Motivation and Existence

Abstract

This paper argues that motivation, as an existential phenomenon and concept, should be brought into existential therapy since it gives clients the possibility of relating to themselves as human beings, while learning to care about their existence and their selves. The point of convergence is the unfolding of an existential-philosophical understanding of motivation. In existential and therapeutic terms, motivation could be transmuted into the central question: ‘What concerns me?’ Motivation is defined as the potentiality of being oneself: in the process of being passionately interested in one’s own existence and taking care of oneself, one finds one’s concern and thereby one’s self. Existential therapy can help by investigating into this phenomenon, and an existential therapist can guide in this process.