Getting a Grip on Normativity: A Phenomenological Response to Maslow’s Call for a “Humanistic Biology”

Abstract

Maslow suggests that a study of “superior” human specimen might have the potential to identify biological traits that distinguish flourishing individuals from those who are languishing. Maslow’s recommendation is open to criticisms. First, his method is circular. Second, the thrust of Maslow’s project has a eugenic ring to it. However, while Maslow’s eugenic vision should be sidelined, his call for an understanding of normativity and the need to overcome the fact-value dichotomy in psychology and neuroscience are well-considered recommendations. A phenomenological approach to normativity presents a more authentically humanistic approach to consideration of normativity. Husserl’s concept of optimal givenness and Merleau-Ponty’s notion of maximum grip illustrate that normativity is a quality that can be identified at a pre-predicative, implicit level of operative intentionality. Based on an examination of the notions of optimal givenness and maximum grip, the article further suggests that, within the context of interpersonal relations, agapic love can be understood to operate as a normative and regulative idea for ethical relations. Since this form of intentionality instantiates itself into perceptual and motor habits, normative ethical relations may be subject to investigation within neuroscience, to the extent that it maintains an ongoing dialogue with phenomenology.