Abstract

The purpose of this dissertation is to compare personhood in terms of Orthodox Christian anthropology and archetypal psychology. Previous studies have generally failed to provide a successful integration of patristic anthropological insights and the science of psychology, with reference to personhood. The Orthodox theological literature on personhood is concerned mainly with salvation and less with psychological well-being. Psychological studies offer various perspectives on personhood that are primarily positivistic, leaving no room for theological perspectives. Both disciplines use categorical perspectives to understand personhood; Orthodox theology focuses on salvation, while psychology relies on scientific methods to generalize about human nature. This study, using a theologian and a psychologist to critique such categorical thinking, offers a systematic account of Zizioulas' patristic understanding of personhood and its ontological content, alongside a comprehensive presentation of James Hillman's iconoclastic perspective of personhood. ;With an epistemological category of complementarity in mind, this dissertation has used a dialogical conception of truth to compare the writings of Zizioulas and Hillman on personhood. It has found two similarities and one difference between them. First, both authors agree that human beings are unique, unrepeatable, and inexhaustible entities. Second, categorical understandings rendered by either theological or psychological categories violate this quality of personhood and can lead to anthropological reductions. The two authors, however, disagree on the ontological basis of personhood. Zizioulas grounds personhood in ontology, for only then may otherness be relational and unshakable. Hillman, on the other hand, rejects ontology altogether, fearing that ontology not only reduces the person to a fixed point, but also creates grand metaphysical systems, which sacrifice personhood and otherness to abstract ideals. The dialogue attempted here shows the enrichment of pastoral psychology from the insights of both Zizioulas and Hillman. However, the dialogue argues for the absolute need of ontology in personhood