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Cognitive‐Developmental Psychology and the Baha'i Faith: Meaningful Connections

1995; Wiley; Volume: 39; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1002/j.2161-007x.1995.tb00939.x

2161-007X

Rhett Diessner,

Jewish Identity and Society

This article explores the relationship between a newly emerging world religion, the Baha'i Faith, and the cognitive‐developmental school of psychology. It does so by illustrating three major concepts shared by the protagonists of cognitive‐developmentalism, such as Piaget and Kohlberg, and the primary authors of the sacred writings of the Baha'i Faith: Baha'u'llah, ‘Abdu'l‐Baha , and Shoghi Effendi. These concepts include (a) a developmental teleology, (b) the stage‐like nature of development, and (c) the importance of a cognitive, or epistemic focus. It is intended that this article chart an avenue of communication between members of the Baha'i Faith and the therapeutic community over topics of mutual interest (cf. Laszlo, 1989a, 1989b) .