Date of Award

2026

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (School of Philosophy and Theology)

Schools and Centres

Philosophy and Theology

First Supervisor

Professor. John Lippitt

Second Supervisor

Dr Annette Pierdziwol

Abstract

I introduce this thesis with the crisis of loneliness in the present age to investigate the phenomena of self-estrangement by linking Kierkegaard’s existential philosophy with Rogers’ person-centred therapy. For this, I draw upon Kierkegaard’s concept of despair and Rogers’ concept of incongruence, and ground these in their respective models of human selfhood. I then consider the constructive role of self-estrangement by discussing how in spite of the universality of despair, it is both a deficiency and a potential advantage for therapeutic growth. By reformulating their structural views of selfhood into a paradoxical phenomenology of becoming and belonging, I show how on a Kierkegaardian view love can be an antidote to self-estrangement which can expound and elaborate Rogers’ theory. The capacity of therapeutic love to foster self-love in a client leads to the conclusion that repentance is an excellent form of love, since upon transforming self-love to its proper form it bridges the gulf between love for oneself and love for others, thereby overcoming despair.

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