Discussion

Dr. Ullman's is an “essentially unitary view of man's nature and (is) predicated on the view that where pathology exists in the psychic sphere,” it exists as well “in the physical sphere.” Other statements in his presentation indicate that he might add “and where healthy exists in the psychic sphere it exists as well in the physical.”

Starting with these quotes is to say I find many aspects of Dr. Ullman's ideas congenial to my own, not only in this presentation, but as I have observed their evolution in his publications. I refer to the direction of his thinking, its evolutionary and exploratory nature, and its unitary viewpoint. I shall attempt to present my definition of unitary, my notions of symbolizing and of the dreaming process as bases for discussing certain points in Dr. Ullman's paper.

By unitary or holistic, I mean that the pattern of living is integrating; that living is dynamic, directional, and can be formulated as a hierarchy of systems in oscillating equilibrium and describable in process language; that theories of living must take into account all aspects: from the physical to the psychological, from the individual to the cosmic: all values, from those relating to facts, aesthetics, and morality through the existential, to the spiritual ones; from what is scientifically explainable to the formless, which can be simply pointed at and intuited for each to look at, see, and experience in his own way.

This is of course an aspiration, and an urgent one if we are to survive on this planet. Thinking and feeling in universal categories can no longer be rejected with the cynical epithets of “mystical or “metaphysical verbiage.” Why such vast visions and such encompassing attempts for such a short paper? Because the paper deals with man, and in the main topics discussed—dreaming and myths—hardly an aspect of man through time is not touched upon.

The needs for universal and unitary models of man to deal with dreaming and