring to what Augustine called hoc interim saeculo. Inspired by the bishop of Hippo, the article concludes with brief reflections on how a Christian response to self-actualization might look like.